If you did not know already, Michelle Carter was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for encouraging her boyfriend Conrad Roy to kill himself. She thought it would absolutely okay to convince to commit suicide, knowing very well he was having second thoughts.
In their texts to each other, she kept asking him if he was going to do it, which he either replies yes or that he was scared. Most people that that attempt or actually commit divide, have second thoughts before it. Being on the side of attempting, I can tell you, it's a very scary thing. There are many things that stop you. For some people, those little things are enough, while for others, not so much. In this current society, people are always trying to find loopholes to everything. While it wasn't Michelle's idea for Conrad to kill himself, she didn't help either. The question being, whether or not a text can kill someone.
Looking at the texts between Michelle and Conrad, she doesn't give off the typical persona of what would be considered a cyber bully.
She wasn't name calling, spreading rumors, anonymous, or trying to intimidate him. One thing she has in commons with a cyber bully is that she encouraged him to kill himself. Whether or not she knew the extent to his mental and emotional damage, she knew he obviously wasn't well enough to intercept his wanting to. She could've encouraged him to talk to his parents or talk to them herself. She couldn't call the hotline and get advice on what to do.
But instead, she acted selfishly and wanted to be the center of attention as the grieving girlfriend.
When someone has gotten to the point of wanting to commit suicide and you know about it, DO NOT encourage them, try and help them in any way possible. Telling someone to "Get back in the car" when they obviously are having second thoughts about killing themselves, is disgusting. It's like saying that you didn't kill that person because you weren't holding the gun.
Just because you weren't there, doesn't make you innocent.
In this day in age with most people having access to technology, texting is just as easy as making a phone call. Texts can be just as harmful as speaking to a person face to face. Someone in Conrad's position needed help from Michelle, not support. Text messages can kill. This case is proof. There are other examples out there. We, as a society, need to agree that just because another person didn't pull the trigger, doesn't exactly make them innocent.
Especially if they offered words of encouragement.
