The dark side of the internet

AS WE reveal today, it takes less than a couple of minutes to find and log into an internet website that will offer you nearly 50 ways to go about committing suicide, including the precise number of paracetamol tablets needed, or the mechanics of hanging. Gruesome as this is, there is worse to be found – internet chat rooms where depressed or impressionable teenagers discuss taking their own lives.

Most parents are still of a generation which does not realise such information is readily available through the PC in a child's bedroom. But there is a growing realisation that the existence of the online "suicide" community might actually be encouraging a rise in adolescent and teenage deaths. Papyrus, the charity set up to tackle suicide among the young, says there have been at least 20 internet-related suicides in the past five years.

Papyrus is calling for Westminster to amend the 1961 Suicide Act to make it illegal to publish material on the internet that promotes suicide. Given the global nature of the web, and given that many of these dangerous internet sites are located abroad, there are practical difficulties in closing them down or blocking access. However, the rise of this suicide culture is disturbing and dangerous, and steps need to be taken urgently to limit its impact. The first line of defence is for parents to be informed and on guard.