Tony Blair's daughter in suicide bid

[Karl]

I saw this old news item but immediately realised i had bever heard this before and was quite shocked how had this story been muzzled?
On Thursday 13th May 2004 Tony Blair's 16 year old daughter Kathryn attempted to commit suicide. She was in the middle of exams, believed to be GCSE's and took an overdose of unknown pills. She was rushed to hospital for stomach pump and a news blackout was requested by the PM's office and adhered to by the British Press. Katherine was studying at the Sacred Heart school in Hammersmith, West London, a Roman Catholic state secondary school. News about the suicide attempt was confirmed by Alan Johnson, Labour MP for West Hull and Hessle.

So why was this story quoshed due to the British tabloids sensitive reporting of the PM's family? The establishment press acting to protect the flagging public image of the most disasterous Prime Minister this country has ever seen just before local and European Elections? In a democracy, the public have a right to know about the family failings of anyone in public office - it enables them to judge whether to vote for that individual or not. When that failing family is the Prime Ministers the press have a duty to inform the public - not to protect politicians' images from public scrutiny.

[Mandy]

There might be a public interest policy in this story if the suicide was a result of the pressure to do well (i.e. "succeed") which is so unfairly put on the shoulders of children, e.g. must do exceptionally well to get to a secondary school where some schools get 10's of applicants for every place, then to University etc.

The governments actions on schooling hasn't alleviated the unfair character of the school system (e.g. privately tutored children are more likely to get into the "good" schools and universities, perpetuating the class divide).

[Salim201]

i don't think its fair to say it was wrong not to bring this to light in principle, but its right to point out the hypocrasy amongst the press in choosing who's privacy to invade. Its obvious the sort of people who would be exposed in the same and similar circumstances.

[faceless]

where was the old news item posted Karl?

Apart from that, I don't think it does anyone who has made such a statement any good to expose them to scrutiny by anyone other than those who can help. Would you rather have seen The Sun follow her about for answers?

If you don't provide good answers you'll be out.

[eefanincan]

[IRiSHMaFIA]

[Karl]

[IRiSHMaFIA]

[Karl]

Scots teenage girls Europe's worst for inflicting self-harm
LOUISE GRAY

TEENAGE girls in Scotland are harming themselves with knives and cigarettes or overdosing on pills at a greater rate than anywhere else in Europe, a survey has revealed. Nearly one in three secondary schoolgirls in Edinburgh admitted harming themselves by cutting or stabbing with knives, pulling out hair, bruising, pinching, burning skin or overdosing on pills. The Scottish statistics compare with a UK rate of one in ten teenagers owning up to harming themselves, and are the highest in Europe. Celebrities such as Angelina Jolie, Christina Ricci and Johnny Depp have all confessed to self-harm. But campaigners have pointed out that most self-harmers are afraid to admit they release their anger or sadness through cutting, and they have called for more help in schools, through training teachers and providing advice. Researchers from Edinburgh University interviewed 4,300 young people from 23 local secondaries, eight independent schools and nine special-needs schools.

Dr Lesley McAra, who led the research team, found about 28 per cent of the fourth-year girls questioned admitted some form of self-harm, compared with 12 per cent of boys of the same age. She said: "About the age of 14 and 15, one in three girls and one in eight boys in the cohort reported that they had self-harmed. This compares with one in ten in the UK figures." The survey also found that incidents of self-harm peaked during the third and fourth years of secondary school.

Dr McAra added that, during the survey, 169 fifth-year girls said they had attempted suicide, compared with 57 boys. She said: "That makes up 5 per cent of the total cohort, and that to me seems an extraordinarily high figure." The law lecturer blamed depression, social deprivation, drugs and bullying as contributing factors. However, she said her research did not suggest the capital was in the grip of a self-harm epidemic. She said: "The reason for the figures being so high was that the rate of disclosure was much higher than anywhere else in the UK."

Dinah Morley, the deputy director of the charity Young Minds, said self-harm could just be a teenage phase - the practice is known to occur in "outbreaks" in much the same way as other fads. But she said it must always be taken seriously because of the few cases that develop into serious injuries or even suicide. She said: "Their behaviour should not be ignored as copy-cat or attention-seeking. It should be taken seriously because, although some of those cases are not likely to be significant problems, in some cases ... it may lead to attempted suicide." She called for increased awareness among parents and teachers so they can direct children to local services such as the Edinburgh Self-Harm Project, or helplines such as the Samaritans.

Dr Gynedd Lloyd, head of educational studies at the Moray House teacher training college in Edinburgh, said schools could do more to stop children self-harming.

She suggested creating safe places, taking more time to listen and promoting mental health initiatives. She said: "As a profession we are enormously powerful in the lives of young women. We make decisions which are life-changing. We need to study that and think about it. We could resist a lot of the sorting and classifying."
Linda Dunion, campaign director of See Me, which works to end mental health stigma, said many youngsters were afraid to speak out - despite the fact the earlier people seek help the more likely they are to recover. She said: "There is help out there and the sooner you get it the better, because it is very distressing for a young person to self-harm - there is clearly something wrong."

This article: http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=555102005

The quotes that you can take are "increased public awareness"
so yes i believe it was in the public interest. Public awareness of this incident could have saved MANY lives. Weigh that up against one family's embarrasement. In fact the public would probably be sympathetic to the blairs.
You never know her reasons may have been more complex. May have involved a daughter realising her dad was a war criminal.

[IRiSHMaFIA]

Oh please? They or she doesn't want you or the publics sympathy. She wants some bloody privacy to deal with her personal issues that are none of yours or anyone elses bloody business.

She's not PM but an innocent child with real problems, and I stand by what I said in my post prior to this. Anyone willing to serve her up as a sacrificial lamb by throwing her personal problems into the press is callous.

Do you honestly think this isn't going on in the rest of the world? Do you honestly think the girls in this story you've written would for one second take a second look at what they're doing ....simply because the pm's daughter tried and failed? Not a chance!

They've such inner pain themselves and the only thing that will help them is deep councelling. Some cheap gossip story would only drive them further into depression because they'd realise that the press is a disgraceful, uncaring entity that hasn't the class to keep such a tragic story out of the front pages. It would be a reflection of what they might want to get away from, and that's an uncaring society.

[Karl]

Ok mate this is your messageboard. I have my views and you have yours.
I have teenage kids. And i would prefer the heads up.

[Aja]

[Karl]

Johm Humphreys was asked about Katherine Blair's suicide bid.
John Humphreys' unequivocal view is saying that a journalist can make a decision on withholding news or information based on a subjective judgement about that news or information and, in a sense, act as a censor.

So you are all saying that it is ok for journalists to censor what news they report?

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2005/06/09/the-days-are-numbered-for-gatekeeper-journalism

I dont agree with censoring at any time especially when it is in the public interest to know about a major problem in todays society. And it involves the mass murderer of teenage girls the war criminal Blair. Your sympathy should be with Blair's victims many of who are children. Not with the orwellian country of censorship we now live in.

[IRiSHMaFIA]

Aja that was a brilliant point.

Karl....it's not my message board. I'm a member like you or anyone else.

You're quite right. We do have different views on this, and I'm basing my views on the experiences I've been through and seen throughout my own life.

I simply don't buy a thing you're saying, but you are entitled to your opinion as I am.

[Karl]