Talks About Ethics in the Media

     This is an exciting post because I was having a conversation with my parents when I remembered something from class.  What do you know, I learned something!  The topic itself isn't something to be happy about per se, but the fact that I applied something I learned in class to my everyday life is!

     Anyway, what I want to talk about today is the ethics the media holds themselves to--especially when it comes to suicides and covering them in the paper or on a broadcast.  In this case, I'm happy the media didn't publicize this because of the condition.  Here's how the story goes:

     I found out about this suicide from my mom.  She's been a stay at home mom for years, and now that my siblings and I are getting older and becoming more expensive, she decided to put her degree to good use and start substituting at our local schools in Keller.  She is a teacher by degree, so her aim is to get a permanent job with KISD, or any nearby school district that is offering teaching positions.  So, she was at one of the twenty something elementary schools for the first time waiting to be assigned to the room they needed her in, and while she was waiting she went ahead and brought her resume to the Vice Principal as she has been doing to every school she's subbed at.  While talking to the VP, she was told about a teaching position that had just opened in a first grade class.  All she told my mom was that the teacher unexpectedly died.  Of course, my mom felt so bad for this woman and her students, so she was explaining to one of her friends that also substitutes with her about the situation.  It turns out this teacher didn't die of natural causes, she actually killed herself and they weren't telling very many people that fact.

     So as my mom was explaining this to my family, my dad asked, "Well how does no one know or how do they know it won't get leaked?  I mean, won't people see it on the news?"  I immediately chimed in and explained how the media don't typically cover suicides unless it happens in a public place--which in this case it wasn't public.  I also told him that given the circumstances, first graders are so young; they don't need to know that their teacher killed herself.  That's a very emotional subject to bring down on kids.

     Like I said, the topic of this blog isn't very happy, but the fact that I applied class to my conversation assured me that college is more than all-nighters, writing papers, and taking tests.  It's about applying what you've learned to your own life!

Until next time,
Tory