Posted by sad, a resident of the Castro City neighborhood, on Aug 27, 2009 at 5:42 pm

People really are unbelievable.. I don't understand why you feel the need to publish the young girl's name AND her family's name. This article looks like something you would read in the tabloids. LEAVE THE FAMILY ALONE!!! why don't people understand that YES something terrible happened.. but there is no need to build up another sad story. I know people LOVE to meddle in other's business but half of you were not affected by the young girl and will not even remember what happened a few days from now.. so PLEASE leave the family alone and go on with your lives.

=(

Posted by reader, a resident of another community, on Aug 27, 2009 at 11:04 pm

What useful purpose is served by publishing the name of a 13-year old girl who apparently committed suicide? How can revealing her identity to the entire community be in ANY way beneficial?

This is tragic and there are numerous studies to support the "copycat" effect of news coverage of suicides. The Voice and all our papers need to closely re-examine the possible unintended consequences of this news coverage.

Posted by Reality Check, a resident of another community, on Aug 28, 2009 at 1:55 pm

People are curious about things like this. Knowing the girl's name isn't meddling any more than knowing a the name of those killed in a crime or a car crash is. The outrage expressed by "sad" indicates there is something shameful or embarrassing about suicide for "sad". And if, as sad states, everyone will not even remember a few days from now, then what's "sad" problem with people finding out a little more about who died? Speaking for myself, I am always interested in finding out a little more about people that chose to die in such dramatic and public ways. I wonder if maybe I know them, or if I'll recognize the name, etc. Maybe I went to school with them or one of their siblings. Nothing to be ashamed of. It's a terrible tragedy for everyone involved, to be sure. Maybe I'm weird, I like to read about people in obituaries too. Their lives, their accomplishments and, yes, even how they died. It all fits into understanding the human condition and somehow making sense of it. We're all going to die too someday.