For those of you who are unaware; Logan Paul is a 22 year old web-star who recently made the worst decision that he could have. I would like to start by pointing out that I did not refer to his actions as a "mistake" because there is a huge difference between a mistake and a choice. In one of Logan Paul's most recent vlogs Paul travelled to Aokigahara; a forest in Japan also known as "suicide forest".
While Logan Paul was there him and his friends came across the body of a victim of suicide; I know this because it was included in the video. I cannot go into detail about much of what happened in the video because I could not bring myself to continue watching after that. As the group of people began to make jokes about the individual the camera proceeded to face the body of the victim and even proceeded to zoom in on their hands.
I would also like to point out that the majority of Logan Paul's viewers are younger kids ranging from 11-16 years old. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in 2016 around 1,320,000 young adults lost their lives to suicide. These statistics are coming from the same group that spends their afternoons watching Logan Paul's videos and following his every move through social media.
Logan Paul also made the choice to have the body be the thumbnail of the video as if making a mockery of the situation as a whole for views. Although, in Paul's apology he emphasized he "did not do it for the views" he "gets views". In fact the word "I" was used over 20 times in his tweet regarding the incident; the YouTuber focused on himself rather than those affected. Those who deserved an apology such as the family of the victim did not receive one until the day after, when Paul released a video expressing his remorse.
But, Logan Paul and his brother Jake Paul who is known to be abusive and racist will remain two of the most successful of those on YouTube. After taking an entire group's situation and portraying it lightly Logan Paul will still have fans who defend him. While the LGBTQ community have their videos and channels removed from the website for simply showing affection to their significant other; Logan Paul is promoted all throughout the YouTube community.
But, rather than making this article about him I would like to use this article as an opportunity to raise awareness. I would like to acknowledge the lives of the strong individuals that have contemplated suicide or survived an attempt. I feel the need to apologize to many of you for what you are having to go through recently. Ignorance within social media influencers has remained present in 2018 and I hope that by the end of this year actions like these will not be tolerated.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is as follows:
1-800-273-8255
This assistance is also available online and both methods of communication can be used 24/7.
