A Lesson For Those Involved In The Kwitzil Lake Tragedy
I do hope that when the grief counselors sit down with the high school students to talk about he events of this past weekend, that they will mention a couple of things that these young students should take with them as they head off into another phase of their life.
The horrific incident, in which two people lost their lives when the vehicle they were in plunged into Gravel Pit Lake, was played out on Facebook long before the police, and rescue people were able to confirm just what had happened.
The blame was laid at the feet of " The Cops" for not getting to the families involved in this tragedy fast enough to tell them that their loved ones were missing . The problem was that those "cops" were trying to get it right before delivering such devastating news to the families. Can you just imagine in your wildest dreams of getting it wrong when it comes to someone's life?
A good many of the young people who were attending the party, took it upon themselves to be the judge of when families should be informed by way of Facebook and other electronic means.
To add insult to injury, members of the media were chastised when they arrived on the scene to try and put together an accurate picture.
250News' photographer had checked with Search and Rescue and the police to ensure there were no issues with his taking photos at the scene. He was soon approached by a young man who demanded the photographer "hand over the pictures" that had been taken. Those pictures, which showed only a few police vehicles and search personnel, could hardly be described as sensitive. The photographer had every right to be on the scene without being threatened. Yet later, a young woman (using what only can be described as "gutter language") told yet another reporter what she thought of the fact that 250News would be on the scene reporting on this incident, blaming media for being insensitive to the families. She of course didn't consider that her friends had already released the names worldwide causing irreparable damage to the families involved.
It was a tragic incident. People lost their lives, and some of those attending that party felt they should be in charge of how the events unfolded. That is a sad commentary.
As for the police, they got it right, they have to. Now let's hope that those who decided to be the judge in the matter will realize the harm they brought on the families involved.
I'm Meisner and that's one man's opinion.
Comments
250 should be complemented on the job they did and do.. yess our youngsters believe they are the ENTITLED generation and have little, if no respect for Authority. With social media, their emotions run higher. I’ve always gone back to one question….WHERE are the parents of these kids that party??? Do they know where their kids are???
First , kudos to the O250 team for the frequent updates and for the manner in which they were reported . I am a parent who has inside information and have heard the information from the family as to what is known at this point . Your news team has been nothing but professional in reporting this story . Second a hats off to all the rescue and recovery team . They did everything they could with the resources and information they were able to collect . My kids both knew the young girl and while neither were at or involved in the party , my son was woken up at 7 am to the news . Upon checking Facebook he was upset to see it was plastered all over . His immediate response was to start calling their friends who he knew had not heard and inform them so they did not find out via social media . There is absolutely no worse way to find information out like this then social media . We are also very close to the Leslie family . Primarily Loren’s father and we found out about her murder via Facebook . Needless to say we were even more devestated to hear that way . The only way to make kids understand is to educate . I can only imagine how these parents must feel looking through their kids Facebook pages and seeing all the stories and renditions posted by so many others before even knowing what really happened .
Things happen and rumours fly. Perhaps the kids who posted didn’t realise that the information they were giving out so quickly electronically would have the consequences that it did. It seems that it is impulsive behaviour these days. This need to be addressed.
I very much appreciate the discretion that 250 news has shown with their reporting of this story. Even when other news organisations were reporting details ahead of them, they refused to join it, rather waiting for the RCMP to announce the outcome.
This shows their level of professionalism and ethics. Thank you to all of you.
I remember at a truck accident one time, giving the police the name of the driver I thought was the victim by his clothing. The face was hidden. I was wrong. It turned out to be a close friend of mine.
This showed me how easy it is to make an initial mistake.
Its a new age people, social media is quicker then the media, just because you can’t figure out your pvr programming don’t act all all high and mighty and piss on this generation. When this generation reaches your age they will be smarter then ours and maybe even the ones that save this planet from the mess we created. The kids reported it on their facebook yes, it was the media that went into their FB pages stole their posts and pictures in a rush to be first. Today posting on facebook is the equivalant of picking up your phone in our day. Tho this site was sensitive in the early reporting I agree , I think this is article is not and shows a lack of understanding or sensitivity to this generation and the kids who were there and upset.
I don’t know when the RCMP or Victim’s Services attempted to contact the families about the possibility that their child might be unaccounted for. Considering that by all accounts there were ” hundreds” of people at the party, by some accounts, 600, I would hope that it was fairly soon. There were enough eye witnesses that the families could have been warned. The teens are being blamed because they posted on social media right away. 20 years ago the phone lines would have been going steady. The information still would have got out. When you have hundreds of people or even a hundred and they tell a few people and they tell a few people, etc it’s going to get out quickly regardless of the method.
So people lock your facbook, so posts and pics between you and your friends and family that you have every right to send and receive cannot be accessed by the media. How do you know Mr Meisner of the posts and pics unless you yourself perused them, the didn’t just show up on your page, you had to activley search them out. My condolences to the families in this accident.
Good for 250! Unlike a few other media here in town who immediately asked for photos on Facebook, I see exactly why 250 is not an integral part of social media except Twitter feeds, which is nothing like FB. I just read a story on Cbc that families found out from Facebook before even learning from police as said in this editorial. Another new media group to town posted the story late afternoon to social media along as well as Global BC. Doing it that way is fine as long as the info is correct and it was.
It seems it’s the priority nowadays to take pictures, tweet, and Facebook information in these types of tragic situations. How about putting the phones down and showing some respect for the families and victims?
Also, it’s probably time to release the names, since they’re all over the CBC and they’re even spelled out on the link on this site.
Welcome to the new reality. There are no facts. There is no truth. Only data to be manipulate. Facebook (actually I think it’s something else now, my kids stopped facebook when I got on there) is the new way of getting information. When the sawmill fire was just underway, we saw the flames from the top of UNBC. We listened to the local radio stations for 15 minutes waiting to hear some news about what was burning. My son found out for us in 30 seconds on facebook.
My son knew the girl. It is a tragedy when young people lose their lives especially at a time that is supposed to be a celebration. In the 80’s in the Okanagan, grads were dying left and right because of roll-overs and accidents caused by drunk teens driving home from grad parties that were up in the hills. RCMP started visiting schools and educating kids bout what could happen. Dry grads were started and kids were kind of reined in from the excessive drinking that was happening. I’m sure similar things were happening here at the time too. We seem to be slacking off on these activities when it comes to our kids. Simply stating that these parties aren’t sanctioned by any school or parent group is a cop-out. If these kids want to drink (and they are going to regardless) then parents need to step up and get involved in ensuring that these kids get to experience these events but also get home safely when it’s over. It may mean making sure that all participants are driven in and no vehicles are allowed in the area. Supply a generator and a music system. Kids go in, kids drink and kids stay until the next morning or until a parent comes to get them.
There were lots of parents involved in this party. Who do you think supplied all the RV’s that were there?
I vote Meisner for moderator of the whole world wide interweb, then he can pick what articles we can comment on, how we comment on them and then delete the ones he doesn’t approve of like is done on this site. Just one mans opinion.
Another aspect to this is:there was a driver – who drove into the lake, and there was a passenger – who was the victim. So there is going to be a lawsuit by the victim’s family – albeit it will be a lawsuit of ICBC arguing with the victim’s family how much their child’s life was worth, but the police have a duty to do a proper investigation.
Second – if alcohol was a factor, and the driver was a minor, then the RCMP have an obligation to conduct a criminal investigation because whoever supplied the minor the alcohol, could be facing criminal negligence charges – depending on the circumstances.
So while everyone was concerned about how the family was notified, the RCMP were more concerned about doing a proper investigation so that if anyone is going to be called to account for this, they won’t walk away from it because of sloppy police work.
This is a rather classless article, O250.
Children who lost friends lashed out, and acted like children. To say that you were right and they were wrong, just seems so classless in the face of such a tragedy. There will be many hard lessons that come out of this for so many students in our community. We should show them love and compassion.
Oh the invincible young.
This isn’t a classless article. I think it’s meant to show that there is a process involved when investigating a tragedy like this. It’s a little hypocritical of any young person to be mad at a news cameraman when at the same time you circumvent the very process meant to protect the family by posting the entire deal on social media. This is a big problem that isn’t going to go away.
maybe take into consideration these kids were hurting and angry.They knew their friends were in the lake and had watched them drown,tried to save them and then there is the media taking pictures to put all over and all they want is for their friends to be out.I was there when the girl freaked out and I don’t blame her at all.The girls family was sitting right there (hoping and waiting) and there he is taking pictures to post on this site.Try putting yourself in these kids and families shoes.These kids already know what happened and how, and are devastated and acted in a teenage manner trying to still protect their friends.If you expect them to say its ok take pictures while my friends are in the bottom of the lake then you are crazier than them.Trying to make them look bad and making comments about the way they are grief stricken and how they react is in very poor taste.Maybe better judgement on photagraphers end should be judged not kids.As they say tragedies sell though right ben
How do you know that the ones getting angry at the cameraman where the same ones who were posting on Facebook? Do you know that for sure.
It absolutely is classless. And how do you know the young woman was aware of what her friends were posting on FB? Perhaps the photos posted weren’t sensitive, but if you expect a grieving child to rationalize that even though he is taking pictures, I am sure they will pick as “flattering” photos as possible. You post as though you were there taking photos of the graduating class and one girl flipped out because she was photographed from a band angle.
Guess what? Had you arrived at a scene where anyone I loved was seriously injured or killed, and started taking photos, you would have received the exact same reaction from me. Gutter language and all.
the kids were sleeping in the car and somehow it either got knocked into or out of gear and slowly rolled into the water as has been reported in the news by family. Funny how were condemning kids for posting on their Facebook which is meant for friends and family accurate statements while in this one thread there are inaccurate statements being posted which can be accessed by anyone. Pots calling kettles black but I guess were the adults what’s those kids excuses …….
zigzag: “Facebook which is meant for friends and family accurate statements”
You’re kidding, right?
Ben, I think this particular opinion piece is in very bad taste.
I actually find it rather repugnant that you would get up on a soapbox and call out teenagers who are still in a state of shock, for acting in the manner that you describe. I don’t care if you have press credentials or not, anyone with a lick of common sense would understand their reaction.
This entire piece comes across as nothing more than a grumpy old man shaking his finger at a generation of people that he is out of touch with. In the end, I think you are the one that comes off looking disrespectful.
I agree with Ben and how the RCMP handled the situation.
My condolences to the families. These are tough times for them and there will be sorrow for a long time.
Interesting to hear parents were at the party too., if this is true. Another aspect to consider is those parents there could be charged with supplying alcohol. Anyone thought of that?? This is no different from a house party where parents are supervising. they always hold the adults present, responsible.
This is a real tragedy and hopefully in the future, parents can learn from this. It’s unfortunate this happened, and deepest condolences to the families.
If you prosecuted every under age drinker in this town, there’d be 1 school and 15 jails.
Holding parents that were there responsible is ridiculous. Those parents should be thanked for sitting out there until all hours while their kids celebrate the end of their school years.
You want to press charges, charge the government for operating liquor stores. It makes as much sense as charging the parents.
Well Ben I usually enjoy your articles but you are showing your age on this one. You have lost touch with the new information age. Time to pass the torch you had your day. SD57 Brian Pepper could have said a lot of things but chose to duck and run instead.
Just Saying
They shut bars down at 2 or 3 in the morning because drunk people get out of hand. Maybe the RCMP should be shutting these parties down around the same time. They must have known about this event. It’s the third weekend in a row that an after prom party was held there.
I let my son go to the party last week. The caveat was that I would be there at 2:00 AM at the latest to pick him and his friends up. Late enough to give him the experience but he’s out of there before the stuff gets out of hand. In a perfect world I would love if he just stayed home but there’s little chance of that. We’ve all been to grad parties.
Chaperoned grad drinking parties are not a new concept, not by a long shot. I have been out of school for a long time, but I remember them.
A long time ago, parents recognized that kids were going to drink at grad, whether it was sanctioned or not. An effort was made to keep the kids at these parties safe, hence the presence of parents.
That being said, parents can only do so much, and I’m sure countless lives have been saved and situations like this are the exception.
I read Bens comments and I see 2 main points,
he is right, keep the heck off facebook ,and
let the police do their work. Maybe these parties arnt such a great idea? Maybe a parent for every young student should accompany them? Maybe everyone quit blaming everyone, over and out.
Thanks very much Ben. I think a lot more folks need to read and reflect.
PGguy said “We’ve all been to grad parties.”
Never generalize. Because more often than not, you are wrong.
I never was at an after-grad party. I was brought up in a family that held different values. Did I miss out of ‘stuff’? Sure. But nothing that I miss missing out on.
None of my children (all married now) went to an after-grad party either. And not one of them has ever recriminated us for bringing up with values that did not see these parties as something necessary or even desirable.
Kids sometimes act like kids, especially when their friends have just died. How typical of the blowhards on this site to stick their (usually wrong) noses in for the kill.
And Ben, I agree with you frequently, but today you’re all kinds of wrong. B9rderline offensive also.
So what you are saying – hard candy- is that media should not report on any news deemed “sensitive”. I am curious to what they are all kinds of wrong to? Attending the scene, taking pictures of the scene, not deleting the pictures of the scene as demanded, reporting the accident? Sounds like they were accepting of other media, there was a pretty detailed report in today’s newspaper.
I personally first heard if the incident on the provincial news network, then went to this site on my ipad to find out what was what.
We had the same issue arise with a certain suicide, people felt the ‘need’ to post the name and speculate on the future for the affected family members on Facebook. This even before the family members had been notified and media sites just reported that an incident had happened but no names released yet, was pretty much the last time I ventured to the site. Lots of fun as a relative to stumble across a post by one of their ‘friends’ while at work or just getting up, etc.
well said zigzag.. agree with you 100%
mr.meisner you’re in the wrong for this one blaming the kidz.
I learned the namez from cbc and heard it on the scanner when the 911 call came in and they only mentioned agez 17 and 19.
I cant blame someone for coming asking for the picturez afterall itz the same city that throwz someone laying in the middle of oak street and nthe bypass on the front pagez
oh cbc link from this site too boot.
in the end the fingerprint of the media outlet who made the namez public 1st should be sued.
Spell check much Ehnonymous, or just too lazy to type in English?
Seriously, will someone put these children to bed already.
Ben was and is right and just in his opinion, the children made this public hours before it was released on this site. The children had better take a good hard look at themselves before throwing stones at the media.
I’ve seen some numbers posted and let’s just say there were 300 children there, I guarantee you there were at least 250 posts or texts sent within 15 minutes of it happening.
Yea it’s a new age but that means nothing, there is still a moral obligation to do the right thing Facebook and others be damned.
Shame on you for allowing comments!
What purpose does it serve to allow personal opinions?
Shame on you for allowing comments!
What purpose does it serve to allow personal opinions?
I have been graduated some 25 plus years,,,we had deaths, we had suicides in high school but we never had the bubble wrapped society calling in as Grief councilors. We dealt with it by talking and crying about it…Social Media has taken the heart and soul from our youth. That, tragedy , Is the cold heart truth that if you have the best message, you rule….We truly are a doomed society when a 17 year old running the show…..everyone google and find ” you are not special ” graduation speech. Shame on our society for getting here.
Rip these beautiful children ,,,,may the famillies find peace.
ontherun,
Why shouldn’t there be comments? Isn’t Facebook all about personal opinions?
Posted by: JohnnyBelt on May 20 2014 1:11 PM
zigzag: “Facebook which is meant for friends and family accurate statements”
You’re kidding, right?
I have nothing but family and close friends on my facebook and it’s locked to outside viewers, the kids wrote updates to their friend and family akin to a call, they reported the truth to what happened. Who do you have on your FB, strangers, thats gotta be kinda weird and awkward so I can see why you don’t get it. .
zigzag99
You said (the kids wrote updates to their friend and family akin to a call)
Are you serious?
Really?
I have 2 children who will grad next year and if something happens which it won’t because I am parenting my kids.
Yea I would just love to wake up and check my FB to see my kid or kids have passed.
Give your head a shake, seriously, posting on FB is like a phone call.
No it isn’t get off your damn phone and live life.
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