Dying for entertainment?

There's a local story here that's captured my attention.

Last week some time, a local radio station sponsored a contest called "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" to win a Playstation Wii. The idea behind it was for several people to drink as much water as possible without having to go to the restroom. Most of you have probably already heard about it. A 28-year-old woman, Jennifer Strange, drank water until she died from water intoxication.

Stupid?

Yes.

There are probably many who would say that she made her choices and suffered the consequences. She's an adult.

Truly though, I have to wonder if she really knew the possible consequences of this. Although there was a similar case in Chico last year, most people don't know the symptoms of water intoxication. They don't know we can actually overdose on it. I didn't know it .. and I'm a reasonably well-read person. It's just nothing that ever caught my attention.

In this reality TV-saturated environment, I believe it is possible the participants in this contest didn't know the possible outcome. The morning DJs who sponsored the contest gave blow-by-blow progress reports during which they egged the contestants on. When a caller phoned in to remind them that people can die from this kind of thing, one of the DJs quipped that it was alright. The contestants all had to sign release forms.

I believe this kind of stuff has gone too far. When does it cross the line? And more than that, when did it become acceptable to put people in harm's way for sport, just to provide entertainment for bored commuters listening to a morning shock-jock radio show? Is it worth a life to get ratings? Apparently KDND believes so.

The Sacramento Co. Sheriff's Department claims that a criminal investigation will occur. Yet they warn that unlikely there will be enough evidence to get past the District Attorney's office for prosecution. If it is determined that a crime took place, the waivers signed by the contestants won't mean a thing.

Personally, I believe the radio station was criminally compliant. If they didn't know the possible outcome, they should have researched it. They should have checked with their lawyers. They should have done something. At the very minimum, they are, in my opinion, guilty of criminally negligent homicide or manslaughter.

A civil suit has been filed against the radio station by Jennifer Strange's husband.

I believe the community needs to speak up about this as well. At some point, we need to say this kind of activity is not acceptable and there will be consequences for those radio or television stations that sponsor it. It's easy to blow this off, saying that adults can make their own choices about what activities to pursue but it is a community issue as well. Our standards as a community are determined by many factors that go beyond individual choice.


Peace,

~Chani