After moving to Bridgend my eldest daughter started going out and quickly moved in with a boy who was in a band. I pleaded with her to return home to no avail. Her studies were threatened as she stopped going to college. She changed overnight, I coulnt talk to her, she dyed her hair black became very pale lost a huge amount of weight becoming quite ill. I was worried sick about her and went to see a GP about it but she couldnt help, my daughter was over 16 and would have to go herself. She simply wouldnt respond to me or discuss anything. The band played what cannot be called music but was shouted obsenities, the lyrics seemed to be about death and were depressing. I know drugs were involved. My daughter grew apart from me despite my desperate attempts to get her back. I am convinced that this is a cult that has gone on to these levels. My heart goes out to the families of these young people, more has to be done and now to try to stop the awful negativity this cult engenders.

Julia, Pembokeshire,

i reckon' that it's a combination of several things, but largely the propensity of people to go 'there's something wrong let's get counsellors involved' is one where the major problems are being ignored.

those problems are largely:
a) (the age old) teenage – parent communication difficulties – no! we still haven't solved this one; and
b) (the relatively newer) access to more crackpot views of the minorities via the internet;
teenagers have to know there's something in this life WORTH living for, and right now they're watching everyone's lives being turned into an accountant's dream, but everyone else's nightmare. if we reduce everything to the monetary, we also reduce the fun!

there's really little an MP can do about these and to expect them to is to abrogate our responsibility to the next generation.

peter, melbourne, australia

nathan in inverness: why does it matter if life has a meaning or not? can't you just bloody well enjoy it? i think spending timing with friends, laughing out loud, overcoming fears, experiencing kindess, being flattered, listening good songs and eating nice food are plenty of things to keep me entertained for my 80 years. it's just a happy coincidence then that this time, chance, energy and matter theory you have can be enjoyable for some. for those teenagers, it obviously wasn't enjoyable but i think a great thing to do in your life is to help people enjoy their lives whilst too enjoying yours....sounds a little like this meaning you've been looking for, i don't know.....

julia, wirral, merseyside

It's certainly a tragedy,but I don't agree with Nathan of Inverness that it denotes a lack of purpose in life;by which I'm sure he means that we should all believe in a skygod in order to prevent further outbreaks of hopelessness.
Life is life,and we just have to get on with it and do the best we can,accepting that this life is the only life we'll ever know.
Some people,for one reason or another,choose to put an end to it all. It's terribly sad.
Maybe if there was a god,and the world was perfect,and we all knew why we were here,maybe we would all live happily ever after. But life is not like that.

Colin, Kelowna BC, Canada

Maybe Bebo etc does romantiscise suicide, but I'm sure no one would intend to kill themselves on that basis alone.

I'm also sure that no one is conducting any proper research on this, and jumping to conclusions. Genetics, anyone? Or has anyone considered that this is not so abnormal, but just more widely reported?

How about we just stop trying to blame different sources of information and start looking after each other.

Jen Slocombe , Exeter ,

It's pretty easy to blame parents and politicians, but at the end of the day, these things also happen in model families where there is no clear-cut textbook explanation for 'why'. The reality is that no matter WHAT you tell a growing person, they still have the free will to have thoughts and make decisions of their own, and if it so happens that they don't want to listen to you and are won over by something noxious and grotesquely appealing, they'll do what they want irrespective of excellent parenting. And what is this noxious influence? Our media in its various forms and the depressive episodes it so easily instigates in teens whose egos become so fragile, self-esteems become terrible, and minds become passive.

This is the price we pay for reckless freedom of expression, and use of absolutely anything in the media in the interests of 'art' and targeting the consumer. There's a line between liberty and poisonous propaganda, and we blurred this aeons ago.

Mia, London,

Surely we should be talking to our kids instead of debating the issue in a political, adult context?

sarah, maidenhead,

Yes, most parents in Bridgend that I know are talking to their children, like all parents, we are WORRIED.

I live in Bridgend and have a teenager who is depressed, but not a member of any of the sites like Bebo, facebook etc. We talk daily and help/support is given daily from family and trained counsellors.

Perhaps the community should look at the bigger picture, bullying is rife, so is crime, coupled with nothing for the kids to do. Yes this can be true of many other places, but Bridgend is a very small town with no community spirit.

We have a huge drug problem in Bridgend and these users are running the town.

If you complain to the police about bullying, your told " nothing can be done until that person is physically assulted. The children I know feel forgotten in this town and largely ignored/

I feel sorry for the youth of today.

Christine , Bridgend, Wales UK

Perhaps they're the most sane of the lot of us and see life for what we've truly made it.
They're simply pursuing the full outworking of naturalism - nihilism.
Think about it, if there is no higher purpose, no real truth, no objective morality then is there any meaning to hang on to or actually any point to life other than to exist, other than to reproduce?
If all we are is the product of time + chance + energy + matter then: no, there is no purpose. So why can't they choose not to exist? Obviously they have and we are left with nothing to express other than our emotions, relativism has robbed us of everything else. In the one statement: "True for you but not for me," we have forfitted even our right say such actions are wrong, even to say that their deaths are sad for anyone-else other than ourselves!
Surely there is more to life; surely these deaths ARE great tragedies so SURELY relativism is wrong: there must be truth out there and life must have inherent meaning!?

Nathan , Inverness, UK

Isn't it just bloody typical , so and so spoke to someone and they spoke to some M.P. and a teenager dies someone spoke to some other half-wit and nothing get's done and another teenager dies and someone shakes someone's hand and another teenager dies and nothing gets done .
Why on earth did you vote these ( I'm finding it hard to call them people ) people in .
It is government's first job to protect the people ,of whatever country or principality .
They are not doing their job in Bridgend.

Nick Dixon, Sutton Coldfield, England

Are parents talking to their children in this community? If a child isn't heard by their parents, they will seek consolation and affirmation from their peers who may not be stable and healthy

Chris, Addlestone, UK

Has anyone looked at the symbolism of the hand gestures of Liam Clarke and Natasha Randall and what that might mean? It might be pie in the sky but what kind of things do bored young teenagers get up to in small towns?

Just a thought as it is worth exploring every avenue when such tragedies are happening too regularly to be just mere co-incidence. The devil is in the detail.

Margaret Booth, Manchester, UK