bubhub
21-06-2008, 09:44
I'd like to make an official announcement as the owner of the Bub Hub website about the tragic events of the past few days involving the twins from Brisbane who died in their home, and any apparent link to the Bub Hub website.
The situation that this family found themselves in was clearly desperate, but that desperation was not apparent to anybody, it seems. The mother was a member of the Bub Hub forum (as well as other forums), but she hadn't logged onto Bub Hub since January 2008. She hadn't posted since October 2007 and the media reports of the "killing me" post, being made in December 2007 are incorrect, that particular post was made over a year ago in May 2007.
All posts made on our site are viewed by moderators, as well as numerous other members. The posts made by this mother were not seen at the time as anything other than the normal concerns that any mum of young children has - such as keeping a tidy house, getting 'me time', losing the post-baby weight and just generally keeping a positive frame of mind. Nobody could have predicted anything of the tragic events that unfolded.
We are not sure why one particular member of our forum chose to reveal the contents of this person's posts, photos and profile with the rest of the world at this difficult time. This person took it upon themselves to contact the media and reveal that information. Bub Hub were not approached by the media at all to verify the contents or dates of any posts that were published. The media also sensationalised the information they had to make it sound as though the member had made a cry for help via the internet which was ignored, whereas in reality, the lady interviewed on the tv actually said 'I wish she would have said exactly what was wrong and then we could have helped her'. The mother never made a 'cry for help' on here - if only she had.
We removed the posts and profile from the site as soon as the connection had been made to the case and the subsequent police investigation.
I know that a number of members of our site have expressed support for the family members, particularly the surviving children and discussed ways in which they might offer support.
We have heard that some members have experienced some negative comments as a result of the Today Tonight story. We urge anybody who receives this sort of feedback to invite those with a negative view of the site to visit the forum and see just how much support our 30+ thousand members get every day. The media tend not to be so interested in the 'happy mother is able to cope on a daily basis' stories.
This forum is here to offer support and friendly advice, from parent-to-parent, dad-to-dad and mum-to-mum. If you need help, ask for it and if viewers can help, or be a shoulder to cry on, they will be.
In this instance, sadly the mother never asked for help on our forum or revealed in anyway the situation in which she was involved. Please don't let that happen to you or anybody that you know. Please do seek help and support either here from other members or from any of the professional and charitable organisations listed in our helplines & support organisations directory.http://www.bubhub.com.au/serviceshelplines.php (http://www.bubhub.com.au/community/forums/../../serviceshelplines.php)
The situation that this family found themselves in was clearly desperate, but that desperation was not apparent to anybody, it seems. The mother was a member of the Bub Hub forum (as well as other forums), but she hadn't logged onto Bub Hub since January 2008. She hadn't posted since October 2007 and the media reports of the "killing me" post, being made in December 2007 are incorrect, that particular post was made over a year ago in May 2007.
All posts made on our site are viewed by moderators, as well as numerous other members. The posts made by this mother were not seen at the time as anything other than the normal concerns that any mum of young children has - such as keeping a tidy house, getting 'me time', losing the post-baby weight and just generally keeping a positive frame of mind. Nobody could have predicted anything of the tragic events that unfolded.
We are not sure why one particular member of our forum chose to reveal the contents of this person's posts, photos and profile with the rest of the world at this difficult time. This person took it upon themselves to contact the media and reveal that information. Bub Hub were not approached by the media at all to verify the contents or dates of any posts that were published. The media also sensationalised the information they had to make it sound as though the member had made a cry for help via the internet which was ignored, whereas in reality, the lady interviewed on the tv actually said 'I wish she would have said exactly what was wrong and then we could have helped her'. The mother never made a 'cry for help' on here - if only she had.
We removed the posts and profile from the site as soon as the connection had been made to the case and the subsequent police investigation.
I know that a number of members of our site have expressed support for the family members, particularly the surviving children and discussed ways in which they might offer support.
We have heard that some members have experienced some negative comments as a result of the Today Tonight story. We urge anybody who receives this sort of feedback to invite those with a negative view of the site to visit the forum and see just how much support our 30+ thousand members get every day. The media tend not to be so interested in the 'happy mother is able to cope on a daily basis' stories.
This forum is here to offer support and friendly advice, from parent-to-parent, dad-to-dad and mum-to-mum. If you need help, ask for it and if viewers can help, or be a shoulder to cry on, they will be.
In this instance, sadly the mother never asked for help on our forum or revealed in anyway the situation in which she was involved. Please don't let that happen to you or anybody that you know. Please do seek help and support either here from other members or from any of the professional and charitable organisations listed in our helplines & support organisations directory.http://www.bubhub.com.au/serviceshelplines.php (http://www.bubhub.com.au/community/forums/../../serviceshelplines.php)