Re:Leave no trace: how a teenage hacker lost himself online
by makeitdouble on Monday October 18, 2021 @01:48AM
(#28902610)
From the article:
> There were countless visits to the doctor and to hospital. Each time there would be medical tests. “Honestly, I think it was psychological,” said José. “Edwin had a lot of anxiety, but the doctors focused on physical causes.”
Doesn't look to me like the answer was "tough love" or "go do some gardening", in particular when taking into account he eventually ends his own life. This really feels like a lack of psychological treatment that might have been needed very early, and just go way way worse as it went untreated.
Sure, agreed, but again... the narrative of a cold and uncaring family/milieu is just false. His mentors at school were deeply concerns. He went to rehab and they kicked him out as a lost cause. Etc. Other people cared about him, but he didn't care about him.
The idea that he just needed a bit more understanding and sympathy seems extremely misguided... if anything, he had too much "soft love". If I were the judge, in his case, I would've strongly insisted on community service. Would it have helped change his mindset or at least break his death spiral? Who knows. But it had a better chance than prison.
> Community hours are a punishment, albeit a socially useful one
It's also a personally useful one. Seeing other people pitching in and seeing the tangible positive effects of one's actions can help some people introspect and really come to terms with the tangible negative effects of their previous actions. Not always, but sometimes.