Was Michael Jackson Responsible for His Own Death?
This week in English classes I teach in Thailand, I talked about the latest Michael Jackson news and gave them a printout of a news story talking about the Jackson homicide ruling. Then I asked my adult students if they thought Dr. Murray was to blame for Michael Jackson's death or if Michael Jackson had some responsibility. Here's what most of them said.
Michael Jackson was a 50 year old adult man who should have been able to make rational, educated decisions when it came to taking drugs - even Propofol, a powerful anesthetic and one of the drugs that killed him. They almost all believed he had as much responsibility for his death as did Dr. Conrad Murray, and most of them believed Michael Jackson was more to blame.
From numerous news stories and sources, it looks like Michael Jackson had repeatedly asked for higher and higher doses of medicines and more and more drugs - anything that would make him sleep. As someone who was, for all intents and purposes, a drug addict, just like other drug addicts my students felt Michael Jackson should be responsible for the drugs he took. And, therefore, was ultimately to blame for his own death. In my students' minds, Michael Jackson killed himself.
Now, as an educator and someone who believes you cannot always blame a person for what happens to them, I'm not actually sure if I agree wholeheartedly with my students, although I do agree somewhat. After all, Michael Jackson did plead for drugs from several doctors, and he took the drugs that were given to him. In this case, how is getting drugs from Dr. Conrad Murray any different? Michael Jackson has to bear some responsibility for his own death as every functioning adult knows without a doubt, overdosing on drugs can kill you.
Michael Jackson was a 50 year old adult man who should have been able to make rational, educated decisions when it came to taking drugs - even Propofol, a powerful anesthetic and one of the drugs that killed him. They almost all believed he had as much responsibility for his death as did Dr. Conrad Murray, and most of them believed Michael Jackson was more to blame.
From numerous news stories and sources, it looks like Michael Jackson had repeatedly asked for higher and higher doses of medicines and more and more drugs - anything that would make him sleep. As someone who was, for all intents and purposes, a drug addict, just like other drug addicts my students felt Michael Jackson should be responsible for the drugs he took. And, therefore, was ultimately to blame for his own death. In my students' minds, Michael Jackson killed himself.
Now, as an educator and someone who believes you cannot always blame a person for what happens to them, I'm not actually sure if I agree wholeheartedly with my students, although I do agree somewhat. After all, Michael Jackson did plead for drugs from several doctors, and he took the drugs that were given to him. In this case, how is getting drugs from Dr. Conrad Murray any different? Michael Jackson has to bear some responsibility for his own death as every functioning adult knows without a doubt, overdosing on drugs can kill you.
Cassandra James PHD
