Protecting people from themselves

There is some sort of debate going on among the locals around The Gap in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.  The Gap is a scenic ocean cliff, and a well known suicide spot – some 50 people kill themselves each year by jumping off the cliff onto the rocks below.

The local council is lobbying the Federal Government to support its $3.5 million suicide prevention plan, which includes security cameras, lighting, a safety phone and a new fence stretching for more than 80 metres along the cliff line.  Woollahra Council Mayor Andrew Petrie claims:

“There is evidence that these types of measures we are putting in will have an effect on reducing suicides. There is no doubt about it,”

But others are not convinced.  Some believe the fence will just transfer the problem elsewhere, while others say the plan will compromise The Gap’s natural beauty.  One local resident said:

“It’ll look like a prison if it’s got cameras and a big fence and everything. I don’t think we need it,”

The council has committed $500,000 to the project, but its request for further money was denied in May by the Federal Government, which claimed it had more urgent spending priorities.

I think this debate raises some interesting questions about how far we as a community go in protecting people from themselves.  I’m particularly interested in the things authorities do with places like national parks in terms of making the wild safe.  Do we need fences in front of cliffs to stop people harming themselves, either accidentally or intentionally?  Do we restrict access to places for similar reasons?  Shouldn’t people be trusted to have enough commonsense to think for themselves “there’s a cliff edge there, its dangerous, I must be careful”, without having to have a dirty big fence way back from the edge to keep them safe? Or “don’t stand on these rocks, a big wave might sweep you out to sea”, “the ocean has sharks in it”, “this is a river in Northern Australia so it most likely has crocodiles in it”.  Most of these things should be bleeding obvious to a normal intelligent person, but no, we have to have barriers to stop people, or signs plastered all over things to warn people.  I think we make eyesores out of things to dumb the possible risks down to the lowest level, rather than accepting that people should be taking responsibility for themselves in potentially hazardous places.

I went to the Head of the (Great Australian) Bight many years ago, and stood right on the edge of the cliff to look down.  I haven’t been there since but I’m betting its almost certain that the same places now have paths and fences and these are well back from the edge.

As for The Gap being a favoured suicide spot, a fence isn’t going to change people’s propensity to kill themselves.  They’ll just go elsewhere or do it a different way.