Technology is a dangerous thing. Though it has a near infinite capacity of helpful possibilities, many people can take technology and the internet too far.
Neighbors of Florida teen Lily Marie Hartwell say that she was just a normal kid who never did anything to raise alarm. She wasn’t the stereotypical rebellious teenager; however, this changed drastically when Hartwell set her house on fire with both her brother and mother inside. Around 1:15 a.m. on September 4th, Hartwell’s mom, immensely confused and scared, got safely out of the house with her son and told firefighters that her daughter was nowhere to be found.
After becoming too interested in the Slender Man and his online game and trying to answer him, the fourteen-year-old soaked bed sheets and a towel in rum and bleach, then proceeded to set them on fire and run out of the house to a public park bathroom where she fell asleep. Later, Hartwell sent a text to her mom saying, “Mom, I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I did it. Did any of you get hurt?” She was found by investigators at 5:00 a.m. in the bathroom, and when asked if she was in fact guilty of setting her house on fire, she admitted to the crime right away.
Before the fire, Hartwell had gotten into an argument with her mother about chores around the house. She had been reading an online book called “Soul Eater,” about killing people and trying to take their souls for higher purposes. Investigators say that Hartwell had been obsessed with the fictional character called Slender Man. She allegedly also visited websites that talked about disturbing acts committed by Slender Man and events that happened because of his influence. Lily Marie Hartwell was arrested and charged with one count of arson and two counts of attempted murder, reports The Suncoast News.
Slender Man is a paranormal character that is referenced and used online among other places. His name became known when a popular game called “Slender: The Eight Pages” started to be downloaded and played by many teens in America in 2009. The urban legend explains that Slender Man abducts children, and he is described to be very tall with no face, sometimes having tentacle-like arms. Although Slenderman has influenced the minds of many teens, hopefully people will start to realize that it is just a myth, and Slenderman does not truly exist. Lily Hartwell’s situation is one of the many in which people have taken technology too far, exemplifying the possible dangers of something that seems so useful and innocent.