Irresponsible reporting (Not autism-related, but still an important issue

There was an article
in the Sunday Mail yesterday about a "self-harm craze" that is "sweeping schools" where students cut themselves to "be part of the in crowd." I'm not sure how the newspaper worked out that this was the reason for self-harm, but it seems to be based on the information in these paragraphs:
Figures from Kids Helpline reveal more than one in 10 Queensland callers are harming themselves, a rise of 3 per cent since 2004.

General manager Wendy Protheroe said callers were aged 10 to 18, and urged parents to be vigilant.

"Youngsters are modelling something they have seen their peers do," she said. "It is something which is increasing and it happens when children don't have good models of understanding."

One Sunshine Coast mother of three, who would not be named, was shocked when her daughters told her that children at school were cutting themselves.

"It's everywhere at the moment and children will try it at least once to see if they like it," she said. "They are doing it to be in the 'in' crowd, because it's perceived to be the trendy thing to do.

"Kids will pressure other kids to cut themselves by implying there is something wrong with them if they don't do it."

How irresponsible is it to get the opinions of two people and print them as gospel?! For God's sake, if you are going to report on an issue, DO YOUR FUCKING RESEARCH!!!! (which, by the way, does not mean "accepting the first vaguely plausible answer to your questions", dumbarses).

The rate of self-harm may be up. Or, we may be seeing an increase in the reporting of it, as more children feel able to use the Kid's Helpline to reach out for help. If this is the case, it is a good thing, and comparable to, say, the increased reporting of child abuse today as compared to a few decades ago.

It is not the "in" thing to hurt yourself. It is the thing to do openly if you want to be labelled as
"a freak"
"OMG that goth bitch"
"emo"
"a waste of medical resources"
"attention-seeking"
"taking the easy way out instead of dealing with your problems" (interesting how none of the people who accuse us of this seem to find it at all easy to put a razor to their skin and cut themselves...)

I'm sure any self-harmer could think of more...

I would not be surprised if there is a small group of people who cut themselves for attention. They are the kind to scratch themselves just enough to draw blood, then walk around with their sleeves rolled up shouting
"Look at me, I CUT MYSELF, OMFG I am BLEEDING to DEATH because I am in SO MUCH PAIN! Pay attention to me!!! FEEL SORRY FOR ME!!!!"
They give those of us who cut because of actual problems a bad name. They may be more visible than us, but that is no excuse for ANYONE, let alone a newspaper, to assume that they are representative of the self-harm community as a whole. People use newspapers as a source of information, some people even use them as a reliable source of information. To publish poorly researched opinions under the banner of factual information is irresponsible and sickening.