MySpace Cyberbullying incident produces tragic results
August 11th, 2008 by admin
The Internet has provided a new method of communication for young people from all over the world. For most, online social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook are an opportunity to share feelings about music, movies, school and anything else that kids tend to talk about with one another when they congregate.
But as kids gain a greater mastery over the online tools at their disposal, more and more are using these technologically advanced sites, and major consumer software programs, for an insidious purpose – namely, cyberbullying.
What is Cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying occurs when one or more individuals use the Internet to inflict psychological harm on another individual. This can occur in many forms, including: using social media techniques to spread hurtful or untrue information about another individual, creating fake identities and using them to manipulate others, posting unwanted photos of an individual, or doctoring photos of an individual using PhotoShop or other photo editing software programs.
The sad case of Megan Meier
Recently, cyberbullying made headlines when a 13-year old girl from Missouri named Megan Meier committed suicide in her bedroom inside her parent’s home. An investigation found that Megan’s death was likely caused due to stress over being the target of a cruel cyberbullying incident.
Megan developed a relationship on MySpace with an individual who she thought was a new boy in the area, but turned out to be a cabal of other individuals from the neighborhood, including adults such as Lori Drews (who’s 13-year old daughter was once friends with Megan, but had gotten into a fight with her) and an 18-year-old temporary office worker who worked for Drews.
The group created an elaborate hoax to make Megan believe that she had a burgeoning relationship with the boy. When the plot was revealed for all to see, Megan was unable to deal with the humiliation and took her own life.
The state of Missouri had no cyberbullying laws at the time of Megan’s suicide and was therefore unable to prosecute Lori Drews or any of the other parties involved. Federal prosecutors working in Los Angeles however, saw the case as a clear cut violation of the Consumer Fraud and Abuse Act and stepped in to bring Drews up on charges for violating the terms and conditions of her MySpace account. That case is currently pending.
Bullying and young girls
This sad case is unique in that it involved an adult at the helm who should have known better, but the act of bullying has been around as long as there have been children. And while many individuals associate bully-behavior with boys, some of the most devastating instances of bullying occur with girls. What makes girl-girl bullying so harmful is that the age in which it is most likely to occur, say twelve to eighteen years old, is the time in which young women-to-be are dealing with a number of challenging issues regarding their bodies and self-image. Exposing them to high levels of emotional stress, such as those coming from being the target of a cyberbullying incident, can yield unpredictable and often tragic results.
The ACLU gets involved
And this incident is far from over. Recently, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has become involved in the case, concerned that in their haste to bring someone to justice for Megan Meier’s tragic death, Federal prosecutors will be setting a bad precedent, and that the door will open to prosecute (or investigate) anyone who innocently violates the terms and conditions of the websites they use. Like the federal case against Lori Drews, this case is pending as well.
Cyber bullying in the News | Video Update
Tags: Cyber Bullying, cyber bullying examples, Cyber Bullying Stories, facebook, myspace, social networks
August 12th, 2008 at 10:33 am
This situation is terrible, I can’t believe that an adult would act this way towards a kid. Parents need to be taking the Internet seriously and realizing the importance of talking with their kids about online situations.
August 12th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
many girls don’t excuse for such a situation.
August 12th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Life is tough for teenagers. I know because I was bullied in junior high and 2 years of high school. It can be awful and humiliating, especially when you find out that a group of other people are in on it. I just wish something could be done to prosecute the guilty.
October 8th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
[...] interfere” with the education of the young person. Missouri The suicide of a 13-year old girl Megan Meier who was the victim of an internet hoax greatly raised the awareness of cyber bullying and its [...]
October 13th, 2008 at 8:52 am
[...] Megan Meier was a 13 year old from Missouri who struck up an online friendship on the popular social networking site MySpace with a person she believed was a new boy in her hometown. In actuality, the “friend” was a group of individuals, including adults, who were intent on humiliating the poor girl because of a friendship with another child that had gone awry. Megan was very upset when she found out the truth, then later committed suicide once the friendship had terminated. The horrifying case stunned the community and caused state government officials to pass some of the harshest cyber bullying laws in the country. Give your child the ability to report cyber bullying incidents instantly with CyberBully Alert Software. [...]
November 18th, 2008 at 9:33 am
[...] though the bullying doesn’t take place on a one-on-one basis, MySpace cyber bullying and other forms of cyber bullying still show the same effects. Rather than just being bullied while [...]
November 24th, 2008 at 10:10 am
[...] separate profile just about bullying this particular person. Facebook cyber bullying is similar to MySpace cyber bullying because they can create fake identities or create a page with the sole purpose of bullying another [...]
November 26th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
“How can you violate something when you haven’t even read it?” Steward asked. “End of case.”
this is from the drew lawyer…… my God………….that’s whats wrong, stupidity end of case
November 27th, 2008 at 10:43 am
As a parent raising a child I deeply believe in the importance of developing confidence in our children. I read somewhere “Prepare the child for the road, not the road for the child.” We are becoming a society of finger pointers. Remember “sticks and stones can break my bones but names will never hurt me.”? Although people say hurtful things, it is vital to teach our children not to give other people that power over how we think about ourselelves. Especially not people that are hurtful.
Not teaching our children that they alone are responsible for their actions weakens our children, oursleves and our society. It is possible Megan (bless her heart) had confidence issues to begin with. Her mother, who admits in this video how heartless she was to her daughter when her daughter was hurting the most, might have been the catalyst. Who’s to say that didn’t push Megan over the edge? The Dad indicated that Megan had dealt with depression issues since the 3rd grade. Was she in counseling where she could learn some coping skills, or medication that might help if her mental makeup was indeed malfunctioning? I say, let the juvinile name calling cyberbullies live with what they did(especially the grown ups). What they did is mean. To punish them is to put a bandaid on a broken leg. There will be other insults and crude remarks, what are we going to do next? Outlaw dirty looks? Lets deal with this type of issue where we can make a difference. Develop our children’s emotional strength. It might just have to start with the parents developing their own strength. The Cyber bullies, didn’t kill Megan, Megan killed herself. The people involved in the cyberbullying are idiots, but to give them so much power over ones thoughts of ones and life, is….well…detrimental. Raise intelligent, strongminded, confident compassionate children. You won’t have to worry so much.