MySpace Suicide Story of Megan Meier May Prompt Discussion
Do Teens Know How Many Fake Characters Inhabit the Internet?
What Can be Done
The tragedy of the “MySpace Suicide” of Megan Meiers could prevent others like it from occurring in the future. As news of the tragic story spreads across the nation, perhaps an event calamitous for one family may be an opportunity for others.
Upon reading the story, it’s hard to come away feeling anything other than shock, disbelief, outrage or sadness.
13-year-old Megan was the object of mean attacks on the popular Internet site MySpace by, what she thought was, an attractive boy, “Josh”, she’d taken a liking to. Others on the site joined in.
The attacks caused the depression-suffering girl to hang herself.
It was later learned that the attacks came not from the boy, who proved to be a fictitious creation, but from adults who lived down the street from Megan.
All this took place eventhough, from all accounts, Megan’s mom monitored her Internet use in every way possible. Monitored it much more than most parents, in fact.
How could this story prevent others like it from happening?
TAKE 15 MINUTES
Do you have a teen? Do you watch “Jerry Springer”?
Judge Judy?
Oprah?
Turn off the TV, have them sit down and give them a copy of this story. If they haven’t already heard about it, have them read it. They will probably wonder what’s up at this point.
Did the news of their adventures in science class somehow reach home?
Read rest of story:
MySpace Suicide: Megan Meier’s Story May Prevent Others
Sources:
MySpace Suicide: Megan Meier’s Story May Prevent Others
Mondoreb blogs at Death By 1000 Papercuts. Interested readers can e-mail him at
mondoreb@gmail.com.
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9 users commented in " MySpace Suicide: Megan Meier’s Story May Prevent Others Like It "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a Trackbackthats sad sorry about it!!
WELL A FEW QUESTi0NS…
WH0 WAS THiS GUY DiD SHE KN0W HiM F0R A L0NG TiME..??
WAS HE HER AGE??
i am so sorry and yeah how old was he
Adults taunted this little girl ? They should be charged with with…something. For adults to be so vicious to such a young child is atrocious.
You expect children to get into squables and have problems. It becomes completely unfair when adults target children.
An adult is supposed to have a little self control.
An adult is supposed to have a sense of empathy.
An adult is supposed to know when to let something drop and just walk away.
Teens don’t always know this.
I feel so badly for Mr. and Mrs. Meiers… and for the daughter of the
monsters who cause this precious child to kill herself. That child has to
live knowing her parents are essentially MURDERERS and everyone in her
community know exactly who did this… small towns have NO SECRETS.
My condolences and prayers are with the Meier family on Emily’s death.
Who are we kidding??!! This became news only because of such a terribly tragic outcome. We KNOW it happens…everyday. The popular/ richest/ slimmest/ prettiest/ best dressed kid/ adult has the “power”. Others either follow their arbitrary rules or are in trouble.Bullying children often become bullying adults (and raise bullies) - better known as cowards. In this case they hid behind MySpace. Living with what they did is punishment enough.
MY APOLOGY - I MEANT MEGAN - NOT “EMILY”. maggie
As details about Lori Drew’s 6 week cyber-voyeur techniques emerged, the more I am convinced that outing this kind of behavior is not only right, but essential. Essential? Why?
It is becoming clearer and clearer that Lori Drew employed many of the same grooming techniques that child predators utilize to charm their way into gaining a child’s trust. Even Lori herself reported to police that she created the MySpace account in order to find out what Megan was saying.
The most significant key here is that Lori Drew spent approximately 6 full weeks baiting Megan into this trust by posing as a “cute” boy that Megan would be attracted to. Right there, Drew utilizes the sexual stimulation that exists in male/female pair bonding in order to manipulate the 13 year old girl.
Lori Drew groomed her victim like many child predators do, enticing her with flirtation, mild sexual conversation and playing on Megan’s weakness. Lori knew that Megan had a low self esteem and was treated for depression.
Outing Child Predators has been public policy in most states and is usually upheld under the premise that the public has a right to reasonably protect itself from criminal behavior where it exists. Families with children have a right to know when those who might prey upon their child, live nearby. Public policy dictates that if a child is exposed to potential harm from predatory activity, then parents should at least have the opportunity to be aware such harm may exist.
It is the predatory nature of this case that bears striking resemblance to the public policy. The only difference in this case is that the alleged perpetrator of this heinous act has not been charged or convicted.
Thus far, details in the case have been heavily supported by Lori Drew’s own admissions, police records and interviews. The amount of speculation in this case has been minimal, and the majority of public outrage has largely focused on the facts presented.
The Missouri Public Records Act of 1961 were devised partially to inform the public of persons, events, proceedings and reports that may effect the public directly. These records (such as the charges Lori Drew filed against the Meier family), were the principal documents used to tie Lori Drew to her abhorrent acts. By filing this police report, Lori in effect put herself into the spot light. The Blogging community simply connected the dots and reported the results.
The Vice enjoys the sharp irony that Lori Drew’s own actions, activities and zeal to hurt eventually lead to her own uncovering. As I see it, public policy laws and Lori Drew’s own manipulations of those laws worked to her undoing. The Vice is appreciative for Lori Drew’s assistance in these efforts.
Danny Vice
http://weeklyvice.blogspot.com
Lori Drew is a psychopath. That part is clear.
But more disturbing than that are the actions of authorities: If it had been an adult MALE that “carried on” in a sexually explicit way with a 13 year old girl, even if it WERE for the purposes of revenge for his teen daughter, he’d be locked up as a pedophile.
Second, there are al-READY laws on the books that cover this type of harassment. For chrissake: just implement them!
What is particularly chilling to me, is that Lori Drew knew that the victim was known to be suicidal in the past. That means that her statement to her that the “world would be better off without you” or whatever it was… is even MORE chilling: it means she was TRYING to steer this girl to suicide. It means she had a desire to push it in that direction, and did so.
Reminds me of Charles Manson. He never “technically” put his own hands upon his victims either, but he “made it happen” by manipulating people, I mean that’s the premise upon which he was convicted: that he had INCITED it.
Same thing here. Lori Drew incited this suicide and should be just as responsible as Manson was when he incited those murders—and she should also be treated just like any other adult who engages in online relationships of a sexual nature with under-aged children.
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