MySpace Suicide Story Sparked Many Reactions
Story Continues to Develop Along Those Lines
Story Reached Most of the U.S. Late Last Week
Many Conclusions
Megan Meier’s MySpace Suicide story sparked a host of reactions and then, reactions to those reactions.
It’s been ten days since the Megan Meier MySpace suicide story came over the horizon into the public’s perception. It’s a story with many twists and turns to it. It continues to twist still.
It was first published in the St. Charles (MO)Suburban Journal and picked up here several hours. We wrote it up immediately for Bloggers News Network (BNN). Although it was reported by a few other blogs within hours, that’s pretty much where it stood for a day.
By the weekend however it had grown into a hurricane of reactions: shock, disbelief, anger, but outrage seemed the most common.
MySpace Suicide – Initial Reactions
The story is a disturbing one, as any teen suicide would be, brought about when 13-year-old Megan Meier, who’d battled depression, was harassed by her online boy friend, Josh Evans. After a particularly nasty note from Josh, and some piling on by his friends, a distraught Megan hung herself.
It was another sad story of a sadder teen committing, to the parents involved, the saddest act of all.
What made this teen suicide story different, was the discovery that Josh was a hoax crafted by a family who lived down the street from the Meier family. The hoax was a reaction to their daughter and Megan having a falling out.
Neighbor against neighbor in suburbia. Adults stalking teens online. Another Internet ‘underbelly of the beast’ in the form of popular social site, MySpace.
After doing our sixth story in four days, Megan’s mother and father, Ron and Tina, appeared on CNN. The story gathered momentum from there and interest is still high, if comments and emails written are any guide.
By the weekend, the story had changed from Megan. It was now the story of “Megan as an illustration”. What kind of illustration seemed to depend on what particular cause the writer was espousing.
There was the “Internet was Evil” reaction with the tragedy held up as the latest proof. Government types were quick to point out “There ought to be a law”: against the largely-unregulated Internet and the really scary place that was MySpace.
More common reactions were sorrow for Megan and her family and disgust and outrage that she was stalked by adults who knew her. Even more disgust and outrage was heaped up on the hoaxers when it was related that Megan’s parents had destroyed a foosball table they’d been storing for their daughter’s tormentors–and the mother filed charges against the Meier parents.
Reactions to the Reactions
The rage reached a crescendo over the lack of legal recourse for the Meier parents.
The storm then shifted over the identities of the perpetrators. Who was this heartless bunch? The Suburban Journal hadn’t named them in the original story “out of concern for their daughter. As ABC News reported it a couple of days ago, Police Cite ‘Air of Vigilantism’ In Response to Girl’s Suicide:
But that hasn’t stopped an outpouring of hostility against her, both online and in the real world. The story hit the national media late last week, with Megan’s parents appearing on Good Morning America and the Today show. Though the newspapers and networks declined to identify the real-life “Josh Evans,” bloggers quickly outed her and posted her family’s name, address and phone number online.
Actually, it was readers who posted names and phone numbers–and large numbers of them, apparently many from Dardenne Prairie, a small suburb of St. Louis.
Read rest of the story:
Megan Meier MySpace Suicide: Reactions to the Reactions to the Reactions
Sources:
Megan Meier MySpace Suicide: Reactions to the Reactions to the ReactionsPolice Cite ‘Air of Vigilantism’ In Response to Girl’s Suicide
Mondoreb blogs at Death By 1000 Papercuts. Interested readers can e-mail him at
mondoreb@gmail.com.
7 users commented in " Megan Meier MySpace Suicide: Reaction Roundup "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackLori 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.
this is ridiculous what is next blaming for someone for looking at them the wrong way or sneezing on someone accidentally? obviously this has more to do with our cultures views on vanity more than supposed, “online bullying.”
On Wednesday, October 21st, city officials wasted no time enacting an ordinance designed to address the public outcry for justice in the Megan Meier tragedy. The six member Board of Aldermen made Internet harassment a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a $500 fine and 90 days in jail.
Does this new law provide any justice for Megan? Does this law provide equitable relief for a future victim?
The Vice rejects the premise of this new law and believes it completely misses the mark. Classifying this case as a harassment issue completely fails to address the most serious aspects of the methods Lori Drew employed to lead this youth to her demise. The Vice disagrees that harassment was even a factor in this case until just a couple of days before Megan’s death.
Considering this case a harassment issue is incorrect because during the 5 weeks Lori Drew baited and groomed her victim, the attention was NOT unwanted attention. Megan participated in the conversations willingly because she was misled, lured, manipulated and exploited without her knowledge.
This law willfully sets a precedent that future child exploiters and predators might use to reclassify their cases as harassment cases. In effect, the law enacted to give Megan justice, may make her even more vulnerable. So long as the child victim doesn’t tell the predator to stop, even a harassment charge may not stick with the right circumstances and a good defender.
Every aspect of this case follows the same procedural requirement used to convict a Child Predator. A child was manipulated by an adult. A child was engaged in sexually explicit conversation (as acknowledged by Lori Drew herself). An adult imposed her will on a child by misleading her, using a profile designed to sexually or intimately attract the 13 year old Megan.
Lori then utilized the power she had gained over this child to cause significant distress and endangerment to that child. She even stipulated to many of these activities in the police report she filed shortly after Megan’s death.
City officials who continue to ignore this viable, documented admission and continue to address this issue as harassment are intentionally burying their heads in the sand, when the solution is staring them right in the face. Why?
There are several other child exploitation laws on the books. To date, none of them have even been considered by City, State and Federal officials in this case. The Vice is outraged that a motion was never even filed, so that the case could at least be argued before a judge or jury.
The federal “Violence Against Women Act” has several recent revisions concerning cyber-stalking by an anonymous individual using the internet and it could and SHOULD be used to prosecute Lori Drew’s stalking of Megan Meier.
was the mother who made the fake myspace remorseful? i just read about this recently and it didnt seem like she was sorry for this happening. there has to be some kind of law for this she can’t for unpunished for provoking an innocent child for doing such a thing. the mother has to have knowen a prank like that will psychological harm any teenage girl reguardless of her mental health. honestly i’d consider that 3rd degree murder there needs to be new laws for things like this the internet and all these online dating sites are new someone needs to do something about this and i think they should make an example of this twisted so called mother
this really upset me im 16 no kids not pregnant but i am a teen and from a childs point of view Mrs. Lori was wrong and so was the 19 y old when people talk about us we fell horrible and when we fall in love with a boy and he dumps us we feel even worse and while we still have feelings for this guy he tells us to die or that ‘the world would be a better plae w/o us” and we already feel that way then we do feel like we want to end our lives. when all this pressure is put on us then we feel like spit and knowing that there are people talking bad about us just makes it worse to the point where we break down and this little grl was just 13 so young and so naiive she isnt even that old so what the hek are these two grown women doing she was barley even a teenager in te 7th or 8th grade being picked on by a mother with a kid and a woman who wants to take part in ruining a family’s life.
(cont.)thats freakkin immature and i pray that they do something about this these women deserve to be in prison this is murder
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