p2pnet - rss feed: MySpace tragedy: girl hangs herself
p2pnet news | P2P:- “Dardenne Prairie officials Wednesday night told a couple who lost a daughter to suicide last year that they will pass a law to make cyberspace harassment a crime in this city of 7,000 and will also pass a resolution next week to encourage the state Legislature to address the problem.”
Dardenne Prairie is a city in Missouri and it’s the site of a tragedy in which a 14-year-old girl hanged herself in her closet, believing someone she’d met on MySpace had turned against her.
The girl’s name was Megan Meier and, writes Steve Pokin in the St Charles Journal, her mother, Tina, remembers her daughter saying she’d met Josh Evans online, “He was 16 years old. And he was hot …”
Pokin goes on:
Josh had contacted Megan Meier through her MySpace page and wanted to be added as a friend.Yes, he’s cute, Tina Meier told her daughter. “Do you know who he is?”
“No, but look at him! He’s hot! Please, please, can I add him?”
Mom said yes. And for six weeks Megan and Josh - under Tina’s watchful eye - became acquainted in the virtual world of MySpace.
Megan —- who suffered from depression and attention deficit disorder —- and Josh kept up an online relationship for more than a month, “before he abruptly ended their friendship, telling her he had heard she was cruel,” says the story, continuing:
The next day Megan committed suicide. Her family learned later that Josh never actually existed; he was created by members of a neighborhood family that included a former friend of Megan’s.
Now Megan’s parents hope the people who made the fraudulent profile on the social networking Web site will be prosecuted, and they are seeking legal changes to safeguard children on the Internet.
The girl’s mother, Tina Meier, said she doesn’t think anyone involved intended for her daughter to kill herself.
“But when adults are involved and continue to screw with a 13-year-old, with or without mental problems, it is absolutely vile,” she told the Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis, which first reported on the case.
Now, in an update, the St Charles Journal says Dardenne Prairie mayor Pam Fogarty has, “instructed City Attorney John Young to draft an ordinance that would make it a Class B misdemeanor - punishable by 90 days in jail and/or a $500 fine - to harass someone over the Internet.”
The newspaper says the woman who created the Josh Evans MySpace persona, “called police and filed a report Nov. 25, 2006, after the Meiers destroyed a foosball table they had been storing in their garage for the family down the street. The Meiers destroyed it on the day they learned the neighbor had created the phony Josh Evans account.
“In that police report, the woman down the street told a sheriff’s deputy she created the MySpace page to see what Megan was saying about her daughter. She also said the account was monitored by her, her daughter and an 18-year-old part-time employee.
“The neighbor, when contacted by the Journal last week, disputed the accuracy of that police report. She has not been charged and is not being sued.”
Also See:
St Charles Journal - A real person, a real death, November 10s, 2007
St Charles Journal - Dardenne Prairie officials plan to make cyberspace harassment a crime, November 14, 2007
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November 17th, 2007 at 9:13 am
Parents shouldn’t have allowed it to happen in the first place.
November 17th, 2007 at 11:14 am
She probably WAS cruel. What a ridiculous way to blame internet, MySpace, a virtual friendship, for the death of an unstable unhealthy girl. She would have tried suicide either way. If it had not been Josh, it would have been someone in the schoolyard. Get a clue.
November 17th, 2007 at 12:04 pm
“Parents shouldn’t have allowed it to happen in the first place”
Always the same type of coment by moron like you playing the smart pan after the fact.
Now that it has happen Ya! It is easy to say that they should not done this or that deu!
To bad you did noy told them that before smart-ass!
We are talking about a tragedy here! You should be sorry for her and for them.
I feel sad. No Parents should have to burry their kids. Sorry!
November 17th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
i think its wierd a 13yo hangs herself, just in general. i swear most 13 year old kids ive met wouldnt be successfull.. even grownups have a realy realy poor successrate trying to hang themselves.. alot more common with razerblades and most fail trying that too..
must have been a realy lucky(in the unluck) girl to have succeeded..
i would never let my kid use the internet, gaming online for sure but certainly not community sites or places to meet people, thats not for kids imo doesnt matter if they have good mental health or not its a nono. they should meet other kids in RL, then they have eatchother and relative safety against evul doers.
i wonder if she even said anything to her mom about him calling her cruel? what did the mom do/react? in the end kids are not experienced anough to deal with certain things on the internet, how to cope with one calling you cruel can be one sutch thing, up to parents to decide i gues…
November 17th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Cruelty can be rather mild. I don’t recall ever seeing it used in a disparaging way to justify the likelihood of a reactionary suicide before this story.
Is the negative connotation of cruelty so strong in the teenage world and I am just not remembering?
Someone help me out here…
November 17th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
it sucks, and they should definately be punished or screwing around like especially with someone who has mental problems. but this isn’t something new, i still remember (i am 18) when girls 13 1 and 15 or even 18 go nuts all over hot guys, and when they break their hearts they get severely depressed if not kill themselves. its sad but i think our society is getting shallower.
November 17th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
At what point do we say enough. I have two daughters of my own, but I blame the mother of the girl who died.
The reality is the world is a cold cruel place sometimes. If this girl was that mentally unstable, she should have been in intense therapy and not anywhere near a site like MySpace.
People in this country don’t want to actually be responsible for thier actions, its much easier to blame someone else.
Go into any public school on any day, and the bullying and general behavior is 10x worse, yet we don’t see local government rushing through bills like this.
This matter is no different than a parent who didn’t lock away a gun suing the manufacturer for making a weapon that killed their disturbed son or daughter.
It is certainly tragic, but one has to ask: How can such a person actually function in society?
Should everyone have to treat such people with kid gloves because they can’t handle life?
I dealt with depression throughout my teenage years, and still do, yet I never pointed the finger and at society and claimed I could act however I wanted because people weren’t nice to me.
We as a society have accepted that if someone has a problem, there has to be someone to blame, but never the victim or those close to him/her. It is time to take personal responsibility again and stop blaming whatever convenient source is available.
November 17th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
she was just a kid for the mother that did that my be a kid her self upstairs who cares what she said that was wrong to do that to a child now she is gone and cant be replaced was it really worth doing something like that over something so stupid life is so short
November 17th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
Ok, I see everyone holding the parents of the girl who committed suicide responsible, but what about the idiotic, immature, ridiculous “PARENT” who set up the fake MySpace page? Obviously, their intentions were no good. They planned to string her along and then do all they could to destroy her. Monitoring communications on MySpace is one thing, but soliciting a relationship? Come on! Isn’t that a bit like sex offenders going online and pretending to be teenagers in order to lure children? A mom, daughter and part time employee? What ever happened to going over to talk to the PARENTS? Where were the adults? I’m sorry, but the mother who created the fake MySpace page acted like an insensitive and destructive child. I hope she feels terrible. And not just about her stupid foosball table either. Sure, the parents of the girl probably made many mistakes (all parents do), but it does sound like they were trying to be actively involved and stay on top of the situation. They lost their baby. Imagine, for one second, yourself in their shoes (particularly all of you holier than thou parents out there spouting fire and brimstone about the parents of the deceased girl). Tell me you wouldn’t be upset with the neighbor.
November 17th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
Oh and BTW, for those of you who claim the girl overreacted to being called cruel, there was a bit more to it than that:
“Their communication lasted six weeks, according to the Journal article, and ended with a string of disturbing messages from Josh and postings that read Megan was “fat” and “a slut.”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/printedition/saturday/chi-suicidenov17,0,2946138.story?coll=cs-home-headlines
And remember, there was a PARENT behind these comments. Still want to defend the mother who created the MySpace page? If you do, I surely hope you don’t have any children of your own, because I can only imagine how you would handle your children’s conflicts.
November 17th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
All you douchebags blaming the girl or her mom need to check yourself. Do you even remember what being 13 is like? Stop trying to use adult logic, the key fact is another parent was activley involved in harassing this 13-yr old girl. That is just plain vile. Talk about “bad parenting” - put some blame on the parent who actually worked with her daughter to deceive and harass a 13 year-old girl. That’s one of the most disturbing parts of the tragedy for me. A 13-yr old is no match for the deception and cruelty another adult can inflict.
November 17th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
I just saw the parents on channel 2 talking about this tragedy. Sad all the way around.
It turns out that Megan had been depressed and on medication since she was 8 years old.
Although the neighbor’s actions were dispicable, its hard to pin the death on her.
Why? Megan committed suicide after having a fight with her mother. Megan was on the internet responding with obscenities when her mother walked in. The mother chastised Megan and told her to quit her actions but Megan argued with her mother. Her mother told Megan that she was very disappointed in her and the language and themes that Megan was posting. Megan then told her mother that she thought that her mom was always supposed to have her back and take her side because she was her Mom. Her Mom told her again to quit what she was posting on the internet. After the argument, the mother then left.
Megan then hanged herself in the next 15 minutes. Her poor mother is racked with guilt over the argument and wonders if she would have stayed and talked with Megan more indepth if Megan would not have killed herself.
I
November 17th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
How can anyone say this is the mother’s fault? To have to bury your child, and know that her last moments alive were so miserable due to another person’s cruelty…this is an outrage. And the fact that an ADULT–another mother, no less–created the fake profile and harassed this 13-year-old girl? I hope this woman is punished to the fullest extent of the law. Internet harassment is VERY real, and very serious when it involves kids. And to blame Megan’s mom is unjustifiable, and inexcusable. Raising kids is hard no matter what, but especially now with the Internet. This other mother is clearly a disturbed woman–hope she gets what she deserves.
November 17th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Some example the woman posing as “Josh” set for her kids. I bet her daughter’s a real prize. This family should get the h*ll out of town–I can’t imagine how any of their neighbors would want these vile people around. This woman sounds completely sick. How can any adult justify calling a 13-year-old “slut” or playing mind games for 6 WEEKS!! What a horrible tragedy. There are some demented people out there, that’s for sure.
November 17th, 2007 at 9:01 pm
Bottom line:
The parents were irresponsible. The creators and maintainers of the fake profile were equally irresponsible. There are no “sides” here.
The parents had a child with behavioral issues, and apparently they did not properly manage those issues, whatever such management may entail. One was clearly allowing an abnormally unstable child (yes, children by definition are “unstable” but this girl was beyond those limits) to communicate with others via the Internet, the most uncontrolled medium on the planet. Add him to her friend list? She shouldn’t have *had* a “friend list.” She should have been urged to find real friends rather than communicate with what essentially boils down to a Mr. “Anonymous Coward.”
The fakers were cruel to this girl, and being in the same neighborhood, they most likely knew of this girl’s instability. While there may not be much in the way of evidence that they had this knowledge, it would be hard to believe from a casual onlooker standpoint to say that they met, and the events transpired, completely by chance.
The only way the fakers could be held responsible for this is if they knowingly and willingly provoked her with an intent to cause emotional distress. That’s not the easiest thing to prove, and depends on the specific content of the messages being sent back and forth, and even then I can’t *fully* agree with holding them responsible from my more Libertarian view of the world: NO PERSON SHOULD BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACTIONS OF ANOTHER. However, we are dealing with a child, and that does change that view somewhat due to the volatility of children in general.
Ultimately, however, the mother did have the tools and capability to prevent her daughter from reaching this point, and she did not exercise that capability. Her daughter took her own life, which was not a decision made by either the fakers or the mother, therefore it isn’t directly the fault of either of those. If the mother was aware of her daughter’s mental problems, she should not have allowed such an uncontrollable outside influence into her home, and that’s really where I see the mother having a bit more fault than anyone else, but roughly speaking, everyone is equally guilty.
What bothers me some is that this girl died because of these peoples’ irresponsibility. What bothers me more is that these fucking idiots are playing the “protect the children” card rather than taking responsibility for being just that: fucking idiots. The entire nation, it seems, is doomed to suffer under more and more fascist legislation because total fucking idiots nationwide need not only to be protected from themselves, but their own children need to be protected from everything in existence as well.
Whatever happened to the time when kids got guns and chemistry sets as presents?
…Now that I think of it, I’m sure that somewhere down the line, someone who is even more of a grand fucking idiot will try to take this incident and tie it to all those non-existent “child sexual predators” that we’re supposed to believe are creating every third MySpace profile and are waiting behind every bush and tree to do something bad to children. It’s almost inevitable with the child-worshiping politician-funding ridiculousness we have on the rise. Just wait, it’s coming. It always does. This law they’re pushing will inevitably be named after the child as well, to guarantee it gets passed just like Jessica’s Law did. They’ll call it “Megan Meier’s Law” or “Meier’s Law” and push yet another heap of unintended consequences directly down our throats, and soon enough there will be people getting convicted of a felony for sending a MySpace message that some overprotective parent misinterprets.
Don’t laugh. This is how every last one of those laws gets started. It’s a formula that plays out over and over, and We The People are so stupid that we’ll sacrifice unlimited quantities of freedom and personal responsibility, as long as we perceive it to be to the benefit of the children. Adolf Hitler said it best: “The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation.”
November 17th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
The blame lies on the cunt that made the fake profile, and the girl’s parents too for not watching what she was doing.
November 17th, 2007 at 10:09 pm
The vulnerability of internet in these modern times is evident from this sad incident. My request to all parents is that they must all ensure
that their children do not spend too much time chatting and making online friends. Today even grownups spend time chatting on fake
identities with the sole aim of having s**.
To be honest even I ventured into one of these chat sites once as I was depressed, but in TWO DAYS FLAT got out of it. Never to go back.
It is like tasting cocaine or doing drugs. Once you catch the fever you can never get out of it.
May the poor ANGEL’S soul rest in peace.
November 17th, 2007 at 10:20 pm
Even today there are a million innocent Megans going around chasing their dreams and more than a billion treacherous Joshs (in all sizes)
going about pursuing their GOALS, the onus lies on the parents to protect their cherub.
November 17th, 2007 at 11:14 pm
All of you people who are putting most of the blame on the deceased girl and her mother have no heart. I hope you never have to go through something so cruel in your life because if you did I can only imagine how you would react to something so tragic.
November 18th, 2007 at 2:36 am
Do you really think that a $500 fine and/or 90 days in jail will make up for the tragedy of losing a beautiful 13 year old daughter?!?! The mother who helped come up with this fake identity needs to be shot! As a mother myself, I could not look at this evil Bitch everyday and not want to strangle her myself…she should be charged with manslaughter!
November 18th, 2007 at 2:42 am
To call the woman who created the profile a CUNT is an understatement! That piece of shit so-called mother should be lucky she doesn’t live down the street from me…I would’ve ran her ass out of the neighborhood with a good ole’ fashin ASS WHOOPING! She’s a menace to our society and I hope her daughter turns into a whore!
November 18th, 2007 at 3:21 am
Wow people, how long has the internet been around? I could understand attempting to blame the person that created this fake profile in say, 1997. But not in 2007. This is basic, common knowledge even to teenagers that you can never know who is really on the other end of an IM profile. If anyones to blame, its the parents for not properly educating their teenager of the truths about the internet.
November 18th, 2007 at 4:47 am
Everyone is demented to think that its the poor girl and parents fault that she committed suicide. In reality its a tragedy that would probably not of happened if the myspace wasn’t made by a so called responsible adult. The person who made it was sick and does not deserve to have children. People blaming it on her parents aren’t gunna bring her back or fix things. I hope the person who made the space feels a never-ending sense of guilt or burns in hell. Even though the net is a dangerous place and you should be wary of these sorts of things it is honestly hard to believe that someone on the other end of the computer isn’t who they say they are. Its just a lesson learnt the wrong way to be very very careful around the internet and the petty things that happen to cause people do make up a fake account.
November 18th, 2007 at 4:53 am
Its sometimes comforting to find people on myspace to talk to who you haven’t met before so I don’t blame the girl for wanting to add him. I’ve met a lot of great people through myspace and its great to talk to someone about your life and general stuff who isn’t someone you know. I do agree that there are alot of Megans and Josh’s in the world, there are always gunna be people doing this sort of shit and I know its happened to me once and I was pretty torn up but not enough to kill myself but then again I’m not unstable, but still. Bottom line is that the sick people should never of made the account in the first place no matter what their intentions are.
November 18th, 2007 at 6:07 am
no one know what woulda, coulda, shoulda happened if they hadn’t chatted.
but in this instance - which is the only one that would count in court, as judge judy would say - but for the actions of the people running the fake profile, this girl would be alive.
forget that she was on medication or had been depressed for six years. she might not ever have committed suicide except for the actions of those immature idiots.
November 18th, 2007 at 6:53 am
This is just natural selection. If you’re too stupid to hang yourself over someone who might not even exist in reality, then you’re just doing your part to improve the remaining gene pool. This is one of the many things that are fucked up about the US, if a group dislikes something, they will lobby lawmakers to make it a felony.
November 18th, 2007 at 7:34 am
This is indeed a sad situation. those people who did that phony address should be charged. She said that she was trying to find out what was being said about her daughter, why did she contunue for so long. that is wicked.and TO ANONYMOUSE, IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU TOOK PART IN THAT WHOLE PLOT. SO SHUT YOUR MOUTH. YOU’RE SO SURE ABOUT YOURSELF WHY LIST AS ANONYMOUSE. LET THE SAME HAPPEN TO YOUR SISTER , COUSIN, NEICE OR BETTER YET DAUGHTER AND THEN YOU TELL ME ABOUT IT.
I FEEL FOR THE MEIER FAMILY. I HOPE SOMETHING IS DONE IN THEIR FAVOUR
November 18th, 2007 at 9:24 am
The fault to me lies with the girl. I’m not trying to be harsh by saying this, even if it is how you read it. Just because the girl died doesnt instantly make her an innocent party.
The girl needed a bit of self censorship. It is not the parents job to watch her every move, and any who say the internet is to blame must be the kind of person who takes the news reports on tv about the internet being bad seriously. There are some sites i dont go on because i dont like the content. Similarly, because of her mental condition, she should have had the sense not to go on myspace. Nothing to do with myspace as such, but allowing herself to get into a vunerable situation like that.
The issue of the other family creating a fake account, well that’s not really anything to do with my point. Yes what they did was wrong, yes they must have known her condition. Stuff like that is rife on the net, and them specifically targeting the girl with intent to harm is very wrong. However it could all have been avoided if the girl didn’t let herself get in that situation. 5 year olds know the difference between right and wrong, so 13 is plenty old enough to know what’s good for you.
Just my take on things *shrug*
November 18th, 2007 at 9:42 am
I like what angry offender had to say so…….
The parents were irresponsible. The creators and maintainers of the fake profile were equally irresponsible. There are no “sides” here.
The parents had a child with behavioral issues, and apparently they did not properly manage those issues, whatever such management may entail. One was clearly allowing an abnormally unstable child (yes, children by definition are “unstable” but this girl was beyond those limits) to communicate with others via the Internet, the most uncontrolled medium on the planet. Add him to her friend list? She shouldn’t have *had* a “friend list.” She should have been urged to find real friends rather than communicate with what essentially boils down to a Mr. “Anonymous Coward.”
The fakers were cruel to this girl, and being in the same neighborhood, they most likely knew of this girl’s instability. While there may not be much in the way of evidence that they had this knowledge, it would be hard to believe from a casual onlooker standpoint to say that they met, and the events transpired, completely by chance.
The only way the fakers could be held responsible for this is if they knowingly and willingly provoked her with an intent to cause emotional distress. That’s not the easiest thing to prove, and depends on the specific content of the messages being sent back and forth, and even then I can’t *fully* agree with holding them responsible from my more Libertarian view of the world: NO PERSON SHOULD BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACTIONS OF ANOTHER. However, we are dealing with a child, and that does change that view somewhat due to the volatility of children in general.
Ultimately, however, the mother did have the tools and capability to prevent her daughter from reaching this point, and she did not exercise that capability. Her daughter took her own life, which was not a decision made by either the fakers or the mother, therefore it isn’t directly the fault of either of those. If the mother was aware of her daughter’s mental problems, she should not have allowed such an uncontrollable outside influence into her home, and that’s really where I see the mother having a bit more fault than anyone else, but roughly speaking, everyone is equally guilty.
What bothers me some is that this girl died because of these peoples’ irresponsibility. What bothers me more is that these fucking idiots are playing the “protect the children” card rather than taking responsibility for being just that: fucking idiots. The entire nation, it seems, is doomed to suffer under more and more fascist legislation because total fucking idiots nationwide need not only to be protected from themselves, but their own children need to be protected from everything in existence as well.
Whatever happened to the time when kids got guns and chemistry sets as presents?
…Now that I think of it, I’m sure that somewhere down the line, someone who is even more of a grand fucking idiot will try to take this incident and tie it to all those non-existent “child sexual predators” that we’re supposed to believe are creating every third MySpace profile and are waiting behind every bush and tree to do something bad to children. It’s almost inevitable with the child-worshiping politician-funding ridiculousness we have on the rise. Just wait, it’s coming. It always does. This law they’re pushing will inevitably be named after the child as well, to guarantee it gets passed just like Jessica’s Law did. They’ll call it “Megan Meier’s Law” or “Meier’s Law” and push yet another heap of unintended consequences directly down our throats, and soon enough there will be people getting convicted of a felony for sending a MySpace message that some overprotective parent misinterprets.
Don’t laugh. This is how every last one of those laws gets started. It’s a formula that plays out over and over, and We The People are so stupid that we’ll sacrifice unlimited quantities of freedom and personal responsibility, as long as we perceive it to be to the benefit of the children. Adolf Hitler said it best: “The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation.”
November 18th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
Nice thoughts john doe, ever get any original ideas?
Also, do you really think you are so “free”? You can be monitored on the very computer you used to type your message. There are probably “harmless” retailers who have amassed lots of information about you, your buying habits, your demographics, your likes and dislikes. Do you never get spam or junk mail?
I have been following this story. It first hit the papers a week ago. There have been TV interviews on Fox America’s Newsroom, Fox 2 St. Louis, CNN and CBS. More is revealed in each story. Like most people, you are getting bits and pieces of the story and jumping to (wrong) conclusions. The fact is that the Meiers had banned MySpace until a few months before Megan was to reach legal age to use it. She did not have access to her own account. Mom (Tina) had the password. Megan was not allowed to add a friend without parental approval. A parent was in the room monitoring her online sessions. (Except that once, when Tina instructed her to log off. But then, if enough people join in, with enough hurtful words, it only takes once.) Weeks before the tragedy, the Meiers contacted the police to try to check the identity of “Josh”, since they did not know him in real life. Megan’s other MySpace friends were ones they knew in real life. They took her to a counselor weekly and sent her to a private school after ridiculing occurred at the public school. They encouraged Megan to be active, she was on a volleyball team, and she had just lost 20 lbs (a stone?). They were in fact, more protective and attentive than many parents.
The perpetrator had taken Megan on family vacations (holidays). The family knew Megan was fragile, set out to gain her confidence, and used that to TAKE HER DOWN. Their daughter assisted, they hired an employee to help, and even tried to enlist other neighborhood children to take part in “the game”.
The perpetrators have filed two lawsuits against the Meiers.
Their acts against Megan had no repercussions, but a lawn damaged? a foosball table broken? Those are crimes.
stcharlesjournal.stltoday.com/news/sj2tn20071110-1111stc_pokin_1.ii1.txt
bluemerle.blogspot.com/2007/11/what-you-said-to-megan-meier.html
Perhaps reading these will allow you to have some measure human compassion for the victims of this crime.
I find the cold judgments here disturbing.
Maybe you aren’t trying to be harsh, Jim, but it sure comes off that way.
November 18th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
I do wish that people who did it would be haunted by this until the day they die. How a grown up woman can be involved in something like that or let it happen at all???
I am very angry. And she should tell the judge she didn’t want this to happen. I am curious to see what his reaction was.
Now, whose pictures have been used for a profile? If someone uses a picture of an actual child for cyber-bullying, it is a CRIME.
You know what, nothing makesd me more angry than animal and child abuse, and that was child abuse in one of its worst forms.
For someone who had witnessed a death of a 3 y.o. (freak accident), it is very hard to read about children suffer or die.
November 18th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
“Maybe you aren’t trying to be harsh, Jim, but it sure comes off that way.”
I know it does. The story itself is tragic and alot of people are in the wrong depending on your stance. I don’t disagree, but bypassed that aspect. Making herself vunerable on the net hit a nerve and i felt i had something i could contribute to the discussion, other than a knee-jerk emotive response to the story. It reminded me that i know people who would be quite susceptible to such an attack. Nothing as dramatic as suicide attempts, but they take stuff to heart when it should be taken rather more lightly. It irritates me how people can allow themselves to get in a situation like that if they can’t take the possible consequences, on the net especially as it can so easily be avoided.
November 18th, 2007 at 6:23 pm
So, so sad. God bless her soul.
November 18th, 2007 at 6:24 pm
Ms. Drew used the same same exact mode of operation as a child predator enacts in the seduction of a child.
Drew posed as a member of the opposite sex and spent weeks and weeks luring this girl into a relationship.
But yet it went further. The adult Drew formed a heated relationship with the 13 year old girl. She worked hard to gain the girl’s confidence. She exploited the girl intimately by posing as a boyfriend. She enacted the same methods child predators use to groom their victims.
Then the woman emotionally raped this child. She took her supposed love and sexual stimulation and crushed the girl emotionally with them -all while knowing the girl was unstable.
This adult and her friends calculated the best way to achieve maximum mental distress and then carried out their plan. Even enticed others to join in the destruction of this child.
There are manslaughter convictions on the books that won based on looser ties to a person’s death than this. Child predators go to jail for following this scenerio.
Ms. Drew is the clear definition of a child predator. She used the internet to stalk, entice and lure a 13 year old girl into a romantic, sexually sparked, full fledged relationship. She then used that power to inflict Great Mental Harm to this child… A physical rape and mental rape are both as equally destructive to a 13 year old child. Drew knew this (or should have known this) and still proceeded unabated.
This is so far beyond “Harassment”, this is full fledged exploitation of a child.
Is the local police of this county out of their minds to think that NO charge will stick?
Is the local District Attorneys office serious if they don’t think this girl’s rights have been thoroughly trampled by a grown woman?
Does the DA really expect people to roll over while this woman goes without so much as even a single charge?
Does even a speeding ticket register a more serious offense than this?
_____________
Last of all, the very worst. Ms. Drew remains defiant and indignant. Claims the girl was already on the edge mentally.
Ms. Drew denies wrong doing and insists she bears no guilt in her actions.
She justifies her actions as being “protective of her daughter”… Please tell me how she was protecting someone by mind raping a 13 year old child?
To add insult to incredible injury…. The Drews file charges against the family that lost this child.
The Drews, in a final act of ultimate hate, seek to hurt this family who lost a beloved child. She seeks to harm them financially….
Just as MS. Drew attacked an innocent little girl, Ms. Drew now attacks a grief stricken family - again seeking to harm someone’s very life.
This woman is evil incarnate
This woman has county officials protecting her…
The same county officials who would put ANY other child exploiter in jail.
It would appear we have a few corrupt city officials. Officials who need to be fired
Perhaps the county detectives on the case need some scrutiny. Did they really investigate this crime thoroughly? Apparently not.
There had better be some charges…and some heads better role from this complete mismanagement of law enforcement.
November 18th, 2007 at 6:32 pm
prtty sad that a 13 year old girl, would even think of doing that to her self over a boy.. she is still young and had so much life ahead of her.. even though the guy didnt really exist.. she is a pretty girl and should have thought twice, especcially about her loved ones there hearts would of been broken.. i hope you get through it … its a sad story and it touched my heart..
November 18th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
“Similarly, because of her mental condition, she should have had the sense not to go on myspace. Nothing to do with myspace as such, but allowing herself to get into a vunerable situation like that.” - Jim
What the hell? Practically the whole world goes on myspace. Going on myspace isn’t exactly a vulnerable situation. She was just, unfortunately, let into one, which equally may not of happened if it wasn’t for those irresponsible people who made the account. It may be hard to believe but there are nice people in the world. She just didn’t encounter them…
November 18th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
Hm
It is a tragedy. Sadly things like this happen on Myspace all of the time…. people just never know because it doesn’t all end like this. What makes me sick is the fact that it was made by an adult, with children, who knew Megan and her condition, and let it happen. She obviously had some intention of doing something bad to Megan. If she had a problem with the family then she should of taken it up with Megans parents. Megans mother sounds like she is responsible and monitored her carefully and watchfully - so don’t blame it on the mother. Its just sad that this sort of thing stems from Myspace because its really good to use sometimes and a good way to get in contact with old friends or make some new ones. It would be a hell of a lot safer if there weren’t Josh’s out in the world seeking to destroy all the Megan’s. There is no real way to safeguard myspace however… I mean, what can they do? Require a finger and face analysis before you login every time? Unfortunately, the truth is that this sort of thing WILL always happen in the virtual world of the internet whether its so called “harmless fun” or had intent behind it like this case.
November 18th, 2007 at 8:20 pm
Yurr mom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am secretly dating Dr Phil& Oprah is my real, birth mother!!!!!
Peace out, thats hot!!
November 18th, 2007 at 11:33 pm
This is atrocious. The fact that an adult would be so immature as to stalk and harass a child is beyond reprehensible. I do not believe this woman should be allowed to keep her children. If she would mentally torture someone else’s child severely enough to drive her to suicide, I can only imagine the horrific acts she must commit upon her own children. She stole a little girls life. Clearly Megan had severe emotional issues that she needed to work through, and if this woman was aware of these problems, I’m sure she would have expected a harsh reaction from Megan. I do not know if she intended on Megan taking her own life, however, there is proof beyond a doubt that she did intend to cause severe harm to her.
What she did is as harmful as online sexual predators. . . only Megan will not have the chance to live her life grieving over the inexplicable suffering she must have endured before finally ending the pain the only way she felt she could.
I understand that these were only words. As adults, we are able to brush off most insults and attacks that are thrown our way. As a child, these simple insults cut like a dagger. This has never been more evident than in this case. Perhaps next time you decide to say something that could be construed as hurtful, whether it be to a child, a co-worker, whomever, you might think about the repercussions of your actions before lashing out unnecessarily.
November 18th, 2007 at 11:49 pm
A child committed suicide because of being pushed to the brink of nowhere else to turn, a moment of fleeting desperation, a moment of ultimate sadness, a moment that she can never reagain. Just my opionion, children don’t belong on myspace, or in chat rooms and when I say children i mean anyone under the age of 18. There are sex predators online- would the dumbass who said there wasn’t please just look up real information and records - try google - child predators online. What parent would create a false myspace to encourage her child to deceive another child???? One crazy bitch. Maybe she was jealous because no one would talk to her on her own myspace?? She had none of her own chat rooms to go to?? Kids bully kids. It’s a fact…….it does not make it acceptable. I feel sorry for the child who felt such despair and hurt that she succumbed to taking her own life. I feel sorry for the child who pretended to be her friend and has a total moron for a mother. When you have a child with any disease, be it physical or mental, and you do everything you think you are doing in your power to help that child, when something goes wrong, when the child makes a bad choice……….does all your previous parenting skills get thrown out the window?? One mistake did not account for 13 years of parenting. 6 weeks of pre-meditated “torture” and deception by an adult to a 13 year old child…………that makes that woman a child predator. I hope she knows what she did was wrong and has remorse. If not, I hope her soul burns for eternity. What kind of humans are against laws to protect children????? The kind of people that do not care about children, want to hurt children, don’t give a damn about human life.
November 19th, 2007 at 6:25 am
I BLAME TOM McMYSPACE
November 19th, 2007 at 8:58 am
It isn’t the parents fault that their daughter hung her self. or b/c they let her have a my space page at leaset they were monotoring it. how ever the blame needs to be put on the parent that was inmature enough to stoup down to a 13 yr old child’s level and how dare that parent show her own child that. that kind of behavior is ok how stupid are you you are suppose to teach your children that it doesn’t really matter what other people think of you it is how you think of your self and what your loved one think. to the other parent you need to go to parenting classes and have your child taken away you do not deserve to be a parent at all people make mistakes but you made no mistake you did this on purpose with full intentions on harming a 13 yr old how dare you you are a bitch
November 19th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
Class B misdemeanor - punishable by 90 days in jail and/or a $500 fine - to harass someone over the Internet.
I’m sure there are some good intentions by protecting minors with such a law. In actuality though how do you police the internet in this way? I’m sure many people would go to jail for the countless flame wars that occure online every day. Ontop of this, childish arguing and insults (such as the cases above “you you are a bitch”, “That piece of shit so-called mother should be lucky she doesn’t live down the street from me”) are thrown around so easily on the internet.
The internet has always been a place where you can become someone you want to be; Whether it be faking your age to be 99 on your myspace profile or creating a whole new personality in an online community. Just because social networking is now a more popular thing, doesn’t mean that any of this will change.
Parents should be the ones held responsible to educate their children about the internet, the same way they would tell their child to look before crossing. Creating a new law to persecute people who would seek to cause harm is only one solution to the problem. It also gets messier when you have minors involved (esp. as the perpetrators). I think that the focus is wrong in this case and that a little education could solve a lot of problems.
November 19th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
I was being nice in my first post. So here we go:
A 13 year old should have enough sense not to ha… oh wait she didn’t. This being the case, the parents should have realized what a FUCKED up child they had and kept her off the big wide world of the Internet.
I’ve been online since I was 9 and encountered many assholes yet I never hung myself. I got into counter-strike at the age of 12 and oh my fucking god, the assholes on there are like nowhere else. For those forgetful, I’m sure her MIDDLE SCHOOL environment played a much bigger role (omg becky, like she is SO fat. lolz) in her hanging herself. The fact that a parent got involved in knocking the girl down a few notches probably testifies as to what kind of human being this kid was. I’m not saying it was right, but she was probably a very mean person, masking her insecurities through making life hell for others. To all the soccer moms posting “omg that poor child”, fuck off.
November 19th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
By Lori Drew’s own admission, she had online conversations with Megan that became sexual. This itself is a felonious act, and she should be severely punished for her actions. I’m more horrified every day as this story unfolds; how tragic. My thoughts are with the Meier family.
I encourage anyone who truly wants justice in this case, to contact lawmakers on Megan’s behalf urging charges be brought against Lori Drew. I personally don’t know the Meier family, but as parents and concerned citizens, we need to protect our children against the Lori Drews of the world.
November 19th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
A lot of people have no concept of what will trigger one person versus another person, so its wise to hold your tongue when chastizing someone for how they react. Unless you’re a teen this day in age, you probably have little to no idea what kids and teens deal with day in and day out, and even fewer realize what its like to go into a true and deep depression, to be the odd ball, to be hated and disliked for being yourself. And lots of people underestimate the power of peer pressure and the need to feel wanted and be apart of something. I’m saying in anyway that I totally get it either, but i do have an understanding cause i have been there, felt that, done it. The difference is that I grew up in a time right before things started getting really bad in schools; before all the shootings, hate crimes and such became such an epidemic. I also grew up in a time where the internet was just starting to become popular, where if you wanted to hang out with friends, you called them on the corded telephone and either they came over or you went over to thier house…physical interaction. In a time where yo mama jokes meant something and cursing was considered taboo. This was a time where is still kind of a big deal if you owned a computer. If you ask me there are multiple parties to blame here, actually, I think that EVERY party takes part of the blame. Including MySpace, the parents of megan, the ‘josh evans’ party, and the law. I was one the last people of my peer group to join myspace and was swayed cause i actually found some old friends on there that i hadn’t talked to in years. Even then, I dont go on, especially since it was sold not too long ago, ever since then, myspace has gone down the drain. Teens are stupid and foolhardy and any social community, esp the more popular ones are a culminated feeding ground that these teens are like moths to a bright light. Parents need to get a clue and so do thier kids. Apathy and mediocrity is no way to raise and teach a kid nowadays, but unfortunately, society is so desensitized that even the best of parents are running out of options when it comes to good parenting and censureship for thier teens. Its understood that you don’t want to deprive your kids but deciphering whats a wolf in sheeps clothes, esp on the web and when you start delving into unknown territories like newer technologies, social cliques and cultures and so forth, a lot of which was non existent or non issues in the younger years of the parents can be quite confusing and intidmidating and overall overwhelming to the least and a lot parents are in the gray area on how to cope themselves more less how to help thier teens cope. Even worse is the ‘Won’t happen to me’ syndrome that diludes a majority of minds across the world, a very narrowminded approach in a world where quite literally anything and everything could happen to you, as proven by every news cast every day, we live in a world where ‘Murphy’s Law’ are almost a set of values you should live by. And yet still, all the best parenting and advice in the world is sometimes still not enough, sometimes, these things draw from a deeper, more obscure and elusive place that nobody, sometimes not even the kid can see or recognize, sometimes all you see is a dark spot in your in mind where you have blocked it out, subjucated the source so that it is forced out elsewhere. But still there are warning signs, some of them more sublime then others and to the untrained eye or mind(i.e. parents) would not raise red flags, but usually there are signs and certain things that will trigger a gut instinct. In this case I would say that there errors on multiple levels and by multiple people. Although it may be true that she may have commited suicide inevitably, it does justify by any stretch of the imagination the willful assualt be mental or physical on another person regardless of mental health or any other existing cofactors. As it was stated before, Myspace itself is not a dangerous situation under the right circumstances, but it is a use at your own risk venture regardless of who uses it, teen or adult. The internet as a whole is a voracious, untamed beast that should have been put a leash when it was just a method of instant messaging across ARPAnet, for now it is far too late to even fathom any sort of realistic and comprehensive system of control and monitoring. So as consequence, we will have to be our own shepard, our own shield and sword in the wilds of the world wide web, and parents have to extra protective to thier more vulnerable offsprings. I’m deeply sadden by this event and can only shake my head and sigh in exasperation. God rest your soul Megan, and God be with those affected, innocent or otherwise…may we someday hear the alarm clock of the coming wake up call…
November 19th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
“What the hell? Practically the whole world goes on myspace. Going on myspace isn’t exactly a vulnerable situation.” - Luka
As i said before my problem isn’t with myspace. It’s that she did get herself into a vunerable situation. She became emotionally attached when she didnt know what she was getting emotionally attached to. As you say alot of people on the internet can be dicks, which is why i think she needed to be like most others, hardened to it, or avoid it. Being depressed meant she couldn’t be hardened to it, because she was more susceptible to negative comments and such, so avoiding would be the logical option.
November 19th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
Megan is such a beautiful girl. Megan was not cruel, you people are cruel. Having depression myself I understand the struggles Megan and her family faced. I sympathize with them. Losing a child in the family is one of the hardest things anyone could have to face. To her parents: You did the best you could. What parent wouldn’t???? I’m sure half the people who commented negatively above don’t even have children. They monitored her, megan had to ask before adding people, her parents did a lot more than most parents do. good luck, it gets better. My family understands
November 19th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
This was predatory behaviour. Society needs to be protected from predators.
If charges aren’t laid against this woman and nothing happens, guaranteed, she’ll do something much worse next.
November 19th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Nothing would please me more than seeing this bunch run out of town. I grew up around ‘wonderful neighbors’ like them. Honestly it was a miracle some folks didnt torch their houses….
My father was abusive and these religious lowlifes would take great pleasure in telling him things I did and hearing him beat the holy hell out of me. If I ever run into those people today they will know what hell on earth is. People that screw with children deserve no pity or forgiveness. The fact that they are suing for some trifling junk is pathetic.
Its time for Megan’s family to get some justice. period.
November 19th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
this is horrible.. the parents who made this fake myspace, should have been punished for what they did.. to go and screw around with a 13 year old girls mind is sick. I doubt the parent who fucked with her mind feel anyway shame or guilt at all.. they call the cops over a foosball table being destroyed.. ha. Im suprised megans parents didn;t attack the people that messed with her daugther.. Yes megans parents probally should have monitered there daughters my space, but if there weren;t sick ass people like the parent that messed with her.. they wouldn;t have to.. where is the justice? there isn’t any.. nothing will ever bring megan back.. and for the parent that fucked with her.. who gets to keep and love her daughter.. i hope she has a horrible life, filled with misery.. cus thats all megans parents are going to feel.. I cant believe anyone would defend those cruel people that messed around with an already depressed girl.. that just shows u what this world is coming to..
November 19th, 2007 at 6:51 pm
Bottom line is:
No one in the first place, whether it be a parent, child, teenager, someone who knew Megans family or not, should of ever made a fake account to stalk a 13 year old girl whether she was totally normal or had any sort of problems. You can obly blame the internet for so long…. maybe people she be blaming the people BEHIND the Myspace account because it was their intent to do this sort of thing in the first place. The poor girl… had such a long life ahead of her… its a tragedy.
November 19th, 2007 at 7:30 pm
OK..IN LIFE,WE SHOULD NOT HAVE TO WALK ON “EGGSHELLS”.WE CAN NOT ANALIZE WHETHER OR NOT SOMEONE IS GONNA GO OFF THE DEEP END. THE PARENTS SHOULD NOT HAVE LET THIS CHILD WITH A MENTAL UNSTABILITY ON THE INTERNET,LET ALONE ON MYSPACE(TOO YOUNG,AND TOO SCREWED UP).THE PARENTS ARE TRYING TO FIND ANY EASY OUT FROM THEIR BAD PARENTING.(YES I FEEL SADDNESS FOR THEM) LIKE SOMEOME MENTIONED ABOVE.IT COULD’VE HAPPENED FROM SCHOOL INTERACTION TOO. IT IS LIFE. IT WAS “THEIR” DAUGHTER,AND THEY WERE NOT MONITORING HER THAT CLOSELY. IF SHE HAD BEEN ON MEDICATIONS SINCE 8 YRS OLD,THEN I THINK SHE SHOULD’VE BEEN BANNED FROM THE INTERNET,AND WENT TO THERAPY EVERY WEEK. AND OH,SOME MEDS CAN TURN AROUND IN A DANGEROUS WAY, AND CAUSE SOME TEENS TO COMMIT SUICIDE. THE PARENTS ARE GETTING A DIVORCE.SO I’M THINKING THEY PROBABLY AREADY HAD PROBLEMS BEFORE THEIR DAUGHTER COMMITED SUICIDE.THAT’LL ADD MORE STRESS TO A SCREWED UP TEEN ALREADY. AS THE OTHER PEOPLE TH AT FABRICATED THE BOY “JOSH EVANS”.WELL IT WAS STUPID THAT ANYONE WOULD DO THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE THOUGH. IT WOULD BE LIKE WALKING PAST SOMEONE ON THE STREET AND CALLING THEM FATSO,AND THEN LATER THEY COMMIT SUICIDE. LIKE I SAID,WE SHOULD NOT HAVE TO WALK ON EGGSHELLS,I GUESS TTHOSE THAT CAN’T COPE WITH THINGS LIKE “WORDS” SHOULD BE PUT IN PADDED CELLS SO THEY WON’T HURT THEMSELVES. THIS IS GETTING OUT OF HAND. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR “WORDS” TOWARDS ANYONE. FOR THOSE THAT ARE TRYING MAKE LAWS AGAINST WORDS,ETC.ARE MAKING AN EXCUSE FOR THEIR LACK OF PARENTING,SOCIAL SKILLS,AND LOOKING FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO BLAME. IT IS A SAD STORY,A LOST YOUNG LIFE,AND BLAMING SOMONE ELSE FOR WORDS IS BULL,PLAIN,AND SIMPLE.IT IS A COP OUT. THERE IS SO MUCH BAD PARENTING OUT THERE,I’M SURE THIS WON’T BE THE LAST KID THAT OFFS THEMSELF…… R.I.P. MEGAN KATS
November 19th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
Well I think that Megan shouldnt of done what she had done,
She is an amazing girl and she shouldnt care what other people think of her,
Megans mom should have been there for her when she was going threw a hard time,
I think it is so sad when 13 year olds do this stuff,
This is some sad shit.
And people out there talking shit about this beautiful girl,
Can go to hell and get a fucking life,
Because its ur fault that Megan is dead!!!
I love you Megan!!
November 19th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
You can tell most of these posts are from the family and friends that caused the death of this child. The parents that posted the fake MySpace account should be in jail. The family that has lost their child should be looking into civil rights violations, bullying laws, anything to have this family thrown in jail. I think the family should be publicly annoucing that other families name on the news so they can see what harassment is all about. Megan is dead and her family has lost a part of them that they will never have and hold again. The people that blame them should be ashamed of themselves and should be on medication. God, has this country become a bunch of bullies? Megan wanted to be like everyone else and be on MySpace. She wanted to experience friendships and thought she had that in that boy. I hope the ACLU gets involved to help this poor family that lost a part of their lives to the criminals that started this hoax that caused her death! It is not Megan’s or her parents fault. The blame is clear and directly on the family that developed the boy’s profile on MySpace. The local, state, and federal government should come up with another Megan’s Law for the internet and making it not a misdemeanor, but a felony with a minimum of 10 to 15 years in prison for the family that caused Megan’s death and any future deaths. Actually, can this be classified as a form of home invasion and the death is a homicide from the parents that started this hoax? It is something the district attorney should look into!
November 19th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
Not sure what the laws are for that town and state, but this could clearly be a form a home invasion. I hope the family, their lawyers, police (state and local) FBI, and district attorney take a look at this avenue to get a prosecution. The family that caused Megan’s death are bullies. They taught their kids how to kill and get away with murder.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
Poor girl…she is really pretty.. shouldn’t had end this way….
November 20th, 2007 at 12:33 am
Nobody could possibly know what Megan’s family went through before her death. Depression is a TERRIBLE thing.
You can’t just “take a pill and go to therapy”, and you are magically better.
Finding the right medication and dose is purely trial and error.
Sometimes medications can make you worse.
If you do find the right med and dose, after a period of time, it stops working, then you have to start over.
Unless you have experienced severe depression, you could not possibly understand how much it can consume you.
You can get into a really bad place in your life and hopefully you can make it to better times.
It effects your thoughts, decisions, and reasoning.
You cannot blame this 13 year old girl that is in an emotional, mental termoil.
There is no reasoning in depression, you can only take it day by day.
I’m sure that her parents did everything they possibly could to help her.
There are no right answers or decisions. You just do your best.
Its horrible to not know what to do or how to help the one you love.
People should be more conpassionate.
Depression related suicide could effect you in the least expected situation.
So you should keep your harsh words to yourself.
My thoughts are with Megan’s family.
November 20th, 2007 at 1:48 am
Missing the point. You took the words right out of my mouth!! Some of these people are really disturbed. I’m sure her mother is wishing all the time she could go back and say no to Myspace. We all make mistakes but most of us get a second chance. You better pray nothing happens to any of your children. Someday your child might ask you to borrow the car and you say yes, then they get killed by a drunk driver. Who are going to blame? Your child? It’s obvious most of you lack any common sense. Quit trying to get attention with your nasty hateful comment.
November 20th, 2007 at 10:57 am
This is fucking ridiculous. If you can’t stand being called a fat whore (or whatever the fuck she was called) stay the fuck off the Internet. Don’t ruin it for everyone else by trying to to get regulation over something that has no jurisdiction anywhere. If you wish the government to regulate the Internet, than you’re taking the route that CHINA and fucking NORTH KOREA has taken. Take some fucking parenting classes and make your kids stay the hell off myspace. Idiots.
November 20th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
I am in NO way Related to the families in this story, but I feel deeply for Megan and her family.
I’m so tired of hearing about myspace…I myself have a page but I am also 25 years old and I use it to talk to family and close friends. I don’t have 1000 friends…I have a measley 24 or 25. But like I said, Family and friends.
What that woman did portraying Josh was the worst thing that she chould have done. Can we say BLACKMAIL!?!?!?!?! First off, who is the child in that family!?!?! How dare she sit there and portray someone else just to get information. Especially from a 13 year old. Great example of parenting!!! Does she not understand that girl’s get into fights over stupid things!!??!! Especially at that age. If she was anything of a good mother she would have told her daughter to stay away from Megan until the storm blew over. It has NOTHING to do with Megan Being depressed, what the mother did is just wrong…and the fact that it lead to Megan’s death is even worse. And yes, it did lead to Megans death. “Their communication lasted six weeks, according to the Journal article, and ended with a string of disturbing messages from Josh and postings that read Megan was “fat” and “a slut.” Not one message was sent, but MULTIPLE!!! And they all came from an adult…how sick is that?
What has happend to Megans family is just sad. And the Government does NOT need to control the internet. But the parents need to control their children. Like Megans mom did, she was watching who she was talking to online. Maybe not closely enough, but at least she was watching. But the parents do NOT need to CREATE a myspace just to see what another student is saying about her own daughter…nevermind E-MAILING her and BEFRIENDING HER!!!
I strongly feel that myspace needs to be monitered to begin with. I have a family member who is 11. ELEVEN YEARS OLD!!! Claiming to be 17!! Claiming to have a child!! Talking to guys who are TWICE HER AGE!!!! Putting Sexy pictures of some girl who is NOT her up in her photo album. Look, DO NOT tell me that it should be up to the parents to watch this type of thing. Because with this situation, it’s more then just the parents. She lives with the grandparents who could give 2 Shits about her. So I feel that she’s using myspace as a way to get the attention she’s not getting at home. Which is bad…I just can’t stop thinking that she’s going to “try” to meet one of the guys she’s talking to…he’s going to see that the picture she posted is NOT of her and he’s going to rape her and kill her. Why? Because myspace does not have stronger restrictions to age identity. Instead they have a box that says “Over the age of 18″ and you check that box. Viola, you have no created an illegal myspace page, and there is nothing I can do about it. Ive contacted myspace multiple times telling them and pleading with them to take her site down yet they come back and tell me that I do not have authority to have such a request.
Something needs to be done.
REZ…You’re a complete ass!!! “Don’t ruin it for everyone else”!?!?! SCREW YOU…I’m guessing you do not have children. Because if this was your daughter, I bet you’d have a different view on things. And do NOT tell me that your daughter will NEVER be in this situation because 1. Girls fight…2. You don’t have control over other people and 3. You cannot COMPLETELY SHUT OFF the internet from your daughter. There are library’s in school with PLENTY of computers. So to stop that, what? You going to take her OUT of school?!?!? Ass. Think about what you say before you say it. I think you need some serious help!!!
November 20th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
I’w with Megan. Iam not related to this family and I do not know any of their friends. I could not agree with you more. There is to many things that can happen to a young girl on myspace. My daughter (almost 14) and friends went roller skating last winter (on teen night) one of these “friends” invited guys that were almost 20 to meet them there (she met on myspace) my daughter was not aware of this before they left , thank God she had the sense to call me when she found out so I could pick her up, but who knows what could have happend. I told the girls mother and she still runs free. My daughter and her are no longer friends. We need to protect are children. Set stronger guidelines for myspace. Give D/L number or something. People that emotionally rape our children need to be punished. It breaks my heart that someone would prey on a girl that is emotional. BEING 13 IS HARD ENOUGH!!
November 20th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
If it was my daughter, my imaginary maniac depressed thirteen year old daughter who happens to love neopets and cotton candy from the fair, I would take steps to monitor her. In case you’ve forgotten, because I haven’t, as a parent and student, you’re required to sign an Internet Usage Policy. By not signing this and coupled with close interaction with the teachers, i.e. Do not allow my daughter on MySpace as she is not capable of rational decisions because of her severe mental problems, I believe I could closely monitor her Internet usage. If all else fails, I’d have a sit down with the principal about the teacher(s) ignoring my specific demand and endangering my daughter by allowing her on Myspace. (which by the way, is blocked by the required school filters… but that’s besides the point) At home, I would have some kind of Internet filter program that would block instant messaging and MySpace. If I did allow it, it would only happen if the program allowed logging of what was going on. I would try to explain to my daughter’s friend’s parents of her unstable mental condition and warn them of the dangers of being online unsupervised. This may take away from an hour of NBC or some other shit, but I would try to get it done. This will not completely stop her from doing what she wants so I’ll go the extra mile and when she asks if she can chat with a sixteen year old who’s “omg, he’s like SO HAWT *dramatic body language*”, I would tell her HELL NO. Yes, girls do fight, especially the T.V. dramatized youth that irresponsible parents give free reign to whatever they wish to watch and listen to, and then we wonder why they’re getting knocked up at 15. HMMM… could be ’cause all she ever watched was M.T.V. and the videos about fucking each other, glorifying SLUTS like Paris Hilton, and Bob Saggot in the back rolling a blunt. So please, do not tell me to get help. You are what’s wrong with this country and you will be the reason this experiment fails. Oh, and just to amuse me some more, ever been in a public school library lately? The librarians are fucking Nazi’s.
- Lo/Rez (omg I read a book!)
November 20th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
The point is parents & adults (teachers , coaches, mentors…) should be helping each other protect children. Myspace is dangerous for children or anyone that can’t make wise choices. A child can be unsafe even in school, a library, a park. What about all the teachers abusing all these young boys (Pamela Smart, MaryKay Letourneau)? Do you blame the boy because he’s a teenage boy? Do you blame the parents for sending him to school. What about all the children that have been murdered, raped, kidnapped, are their parents also to blame? Children are not safe anywhere. Why would you intentionally bring harm to someone else’s child. Would’nt you want them to look out for your own. It’s sick that someone would act like a teenage boy to hurt another child. She should have thought about how it would feel if it was her daughter!!
November 20th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
REZ…first off…Because she suffered from depression means nothing!!! Just because you are diagnosed a Manic Depressive does NOT mean that you are incapable of living a normal life. There is MEDICATION that helps control it!! But there are times where something will push that person over the edge. The actions you take are your own. But yet you seem to keep bringing up the fact that shes a depressive. So we’ll make it about the depression if you really want to.
If you do your research, Every 1 of 8 Students have depression. Does that mean they’re all suicidal? NO!! Does that mean that they should be sheltered just BECAUSE they have depression? NO!!! Does it mean that they don’t have any friends? NO!! Does that mean that they’re all perfect little angels?!?! NO!! But there is that one chance that something is going to push them over the edge. There’s no helping that no matter HOW SHELTERED your child is.
Do you think children read through the Internet Policy!?!?! NO!! What child do you know that actually takes the time to read through the Internet Policy in school? No one that I know of…and I’ll even make a safe bet that YOU PERSONALLY, DO NOT read through the agreements when you sign up for something!?!? There’s a reason they call it “Fine Print”.
Also, even having close interaction with the teachers does not ALWAYS mean that they’re going to be on the edge when it comes to your child. They have HUNDREDS of students that they teach every day. Just because your child walks in, doesn’t mean they’re going to stop what they’re doing and say, “Oh wait, this is John Doe’s Daughter…I can’t let her do this or this while she’s in here because she’s a depressive. I’ve gotta keep a close eye on her.” SO believe all you want that signing that Fine Print Policy and keeping in touch with the teachers is going to help keep your child out of trouble.
And you say that Myspace is blocked by the school. You were a kid yourself correct? I don’t know if you had computers in school, but if your child is smart enough (even being a depressive) there are ways aroud the firewalls. Hell, I used to get through them all the time in my school. Countless times I was caught, but I wasn’t caught until AFTER I had finished using the blocked website. So yes, there are ways around firewalls if you know what you’re doing. And Children now-a-days are MORE Computer literate then we give them credit for. So if I could do it, I’m sure then can do it now.
At home, Yes you can block it. You can put filters up…which is the right thing to do. But, you cannot stop other people’s actions like I said. Will you let your daughter go over a friends house if they have a computer? I’m sure they have one…You going to call the parents and tell them to block their computers when your daughter is there!?!?! Or would you just deny your child the whole “Growing up” experience.
With what you’re telling me and how you’d raise your child, you mine as well move to a secluded area and home school your children. You cannot, no matter how hard you try, keep your children away from harm. And I strongly believe that you HAVE to make mistakes in life as a person because it SHAPES who you are as an adult. And I find it terribly sad that you would feel the need to ANNOUNCE to EVERYONE that your child is “mentally unstable” and “not capable of making rational decisions”. You’re one sad person if you would stick your child into that situation. Nothing like throwing them to the wolves!!!
I’m really starting to believe that you are not an adult. I believe you are still a student in school. If you are not, then you really need to grow up and become an adult. The way you speak and how you come across like you have NO heart what so ever. ANY NORMAL adult would have compassion on this subject as it has to do with a child.
And no, I have not been in a public school library lately. I’ve graduated 7 years ago!! But the librarians that were there when I was there are STILL there…and they were hard on us even then.
Oh and People like me are what’s wrong with this country? I’m sorry that I believe in what’s right. I must be the only person in this country who thinks like this.
November 20th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
REZ, you sound like you will be the same kind of person that would scheme the way the Drew’s did. While we cannot blame anyone for the actual death itself (except for the deceased-it was after all her own doing), I believe the Drew’s greatly contributed to the demise of this poor child. She was being monitored and she was being taken care of. Her psychiatric problems were already there, yes, but everyone knows that adolescent girls are more sensitive to scrutiny than the normal person. Mrs. Drew should have known that this child was already having problems. The parents were friendly enough to share meals and vacations and i’m sure that Megan’s mother talked about her daughters problems with Mrs. Drew as their daughters were friends at one time. And if not, she was the adult. Healthy adults do not go around picking on young girls just to try to get information. Mrs. Drew and the co-conspirators should be held to some kind of punishment in my opinion. They can’t be charged with murder, obviously, but they should have to establish a fund in Megan’s name for the benefit of children’s mental health or something, or even community service. Interent predators take many forms these days, i’m just shocked to learn that in this case it was perpetrated by a mother who obviously has no business rearing children. It is a very sad case and my prayers go out to Megan’s family and friends. RIP Megan. I hope your mind and heart are at ease now.
November 20th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
I agree with Kissyface….a fund should be set up. She OBVIOUSLY cannot be charged with a crime, but it is her comments that sent Megan over the edge. I hope she thinks about Megan for the rest of her life.
November 20th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
@kissyface Go fuck yourself. /prolonged speech varying valid points. Just to add fuel to the fire, she’s in hell.
November 20th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
I think that this woman is insanely immature and she should not be abllowed to raise her child if she is going to teach her things like this. Bullying anyone, mentally stable or not, is not ok. Yes, it happens in schools but it is not the adults doing it, it is the kids. And where do you think they learn it from? That’s right, their parents. It is another form of abuse and though we cannot completely stop it, we can try to teach our children proper problem solving skills that don’t include the public humiliation and harrassment this girl endured. Posting such nasty things about Megan on a very public website was extremely hurtful and directly contributed to her suicide, in my opinion. And the fact that they tried to earn her trust first, that just disgusts me even more. How any “mother” could engage in this is beyond me. To encourage her own child to participate in the demoralization of this other girl is heinous too. She has no idea how much damage she has caused to her own child by involving her in this. The daughter is now going to think that manipulation, deceitfulness and stalkery are all viable ways to deal with things. So, once again, the cycle will repeat itself.
November 20th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
Hey REZ, you have shown how completely immature and classless you are by using vulgar words and hurling them at me. That just speaks volumes for your lack of intelligence and so I will not engage in banter with you, as you are obviously an unworthy opponent. When you learn to use the english language and open your eyes to the world , hit me up. Until then, cuss me out, call me names, spew your under-educated venom, whatever. You don’t matter and with an insensitive approach to something this important, you never will. You will be just like Mrs. Drew. Look at what you have written! Oh, did I