Adult neighbors harass thirteen year old via MySpace into committing suicide

[LynnieD]

I saw Megans parents on the 'Today' show this morning. First I had heard of this story. And now I read all of this, and I still cannot believe it.

I cannot even put into words what assholes I think the family down the street are.....and sure, the parents of the deceased probably could have done more to 'monitor' the situation but come on people---we all remember (or should try to remember) what its like to be 13...to desperately want people to like you, to having the dumb petty fights w/your friends and trying to win others over, and for feeling like you are ugly and not loved and certainly NOT PERFECT. WE ALL HAVE FELT THIS WAY. And this poor girl was having a hard time, she was 13!!!!!! And ADULTS KNOWNINGLY MADE HER FEEL EVEN WORSE!!!!!! THEY ARE NO BETTER THAN THE AVERAGE 13 YEAR OLD!

Hope they rot in hell.

[birdmadgirl]

I'm so scared for my two daughters. This is one fucked up world we live in.

[LynnieD]

^I have 2 daughters also and it scares the living shit outta me.

[Just Kill Me]

The adult involved in this is nothing more than a useless cunt.

[pacific breeze]

Originally Posted by Sweetie

From the inital article it sounds like all these families are f*cked up people. I don't think any charges should be brought up. Yes it was cruel what these people did but I don't think they broke any laws and they didn't put the noose around her neck.

**This is why you should monitor what your children do online. Teach them to play outside and to meet friends in REAL life, not over an internet. **

If I had a 13 year old daughter that claimed to have met a boy over the internet I would have STOPPED ALL her communications with him RIGHT THEN. That is not something you allow a 13 year old to do. It's dangerous enough for adults, much less a young, unstable person. I blame her parents just as much as I blame the freaks that created the accouny.

I think it is high time more case law was established around internet harassment, and the internet in general. I don't know about Missouri, but here if you harass someone over the telephone or by mail, or utter threats, you CAN be prosecuted for uttering threats etc. I've done some research into this and people have been prosecuted for threatening others over the internet in Canada as well.

It's just another form of communication. The law is falling far behind technology at this point. I don't think the mother of this girl is to blame for what happened, any more than if her daughter was being bullied at school. This is a form of bullying -- are all parents now to blame for their kids being bullied at school as well?

[Sweetie]

^ I just think it's time people use more common sense. You don't make real life friends and rely on people that you meet on the internet. People should teach their children this. They should drill it in their heads. There are too many whacko's in the world that feed on people, especially people on the internet.

[Beeyotch]

I definitely agree it's a bout time there should be some laws and precedents established. Cases like these are going to force this issue. This is not acceptable at all, those adults were wrong, a 13-year-old died, albeit indirectly, because of something they did. At the very least it's harrassment, and just because there are no laws concerning internet harrassment does not mean they should get away with this scot-free.

The laws really do need to get with the times and catch up with technology.

[Elyse]

I think there are three things coming into play here:

one, I suspect Murdoch's hand here in keeping this story out of the airwaves. He paid half a billion dollars to acquire MySpace. A significant portion of MySpace users are kids below 14. A case like this could easily lead to enormous public pressure to actually enforce their rules about all users having to be over 14. That would mean a significant dip in their number of users and thus a huge loss in ad revenue, and a very bad return on his huge investment.

two, I think people are way way too desensitized to the tortuous effects of bullying. Somehow, everyone hates bullies and when the time comes to actually put something into law that would punish such sadistic predators, there is a huge backlash against it and the words "wimp", "pussy", "toughen up", "builds character" etc. get thrown about. That is bullshit. Somehow, there is an irrational belief that while bullying is bad, evil etc, it is a necessary evil that somehow makes you a stronger person. I think it has origins in most religious dogmas that assert that somehow suffering makes you a better person and so, the person who is making you suffer is somehow actually helping you.

Three, I think law enforcement is doing an absolutely shitty job of keeping up with technology. Exchanges across the internet can iat some times be more damaging because nobody censors themselves online the way they do in person. And people go to greater lengths of insane and obsessive behavior online. Free speech laws are nice and good, but the Internet needs to be treated more like a print medium where ideas and beliefs once put out there are there for all eternity, than like mere talking. Talk is cheap, but internet expression simply isn't.

[pacific breeze]

Excellent points, Elyse.

[Mira]

Good post

[Lobelia]

Elyse does make great points.

I agree with the part about the internet being "more damaging" in certain types of scenarios, like fake myspace pages with libel, or the case this thread is about, or false representation of other kinds, etc. Fifteen minutes on the Voy boards about pageants will show you enough vicious slander to last a lifetime (although the whole bunch of them seem to be a pit of vipers.)

HOWEVER

Snarky comments of varying types/degrees on message boards that offend one's sensibilities are not harassment. Everybody who has a post count on this board of 4 digits or more has offended somebody at some point, whether they meant to or not. This is the type of thing where DVS_One has wisely advised us all to get over it & focus on our real lives.

[twitchy]

Originally Posted by Elyse

one, I suspect Murdoch's hand here in keeping this story out of the airwaves.

He hasn't done a very good job. It's all over the place.

[Just Kill Me]

It happened last year?

[KrisNine]

Originally Posted by crumpet

I'm still trying to fathom grown ups wanting to sink to this level. But, when yuo think of how out of control parents can get at lille league games, I guesss nothing surprises me.

So true and right on. I was just talking to my co-workers about this and his son plays soccer. His wife was driving with their kids and another kid that her son was friends with and played soccer with. They were talking about this other boy, referring to him as a "retard". When his wife said that it wasn't nice to call people names they told her that one of the other mothers told them to call him that. They said "Kyle's mom told us that so-and-so was a retard, who sucks his thumb and wears a diaper"!! Another childs mother told them to say this to him because he was "bringing down" the team. These kids are 10, maybe. There are some wicked, evil bitches out there.

[AliceInWonderland]

those people are disgusting; they should be hanged! and that poor little girl I can understand her pain and such, also I'd like to add that myspace is lame! ppl need to stop living their lives on there; all the time i see hoes taking pics of themselves endlessly for what i can only assume is to put them up on myspace that nite!