Megan Meier
there’s a least a civil suit here
I heard someone on the radio say that while there is no law against what they did, the least the family should do is PUBLICIZE the names of the people who created the fake profile and tell people how their cruely led their daughter over the edge
A 50 foot billboard would be nice.
If the kid was that delicate she probably would have committed suicide anyway.While what the neighbors did was lousy I don’t see how it’s illegal.
This is horrible what adults did to a vulnerable young girl!
Obviously, mentally healthy children with intact self-esteems don’t commit suicide over such things, but it sounds like this poor girl had some problems already.
The article mentioned she was on medication - I guess for depression and attention-deficit disorder - doesn’t sound like the medication helped her. It’s sad, so many children are medicated these days.
Maybe there's a reason these kids need to be 14. What's next? 13-year-olds go on a web site claiming they're 18 and then get offended by porn?
What the other family did was just flat-out cruel. I hate to see kids pick on each other, but when adults are involved, that is sick.
Destroyed their foosball table? I would have destroyed everything they own and take my chances with a jury.
Yeah, it's ridiculous, reactionary feel-goodism.
, and you have to start somewhere."
No, you don't. It's tragic. It's stupid. It's not illegal. Get over it.
Her myspace page says she's 16, which conflicts with the reporting that she was 13 when this happened (Oct. 2006).
In addition, someone is still logging into her account as the account was last accessed today (Nov. 18, 2007).
Big part of the problem in this story is that all of the parents involved, that were supposed to be raising these teenagers, were very immature and maladjusted themselves.
I think the girl was pretty weak. Killing yourself over an imaginary friend. That is like us here picking up a nice conversation and a month later the person drops the other. Weak 13 year old.
One possible way to improve these kind of internet services could be (in the case of minors, anyway) to insist that initial registrstion on kids websites be done with both the kid and parent live on webcam with a rep of the website...........there would then be both video and voice evidence stored for use if needed.
This is a case of parental and personal responsibility and a total lack of it. Tina Meier (Megan’s mother), needs to be brought up on charges - not be allowed to go around playing the victim, suing everyone else and allowing progressive politicians to begin legislating new restrictive (and uninforcable) hocus pocus for the Internet. The Internet, and especially MySpace, Facebook, et. al., is no place for thirteen year-old “depressed” children with a-d disorders. If you allow your child to play in traffic, don’t try to sue the other drivers.
Parents should monitor their kids’ internet use.
Kids should be taught that just because they read something on the internet doesn’t make it true.
Adults should not correspond with children on the internet unless they are related to those children.
Apparently though, her parents were not involved enough to what she was doing on the internet.
Using foul language sounds like she was fighting back.
Her mother effectively stepped in the ring on Josh's side.
Regardless, it's more likely the meds than anything else.
My heart does go out to the parents in every way. What a terrible loss.
If adults have this much difficulty getting along, one can only imagine how tough it is for kids who already have enormous peer pressure and a need to "belong" in their offline lives. At least at Free Republic, our online squabbles don't carry over into real life. Most of us never have to worry about meeting each other in the "real world" unless we do so intentionally. This girl had these people living right down the street.
Anyway, while the mother who created the fake account may not be legally liable for what happened, she certainly contributed to it happening and her behavior is totally inexcusable. I do not know how she can live with herself.
Prayers for the family. i can’t imagine losing a child like that.