Girl Commits Suicide Over Internet Prank

[alanschu]

There are also adults that do not have a good grasp of what is reality and what is fiction.

[Xard]

Yeah. Stupid americans

[Walsingham]

Yeah. *Edited by Walsingham for racism against Americans*

[Xard]

[Sand]

There are also adults that do not have a good grasp of what is reality and what is fiction.

 

Hey, leave Bush out of this!

[Guest The Architect]

There are also adults that do not have a good grasp of what is reality and what is fiction.

 

Hey, leave me out of this!

 

Fixed.

Edited November 22, 2007 by The Architect

[Sand]

There are also adults that do not have a good grasp of what is reality and what is fiction.

 

Hey, leave me out of this!

 

Fixed.

I know the difference. I simply choose to ignore it at times. Its more fun.

[Guest The Architect]

Suuuuuure...

[Gfted1]

*casts Raise Thread*

 

No Charges In Deadly MySpace Hoax

[Krookie]

Exuberant.

 

*Edited by Walsingham, after an ever so small delay.*

[Deadly_Nightshade]

So was anyone correct? Let's see...

= Member predicted

= Not predicted

 

The messages were being sent by the 18-year-old and by the neighbor's daughter.

 

 

"In the Megan Meier case, from the messages I've seen and read, they're not considered harassment. They're cruel, yes. Demeaning, yes," she said.

 

 

The "credible threat" laws don't protect against electronic communications such as a barrage of e-mails that harass but don't actually threaten.

 

 

The St. Charles County prosecutor said Monday he will not file criminal charges in the case of the teenage girl who committed suicide after being bullied on the Internet.

 

 

Banas said the fake MySpace page was not created by the mother of one of Megan's friends, as has been reported. He said the page was created by an 18-year-old employee of that mother, though the mother knew about the page.

 

 

 

So, we were correct about most of the points - good job Obsidian forum!

[Walsingham]

Well, we've known for a long time that we rock and/or roll.

[Gfted1]

Family Scorned For MySpace Hoax

[Guard Dog]

The messages were being sent by the 18-year-old and by the neighbor's daughter.

 

Banas said the fake MySpace page was not created by the mother of one of Megan's friends, as has been reported. He said the page was created by an 18-year-old employee of that mother, though the mother knew about the page.

 

I KNEW it. This is not the kind of thing an adult does. It is EXACTLY what a teen age girl would do.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

US 'cyber-bully' mother indicted

 

A Missouri woman who allegedly used a fake MySpace profile to bully a girl who later committed suicide has been indicted by a federal Grand Jury.

 

Lori Drew, 49, allegedly posed as a boy on the website to befriend Megan Meier, 13, who hanged herself after he broke off the virtual relationship.

 

Ms Drew denies creating the profile on the social networking website and sending messages to Meier.

 

She faces four charges, each carrying a maximum 5-year prison term.

 

Meier, a neighbour of Ms Drew in St Louis, Missouri, took her own life in October 2006.

 

It is alleged that she killed herself after receiving several cruel messages, including one purporting to be from the fictitious 16-year-old boy - named Josh Evans saying the world would be better off without her.

 

Ms Drew faces charges of conspiracy and accessing protected computers without authorisation to inflict emotional distress.

 

"Any adult who uses the internet or a social gathering website to bully or harass another person, particularly a young teenage girl, needs to realise that their actions can have serious consequences," said Los Angeles federal prosecutor Thomas O'Brien, who brought the charges.

 

Dean Steward, a lawyer representing Drew in the federal case, told the Associated Press a legal challenge to the charges was planned.

 

"We thought when prosecutors in St Louis looked at the case and all the facts, it was clear no criminal acts occurred," he said.

 

MySpace issued a statement saying it "does not tolerate cyberbullying" and was cooperating fully with the US attorney.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7403957.stm

[Xard]

[Sand]

I hope this goes to trial. If the woman is found guilty she deserves the full sentence.

[Volourn]

No. The only person responsible for someone commiting suicide is the one who does it. That's why it's called 'taking one's OWN life'. What a shame. I don't care how 'mean' the messages were.

[Xard]

Volourn, You should know that giving a gun to depressed person and telling him to "do it ****" is criminal and utterly despicable activity. This wasn't much better. In certain ways this is WORSE

Edited May 20, 2008 by Fionavar

[Volourn]

Anyways, would you take blame if I committed suicide after your very hateful comment? I hope not; because only I can make the decision to commit suicide. The girl had emotional problems, and should have gottne help. Her parents could have done more. They knew she was going through a rough time. It's just so much easier to blame others though.

 

I believe in personal responsibility. And, don't tell me she's excused becuase of her gae. We all were that age at one time. I know I was, and I was fully in control of that kind of decision. Suicide is a personal decision.

 

What the message writers did was not cool. It was wrong. But, blaming them for HER actions is just beyond silly and called scapegoating. Whether it's criminal or not is up for the courts to decide; but while morally it's wrong to do so; it's nowhere nea rmaking them responsible for her following through.

 

Seriously, if people on the net wer eheld accoutnable for all the nasty things they posted, we'd all be prisopn for harassment, personal attacks - including you.

Edited May 20, 2008 by Fionavar

[Deadly_Nightshade]

You should know that giving a gun to depressed person and telling him to "do it ****" is criminal and utterly despicable activity.

 

I would not equate the sending of hostile messages to the presenting of a deadly weapon unless they were actually encouraging the girl to kill herself - to do otherwise is like the conviction of a former girlfriend because the individual's suicide was caused by a bad love life.

Edited May 19, 2008 by Deadly_Nightshade

[walkerguy]

Teenagers are just too suicide-happy nowadays, its quite baffling. I'd blame both parties greatly here.

 

ADDED:

 

You should know that giving a gun to depressed person and telling him to "do it ****" is criminal and utterly despicable activity.

 

I would not equate the sending of hostile messages to the presenting of a deadly weapon unless they were actually encouraging the girl to kill herself - to do otherwise is like the conviction of a former girlfriend because the individual's suicide was caused by a bad love life.

 

It was still cyber-bullying, which resulted in her decision to kill herself, and therefore lays some blame on the liar, whether or not the girl made a, say, "bad decision". What was trying to be said with the bullying? Who knows? But some idiotic "adult" ended up encouraging a girl to suicide- I agree with Xard's sentiments.

Edited May 19, 2008 by walkerguy

[Laozi]

Volo, you shouldn't get too worked up by someone calling a tree a tree, he has your persona pretty well down, no need for your stale "I need cake and to eat it to arguments."

 

As far as I see things, the woman is definitely guilty of harassment. She purposely misrepresented herself to gain the trust of another and then left messages who's only intent was to be disturbing to the reader. I'm not sure what the statutes for the different levels of harassment are but I think something along the lines of losing two years of her freedom would be appropriate.

 

She has a level of culpability in this girls death, but in the end its never one factor that causes someone to commit and act like this. People's lives are not linear, and you can not be totally responsible for how people interpret/internalize your actions.

Edited May 19, 2008 by Laozi

[random n00b]

No. The only person responsible for someone commiting suicide is the one who does it. That's why it's called 'taking one's OWN life'.

Lol!

 

[~Di]

I hope this goes to trial. If the woman is found guilty she deserves the full sentence.

 

Yep. Anyone who has raised children knows how insecure and emotional young teens can be (the girl was barely 13). Their brains aren't even fully cooked. They can't possibly be expected to deal with emotional trauma the same way an adult does, nor can they be expected to take responsibility for consequences they aren't mature enough to understand. That's why they are called children in the eyes of the law, and why they are judged differently.

 

The woman who did this was an adult. What she did was vicious, mean-spirited and she intended to cause harm. If she is guilty as charged, no leniency should be shown to her.

Edited May 20, 2008 by ~Di