The cruelty of people.....

[Queen Tokelove]

What is this world coming to? Your thoughts.....


http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071117/NEWS07/71117006/-1/ETN

[RapidRod]

The girl had mental illnesses. Why now are the parents just finding out what their daughter was doing on the computer? Any person with a healthy mental status would not believe everything that is posted on the computer. It is sad that she took her life, but this could have happened in real time instead of cyberspace. Do I think the persons involved should be prosecuted? NO!

[BT65]

It's a very cruel trick to play on someone.  But as Rod pointed out, she did have mental illness.  I wonder if she was ever in counseling for her depression.  Probably not.  If she would have been, the story about this "Josh" would have probably been discussed with the counselor and maybe some type of resolution could have been reached before such a tragic thing happened.  Too bad. 

[leatherman]

It bothers me just a bit to hear "mental illness" being used as explaining away this incident. That girl was only 13, still a child, barely a teen-ager. Didn't we just hear recently that their brains aren't even fully developed until in their 20s?

The instigators were adults who should have known better than to treat a child this way. Their actions seem childish and vindictive.

In the end though, the girl's own parents, should have been monitoring their 13 yr old online activities more closely - especially knowing her "mental" problems. Perhaps they could have had the other parents arrested for online fraud or harassment if they had found out sooner.

What a strange world we live in. A 35-yr old man can go to jail for propositioning an underage kid online, without having any sexual contact; but these adults could literally torment a 13 yr old into commiting suicide and there's really nothing that can be done.

[Dragonette]

you're right Queen, it's horribly cruel and disgusting. some adults don't deserve that title, let alone being parents... playing with a young girl's mind like that, WTF

[BT65]

I'm not saying that the people who tormented her should be excused because she had a mental illness.   What I was saying (and maybe I should have been more clear) is that her parents should have been attending to her issues more closely.  Like the depression.  And yes, they certainly should have been monitoring her online activities.  If she would have been in counseling, I think the issue probably could have been avoided. ("probably" being the operative word here).  I know that teenagers are very impressionable.  I was one once.  It's too bad she didn't have an adult she could have trusted in enough to talk openly about this with.  I also can't imagine the other people (especially the adults) not facing some kind of charge, like harrassment or something.  But, she did have that underlying mental illness, and also as an individual who suffers from mental illness (mine's treated) I know how that can underscore a lot of other problems (poor self esteem etc.).  I'm sure her parents are doing the "what ifs" to themselves.  I feel bad for everyone involved.

[leatherman]

What I was saying (and maybe I should have been more clear) is that her parents should have been attending to her issues more closely. . . I feel bad for everyone involved.

Sorry, I guess my comment did sound a little like I was dissing ya; but I wasn't.  What I was trying to point out was that if you take the mental issues out of the story, that it's still horribly tragic and borders on criminal activity by those other parents. I don't think they should be able to use her mental status towards their excuse. As the adults they would have had the upper hand (by age, parental authority) in this situation with a 13 yr old. They also had the higher moral obligation.

Sadly, it's all just another reason why I'm glad I have my dogs and not children. At 45, I'm watching most of my peers be the most irresponsible and uncaring parents. I really do think I love my "kidz" more than most people love their kids. I know I scream at mine (never!) much less than I see happening out in public. 

[wellen]

People, children and adults, were cruel long before Al Gore invented the Internet.   Some parents are so ill-equipped they engage in their children's battles as if they haven't matured beyond such ridiculous antics.  Growing up we all knew at least one parent in the neighbourhood whose son or daughter was never at fault regardless of how much evidence existed of the brat's guilt. 

I find this excerpt from the article very interesting:

"Megan's mother, who monitored her daughter's online communications, returned home and said she was shocked at the vulgar language her own daughter was sending. She told her daughter how upset she was about it.

Megan ran upstairs, and her father, Ron, tried to tell her everything would be fine. About 20 minutes later, she was found in her bedroom. She died the next day."

It seems to me Megan's mother may have provided the final impetus to kill herself.  As one who has dealt with depression and suicidal urges I know often it takes only ONE more source of pain, shame, hurt, self-loathing to push one to act.   Megan was upset by the cruelty of the fictitious Josh and her mother added her disapproval of Megan's language to the mixture of emotions Megan was dealing with as well.  As the parent of a depressed child she might have been more sensitive and left the issue for discussion at a later time.   If Megan's mother monitored her Internet activity why was she unaware of her daughter's use of vulgarity? 

Nothing excuses the mother (or the children) who was involved in the hoax and I hope she feels the full brunt of the consequences of such childish, malicious behaviour.  IMHO the Meiers should have restricted Megan's Internet access to appropriate sites (myspace being inappropriate from the first day -- it's not jokingly called a pedophile's paradise without a reason) and monitored her activities more closely.  Honestly, if I were a parent I'd install site filtering software as well as keystroke and activity recording on my child's computer.

[jason304]

Never really understand why people feel the need to be just plain mean and cruel to others... Guess its a way that people make themselves feel more of a person than who they are putting down..  People just need to learn Karma is really a B*tch and that stuff will come back to them.  Treat others the way you would have them treat you. Sounds kinda familiar.

[Queen Tokelove]

I thought it was quite sad but am kinda surprised by some of the responses here. For one, I think the actions of the adults who made up "Josh" is really mean. Why would you do something like that? If they thought that Megan was being mean or whatever, it seems like to me they should have taken it up with Megan's parents. Why would they post mean things about her in return? Do I think the other parents who did this should be punished? I think they should because what they did was just malicious to me. I also feel that Megan's parent's should have monitored her internet activities a bit better too. But the adults who made up this Josh persona were acting childish themselves.

[justice3175]

it reminds me of that time when i recieved a message from someone on MySpace who was complimenting me. From there we started passing emails.The guy was really cute, and someone I could get involved with. When I asked him to call me, he told me that he thinks jumping to the phones would be rushing things a bit, and that he likes to take things slow.
A few weeks later, I hacked into my ex's email and found all the messages I had sent to this MySpace guy were being sent from my ex's mail to his friend.
I felt like I was in a horror movie...being stalked by my ex (considering I had put my profile on private...and this was his way of reading everything that was going on in my life.)
I confronted him about it, and he denied it. i never told him that I hacked into his email, so he never knew how I found out...but he did comment on that it was just a joke he was playing.
What kind of joke is that? 9really, i don't believe it was a joke, as I believe he had a hard time getting over me)
And he is a 45 year old man.
anyway, I felt like a fool, and was filled with so much anger for what he did....or should I say - for what I did, opening myself up to a hoax.
but, it goes to show, people do these kinds of things.

[david25luvit]

Yeah I saw this on the news last week....
Very sad....
her family must be devastated

[DCGUY2007]

I agree with Jason's comments. I also don't understand why some people feel the need to be just plain mean and cruel to others. I have dated a few people in my past who have literally gotten off on being mean. Not by violence but by using mind games. From experience I can now see the signs and get away from these type of people. But a 13 year old doesn't have the experience to do this. This situation is just sad.