# MySpace Bullying Leads to Suicide **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 15, 2007, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-bullying-leads-to-suicide/426555 "2007-11-15T16:38:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-bullying-leads-to-suicide/426555/1 "2007-11-15T16:38:29Z")
[This story](http://stcharlesjournal.stltoday.com/news/sj2tn20071110-1111stc_pokin_1.ii1.txt) is just depressing. An overweight, bullied 14-year-old named Megan Meier got a new friend on MySpace. A boy named Josh who took an interest in her and thought she was pretty. But then he turned on her and, along with her classmates, started calling her fat and a slut. After her father found Megan dead by hanging, he found this message on her MySpace page > [@](#): > > “Everybody in O’Fallon knows how you are. You are a bad person and everybody hates you. Have a shitty rest of your life. The world would be a better place without you.” Of course, there was no Josh. He was made up by some cruel people. Only they weren’t kids, they were the parents of a former friend of Megan’s. According to the police, this is what the mother of the friend did… > [@](#): > > "(She) stated in the months leading up Meier’s daughter’s suicide, she instigated and monitored a ‘my space’ account which was created for the sole purpose of communicating with Meier’s daughter. > > "(She) said she, with the help of temporary employee named ------ constructed a profile of ‘good looking’ male on ‘my space’ in order to ‘find out what Megan (Meier’s daughter) was saying on-line’ about her daughter. (She) explained the communication between the fake male profile and Megan was aimed at gaining Megan’s confidence and finding out what Megan felt about her daughter and other people. > > "(She) stated she, her daughter and (the temporary employee) all typed, read and monitored the communication between the fake male profile and Megan ….. > > “According to (her) ‘somehow’ other ‘my space’ users were able to access the fake male profile and Megan found out she had been duped. (She) stated she knew ‘arguments’ had broken out between Megan and others on ‘my space.’ (She) felt this incident contributed to Megan’s suicide, but she did not feel ‘as guilty’ because at the funeral she found out ‘Megan had tried to commit suicide before.’” Megan’s parents say she died not knowing Josh was fake, and that, while she had problems, she’d never attempted suicide before. What really gets me are the adults involved. How fucking pathetic. And I think we’ve all known people like them, to some degree. Grown ups who thin ktheir children are infallible, who want to be ‘best friends’ with their kids and re-live their teens through them. How sad. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-bullying-leads-to-suicide/426555/2 "2007-11-15T16:44:35Z")
That. Is just. Fucked. Up. ---
**Author:** ![FourPaws](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e0b2c6/32.png) [@FourPaws](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FourPaws)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-bullying-leads-to-suicide/426555/3 "2007-11-15T16:46:35Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] That. Is just. Fucked. Up. [/QUOTE] Beyond Belief. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-bullying-leads-to-suicide/426555/4 "2007-11-15T16:49:18Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] That. Is just. Fucked. Up. [/QUOTE] Ditto, and what else is there to say? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-bullying-leads-to-suicide/426555/5 "2007-11-15T16:51:13Z")
I felt like crying at this. > [@](#): > > Ron struggles daily with the loss of a daughter who, no matter how low she felt, tried to make others laugh and feel a little bit better. > > He has difficulty maintaining focus and has kept his job as a tool and die maker through the grace and understanding of his employer, he says. His emotions remain jagged, on edge. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-bullying-leads-to-suicide/426555/6 "2007-11-15T17:27:57Z")
Man, If there isn’t a law against what those people did then they really should sue those people. Heck, MySpace should sue them. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-bullying-leads-to-suicide/426555/7 "2007-11-15T17:45:00Z")
It’s been all over the local news here, so at least there’s no chance that the rest of the neighborhood doesn’t know who the scumbags are, anymore. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-bullying-leads-to-suicide/426555/8 "2007-11-15T17:57:30Z")
I heard about this the other day. I can’t imagine what that family must be going through. I hope the family that did this has been outed by the neighborhood as well. I hope it ruins the mothers life, although I feel a bit bad for whatever kids might be in the family. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-bullying-leads-to-suicide/426555/9 "2007-11-15T18:00:03Z")
[The Brooklyn Smasher.](http://www.coldsteel.com/92bsseries.html) ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-bullying-leads-to-suicide/426555/10 "2007-11-15T18:27:03Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] That. Is just. Fucked. Up. [/QUOTE] Not to mention sick and disgusting. What the hell were the other adults _thinking_? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-bullying-leads-to-suicide/426555/11 "2007-11-15T18:42:39Z")
[QUOTE=Jayn\_Newell] Not to mention sick and disgusting. What the hell were the other adults _thinking_? [/QUOTE] I don’t think they were. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-bullying-leads-to-suicide/426555/12 "2007-11-15T18:47:47Z")
I will never understand people. The other mother doesn’t feel guilty because Megan had tried to kill herself before? It is sick enough when kids to it to each other - I just can’t fathom this… ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-bullying-leads-to-suicide/426555/13 "2007-11-15T18:50:48Z")
Awesome\*, that’s from my paper (Post-Dispatch but not the St. Charles edition). This is one of the many reasons I freaking hate MySpace. All these kids are obsessed with it (including my little cousins who live out in St. Charles/O’Fallon) and it pretty much rules their social existence. It freaks me out because all this internet interaction is so important to them, but they don’t really understand how the internet can make people act. It lets them hide and feel safe saying whatever they please, lie. I really wish there was a way to actually verify age before using sites like this, and that the age limits were higher (maybe 16 or 18). MySpace is just another way for kids to feel shitty about themselves. “No one comments on my pictures, I must be ugly” or “no one leaves me comments on my page or sends me messages, they must not like me” and all this other crap that isn’t true. When kids didn’t have the access to this crap, they were still teased, still slighted, and still bullied, but at least other people were seeing it (like at school) and could help, at least sometimes. And I cannot fucking believe the parents that did this! Like seriously, they’ve gotta be the ones that are really mentally ill here. Who would do such a thing? I can see a short-sighted, immature 13 year old pulling a stunt like this, but adults in their 30/40s with their own kids? It boggles the mind. \*sarcastic awesome. Actually I am quite ashamed these parents live probably only 40 minutes away from me, and likely live very close to some of my family members. ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-bullying-leads-to-suicide/426555/14 "2007-11-15T18:58:09Z")
“The report we gave the police is wrong; we’re trying to have it amended”? Holy Cripes. I understand how criminal charges can’t be filed, but surely a civil suit? ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-bullying-leads-to-suicide/426555/15 "2007-11-15T19:22:27Z")
Ugh. ☹ But I don’t understand this: > [@](#): > > The Meiers do not plan to file a civil lawsuit. Here’s what they want: They want the law changed, state or federal, so that what happened to Megan - at the hands of an adult - is a crime. What exactly do they want to make illegal? Bullying? Being mean? Not being honest online? ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-bullying-leads-to-suicide/426555/16 "2007-11-15T19:33:10Z")
Could it be a form of harassment? What it actually is, is evil. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-bullying-leads-to-suicide/426555/17 "2007-11-15T19:44:24Z")
[QUOTE=Poysyn] The other mother doesn’t feel guilty because Megan had tried to kill herself before? [/QUOTE] She said she doesn’t feel “as guilty”, which hopefully means that she feels incredibly guilty. And it’s not clear to me that it was the adults that were doing the ganging up and doing the insulting. Having said that, they’re still clearly fucked up people. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-bullying-leads-to-suicide/426555/18 "2007-11-15T19:45:54Z")
[QUOTE=NinjaChick] Ugh. ☹ But I don’t understand this: What exactly do they want to make illegal? Bullying? Being mean? Not being honest online? [/QUOTE] Not quite sure about that, either. I do have trouble calling adult behavior ‘bullying’ rather than ‘harassment.’ I think the parents just want their daughter’s death to make some sort of difference, for some good to come out of it, rather than just take some sort of ‘revenge.’ More likely, the perps’ names will get out (inclduing the daughter’s) and they’ll get their own special ‘bullies.’ I doubt it will make the parents feel any better, though. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-bullying-leads-to-suicide/426555/19 "2007-11-15T19:54:02Z")
This belongs in The Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-bullying-leads-to-suicide/426555/20 "2007-11-15T19:56:50Z")
[QUOTE=NinjaChick] But I don’t understand this: What exactly do they want to make illegal? Bullying? Being mean? Not being honest online? [/QUOTE] I kinda do. Would those same adults use the USPO to harass this kid? I’m guessing not. They’d feel exposed and lot less anonymous if they did the exact same thing with pen and paper. It’s weird, really, how attitudes change because of the medium. I’m not certain that it would be strictly illegal by mail, but it’s easier to envision someone compiling the messages and trying to press charges. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-bullying-leads-to-suicide/426555.md?page=2)