Do you have a quote? That would be an interesting development. I must have missed it also.
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13 year old commits suicide thanks to fake Myspace account. Discuss
- Thread starter SynysterCola
- Start date
Of course we can't pin the blame solely on Lori, but the fact still remains that she did play a part.
Of course, which is why I said "there own form" of it.
Lori Drew created the account. She created to account to see if Megan was talking about her daughter, which you provided that Megan allegedly called her daughter a lesbian. By helping create the persona Josh she became personally involved with Megan perhaps more than she bargained for.
As a mother she should have never taken part in the creation of the account. As an adult you think one would be above a "child's mentality".
I've read the article and like Dragontamer I seem to have missed that part.
i don't remember it being an outright quote. to the best of my knowledge the article said something along the lines of " megan and the drew girl had been exchanging insults and the Drew's were known around the neighborhood for getting involved in the squabbles of children, especially if it concerned their own. even when adult intervention was not necessary."
I completely agree with that.
There was a rumour going around that Megan had called the Drew girl a lesbian. This was an awfully elaborate, nasty and disproportional punishment.
I think it has to be remembered that when the first bulletin was sent a whole range of other people made similar insulting bulletins. That to me is a big event, if everyone I knew started sending out crap about me being hated I'd feel pretty shit too. Especially after feeling such trust towards the person who started it.
Thats why I think this event was responsible for her suicide. Yeah she had other problems, but this was not just a final little push, it was a huge push over the edge. This final act of bullying was very big.
From the article:
"Fifteen minutes later, Tina's cellphone rang. This time, Megan was hysterical, and begged her mother to come home: She had to see what was happening online.
When Josh had refused to say who was supposedly telling him Megan was a bad friend, Megan had begun guessing, tossing out names from her old school. Some of those girls, also on MySpace, jumped into the fray. One, who had since moved to Ohio, rallied her new friends to attack Megan, too. Soon, "bulletins" were going out, linking friend-list to friend-list, broadcasting over MySpace that Megan Meier was fat, that Megan Meier was a slut, that no one should be friends with Megan Meier. "
Note how she only became hysterical to the point of calling her mother after the other people had joined in. While this wasn't a criminal act it is very clear how immoral it was and how it was, in my opinion, clearly responsible for her suicide. I'd wager not one person stepped in online and tried to make her feel better or suggest that what the others were doing may be wrong. I hope every person who participated realises what they have done and feels guilt for the rest of their lives. That would be punishment enough for their childish prank.
As for Lori Drew, well while she never sent the first nasty message she may have sent others. As a responsible adult I can't help but feel she must have some sort of mental disorder herself. This is a situation where I think while nothing logically criminal has happened it kinda feels like it has been. She doesn't deserve to be in position to raise children when theres so many in the world who would love to.
The internet mob is in the wrong too. Vigilante justice is never real justice.
I think it has to be remembered that when the first bulletin was sent a whole range of other people made similar insulting bulletins. That to me is a big event, if everyone I knew started sending out crap about me being hated I'd feel pretty shit too. Especially after feeling such trust towards the person who started it.
Thats why I think this event was responsible for her suicide. Yeah she had other problems, but this was not just a final little push, it was a huge push over the edge. This final act of bullying was very big.
From the article:
"Fifteen minutes later, Tina's cellphone rang. This time, Megan was hysterical, and begged her mother to come home: She had to see what was happening online.
When Josh had refused to say who was supposedly telling him Megan was a bad friend, Megan had begun guessing, tossing out names from her old school. Some of those girls, also on MySpace, jumped into the fray. One, who had since moved to Ohio, rallied her new friends to attack Megan, too. Soon, "bulletins" were going out, linking friend-list to friend-list, broadcasting over MySpace that Megan Meier was fat, that Megan Meier was a slut, that no one should be friends with Megan Meier. "
Note how she only became hysterical to the point of calling her mother after the other people had joined in. While this wasn't a criminal act it is very clear how immoral it was and how it was, in my opinion, clearly responsible for her suicide. I'd wager not one person stepped in online and tried to make her feel better or suggest that what the others were doing may be wrong. I hope every person who participated realises what they have done and feels guilt for the rest of their lives. That would be punishment enough for their childish prank.
As for Lori Drew, well while she never sent the first nasty message she may have sent others. As a responsible adult I can't help but feel she must have some sort of mental disorder herself. This is a situation where I think while nothing logically criminal has happened it kinda feels like it has been. She doesn't deserve to be in position to raise children when theres so many in the world who would love to.
The internet mob is in the wrong too. Vigilante justice is never real justice.
In the end, the girl made the decision to kill herself. Depression or not, she consciously hung herself, and Drew was not there tying the noose.
This reminds me of a girl I went to high school with. You all probably know her, because there's one in every grade: the girl with no money, doesn't have good hygiene, overweight, annoying voice, the whole nine yards. She was mocked incessantly her entire life, me being one of the mockers. One day, I went so far as to get detention for making fun of her, and I finally thought about how hard it must've been for her, and I was much nicer to her after that.
She never killed herself. As a matter of fact, she worked very hard in life, got a job, and was always upbeat. You can't tell me that deep down inside, she wasn't very sad about her situation in life, but she went out and made the best of what she had. Depression or not, Megan has the ultimate choice about how to live her life, not Lori Drew or some fake boy on the internet.
The people who played this prank on her are terrible people, there's no denying that. Are they criminals? Shit no.
This reminds me of a girl I went to high school with. You all probably know her, because there's one in every grade: the girl with no money, doesn't have good hygiene, overweight, annoying voice, the whole nine yards. She was mocked incessantly her entire life, me being one of the mockers. One day, I went so far as to get detention for making fun of her, and I finally thought about how hard it must've been for her, and I was much nicer to her after that.
She never killed herself. As a matter of fact, she worked very hard in life, got a job, and was always upbeat. You can't tell me that deep down inside, she wasn't very sad about her situation in life, but she went out and made the best of what she had. Depression or not, Megan has the ultimate choice about how to live her life, not Lori Drew or some fake boy on the internet.
The people who played this prank on her are terrible people, there's no denying that. Are they criminals? Shit no.
The period between the first nasty message and the suicide was a single day. That is an awfully small time frame to send messages. Hell, even with my 1300+ posts in less than a year here, I don't visit Smogon every day. And thats all it takes, one single day. Especially when she gave the account information to others.
There you said it yourself. How can we know that Drew actually did it then?
Drew set up the account, an account where she made a falsified identity to win Megan Meier's trust. The fact it was abused was entirely her fault, because as an adult she should have known setting up a relationship with a depressed child is idiotic in the first place, and allowing her own teenage daughter (and presumably anyone she was friends with) access was a further stupidy.
It's Lori Drew's fault for setting up the account. What happened after falls squarely on her shoulders. Adults have to take responsibility, especially when they do things they know or should know is completely immoral.
She may have created teh account, but how do we know she was going to do that? She might have just been talking to Megan, when all of the sudden another user can get on and fuck with her. It is the person who insulted Megan that has to take responsibility. They do not even have to take full responsibliltiy. It was Megan's choice to be on myspace in the first place.
I have to agree that this is quite true. I read the whole article and it did say that Megan's parents tried to monitor her and stop her from going on the internet. Remember, the article said that Megan had a private myspace account, and that nobody could possibly add her unless they knew her name, which is a complete contradiction if she didn't know who "Josh Evans" was at first before "he" was added onto her myspace.
She did ignore all of her parent's warnings, and therefore, it was her choice to be on myspace.
It is unfortunate that she committed suicide, and Lori Drews was definitely not justified in making that account, but that Mulford girl is kinda the one who ruined the whole thing.
Now that I think about it, that Mulford girl not only ruined that myspace thing by making the first bad message, but she also ruined the Drews by confessing everything that they did. Gosh.
So you want to blame a child for something that was completely set up by an adult? I wonder what would happen to me if I gave a 13 year old a loaded gun and someone got shot.
I'm quite shocked that theres people (*cough* blastoiselover100 *cough*) who think the participants should feel no guilt for whats happened.
I did not say they should feel no guilt. I said that they should not take full responsibility for this. Both parties were at fault here. Read all the posts before you make comments like that.
Umm no. I explicitly said that what Lori Drews did was not justified. I'm just saying that if that Mulford girl didn't say the first bad thing, then Megan possibly would've been happy.
In a way, yes I do want to blame that child. I'm not saying that nothing should happen to Lori Drews. I'm just saying that the Mulford kid should get in trouble too if they do. Drews should of course get in more trouble since she's an adult, but that Mulford kid shouldn't just be let off the hook.
Just so you know, blastoiselover100 never said that they shouldn't feel guilt for what happened. He just merely stated that Megan IS the one that committed suicide, and that it was her choice to go on myspace. Nobody forced her, and in fact, she was discouraged by her parents to do it, but she did it anyway.
In a way, yes I do want to blame that child. I'm not saying that nothing should happen to Lori Drews. I'm just saying that the Mulford kid should get in trouble too if they do. Drews should of course get in more trouble since she's an adult, but that Mulford kid shouldn't just be let off the hook.
Just so you know, blastoiselover100 never said that they shouldn't feel guilt for what happened. He just merely stated that Megan IS the one that committed suicide, and that it was her choice to go on myspace. Nobody forced her, and in fact, she was discouraged by her parents to do it, but she did it anyway.
Thank you for actually reading the posts Bologo. That was the point I was trying to make. Nobody can be punished in a law suit both criminally or civilly. They broke no laws and the civil case would be weak. You would have to have a judge sympathize with you just to have about a 60% chance at winning.
Yeah sounds like you really feel both parties are to blame when you came into this.
I hope you have a daughter one day, almost all girls care about how they look.
This clearly makes it ok.
I sincerely doubt you suffer from depression. Feeling sad sometimes doesn't count. If you did I think you would have a little more empathy and respect for the dead instead of blaming everything on the girl. Yes she was a "loser". Not necessarily her fault, she had ADHD (or something similar, can't remember the article precisely) and weight problems (which she was actually trying to do something about). You can't just say she should've tried talking to people more. After years of people looking down on her do you think kids would give her a chance?
You can't just blame her for being on myspace either, I mean for gods sake, it sounds like most kids had it in her area, peer pressure can be very strong. And it isn't like peer pressure from smoking, myspace probably isn't going to hurt you so most kids will get into it if everyone else is. Call her weak minded for folding to peer pressure if you want, but she wanted friends so i don't think thats fair.
She was 13, when are you going to realise this and stop applying the standards of an adult mind to her? She had lesser coping skills than other kids of her age (I'm not even going to say most because who knows? Not every kid has to have put up with that crap all the time). If it weren't for all those years of bullying I find it doubtful she'd have been depressed. Everyone who pushed her that little closer should feel some guilt and certainly not least of all Lori Drew.
You can't expect someone to put up with crap forever, when you're depressed you don't always see an end in sight.
The worst part for me is knowing some people won't even feel guilt for this. I remember once at school a girl had attempted suicide. The other kids found it hilarious...Luckily she had moved well away before she tried anything again.
Edit to Bologo:
"It was her choice to kill herself" is something i'm hearing again and again. I'll try to find the source but I remember someone saying that suicide is not a choice, but a consequence of pain outweighing coping resources. Infact i beleive suicidal thoughts are considered a medical emergency in many places. Suicide cannot therefore be a rational choice and so you cannot place the blame so squarly on the girl.
What I do blame is that Lori Drews actually gave the password to another 13-year-old girl. That was yet another dumb move on Drews's behalf.
However, we cannot compare this to handing over a loaded gun. A loaded gun to an (unsupervised) child is pretty dumb. Giving a password of an account to a child does not compare at all. A gun is a weapon. A MySpace account is means of communication.
Yes, I do not feel sad sometimes, I feel sad and miserable all of the time. Dumbass. I do not feel empathy for the dead because, they are dead, what the fuck do they care? It does not really matter who did it. Both parties are to blame. This girl was a distraught outcast. Drew is a spiteful and cruel woman. Should we soley blame her? No. Should we soley blame Megan? No. It was Megan's choice to go onto myspace and it was Drew's choice to be a spiteful bitch.
Then why did you come into this discussion acting like the big macho man calling her a dumbass and what not? You said yourself now that she can't be blamed fully for her actions so how can she be a dumbass for what she did? You're back peddling awfully quickly.
Edit to Dragontamer:
I know its not the same type of thing. But I find it rediculous to suggest a child, in the event of a criminal punishment (which I don't believe is required or even possible), should receive any where near the punishment the Drews would get. However Bologo has said that that isn't his position so its not really relevent now.
Edit to Dragontamer:
I know its not the same type of thing. But I find it rediculous to suggest a child, in the event of a criminal punishment (which I don't believe is required or even possible), should receive any where near the punishment the Drews would get. However Bologo has said that that isn't his position so its not really relevent now.
I am acting in no way,"macho." I am calling her how I see her. She cannot be blamed ENTIRELY for her actions, but she took it way too seriously. Even with depression. How am I back peddaling? I am simply stating my reasons to you because you do not get what I am saying.
No I get what you're saying, but I do not accept it. You are completely down playing the seriousness of depression and I totally don't buy that you are affected. Not everyone thats depressed kills themselves, but not everyone thats depressed gets a shit load of people sending out bulletins at the same time calling you a load of hurtful names either. Imagine if this had been in person, its equivalent would be half a class of kids shouting that your fat and laughing at you. Only this time theres no teacher to intervene and give you some self worth back. I think it was the following mass insulting that made her kill herself, not "josh" just doing it.
I'll humour you and pretend you do have depression, can't you accept that with the complexity of the human brain that someone else suffering from depression may be a little more willing to put an end to it?
I'll humour you and pretend you do have depression, can't you accept that with the complexity of the human brain that someone else suffering from depression may be a little more willing to put an end to it?
The mass insults just added to the depression. "Josh" was the straw that broke the camel's back. Seeing how I do have depression, I do know what position she is in, but I do not have depression or low self-esteem because kids make fun of me. There are different kinds of depression that effect people for different reasons. If I saw that going on to a kid, I would put a stop to it. She just took it too far. She saw no point in living because she felt worthless. That is why people kill themselves. She just had no self-restraint.
That is a completely unsimilar circumstance. If the man is shot, the choice of getting shot is not up to him. I do not know where you got that one. Megan was told by her parents not to go onto myspace. She chose to go to myspace and disobey her parents. She also had the choice of killing herself, which was completely unneccesary. She could have sought help, but she felt so low that she saw no point in living.
That is a completely unsimilar circumstance. If the man is shot, the choice of getting shot is not up to him. I do not know where you got that one. Megan was told by her parents not to go onto myspace. She chose to go to myspace and disobey her parents. She also had the choice of killing herself, which was completely unneccesary. She could have sought help, but she felt so low that she saw no point in living.
