Online Joke Leads to A Girl's Suicide

This may not be recent news but nonetheless, disturbing. Last year, Megan Meier, a 13- year-old MySpace user committed suicide, due to cruel messages exchanged between her and a new friend in cyberspace. A teenage boy named Josh contacted Megan on MySpace and they began communicating through messages. After speaking to Josh for a month, he suddenly ended their friendship. His reasons: he heard she wasn’t very nice to her friends. Megan, who suffered from depression and attention deficit disorder, committed suicide the following day. About six weeks later Megan’s family learned that Josh never really existed. Josh’s profile was made by a neighborhood family that included Megan’s former friend. Megan’s mother, Tina, doesn’t think this hoax was intended to harm her daughter to this extent. Still, Megan’s parents believe the family who created the MySpace account is solely responsible for her death. On October 16, 2006, Megan hanged herself in her bedroom, and died the next day. She was characterized as a “bubbly, goofy,” young girl who enjoyed being with her friends, watching movies, and fishing with her father. Megan’s ended friendship with Josh pushed her off the edge. The stress and depression she was feeling was too much for her to handle. Megan Meier’s parents are now enforcing measures to protect children from online bullying. They suggest parents to keep an eye out, and be as watchful as possible. The Meier’s believe parents should be aware of their children’s online relationships and activities.