Cyberbullying: The Story About Megan Meier's Suicide

As young people are being shamed, harassed, and belittled through the use of social media on the internet, as well as by the use of texting hurtful comments and harmful photos through newly invented smart phone programs, many doctors, counselors, law enforcement officials, and victims themselves are publishing articles and traveling the country to discuss and teach the issue of cyberbullying in bizarre and compelling ways. Comparing the strands of technological cyberbullying to the traditional ways of bullying is odd because people can use the disguise of facelessness to harass their victims on the internet. Some articles focus on cyberbullying when people use social media or the internet to harass, intimidate, threaten, or put down their victims,

For example, according to Steve Pokin in the article “The Story about Megan Meier’s Suicide,” Megan Taylor Meier, a young middle school girl aged thirteen, committed suicide by hanging because of cyberbullying. The article goes on to reveal that the cyberbullying was not actually an act done by a boy named Josh Evans, who Megan wanted a relationship with, but by an adult who was attempting to find out information for her own child. This is significant because the act of cyberbullying is not based on the truth as Megan had perceived it, but rather how a vicious lie made up by an adult instead of a young boy ruined the life of a child and her family. For example, on October 15, 2006, Josh sent the message: "I don't know if I want to be friends with you anymore because I've heard that you are not very nice to your friends” (Steve Pokin). The last message Meier received from Josh stated: “This world would be better off without you” (Steve Pokin) and that evening, Meier committed suicide. Although the suicide was shocking, what is even more shocking is that the article states that Josh Evans was not real. Josh Evans was just a fictional person created by a woman named Lori Drew who was the mother of one of Meier’s former friends. Drew generated this account to see if Meier had been spreading gossip

Many schools have implemented ipads or laptop computers in their schools versus utilizing textbooks. This causes students to use the internet more because the independent school districts have developed websites and links where the child goes to find their lessons, as well as help them with their work which opens more opportunities for internet use. Our society today has become more dependent on the internet to accomplish the same tasks that old fashioned books have mastered. Many schools approved social media sites which can be accessed on the school through wifi. The peculiar thing is that our daily activities are allowing our schools to provide technology devices, which are allowed to be checked out and taken home, therefore, results in open access to these social media sites, which is strange because these sites have a strong presence of cyberbullying. We are making it easier for children to be bullied rather than protecting our children. Steven Mintz states that children now have 24/7 access to social media in his article “Ethics Sage Seven” (Steven Mintz). This access is not usually through the school system itself, however more modern schools now provide the technology being used to many students with the thought that the children are using it for school work, when, in some instances, it is used for