In previous blogs I have explained how important it is for to parents be aware of who their teens and young adults are associating with online, having access to those social accounts at all times and allowing only family, friends, or people you trust to see that information.
The Megan Meier story is an example of a young girl that had befriended a 16 year old boy named Josh Evans on her my space account. Although, Megan’s mother knew about and gave permission to Megan to add Josh on her myspace, Megan’s mother Tina kept a very close eye on them for the next 6 weeks. During this time Tina learned a great deal about the world of myspace including the 9 pages of term and conditions users are supposed to follow which included an age limit to be able to open a myspace account. The age limit was 14 years of age however, Tina claimed the only thing the account asks you to do is check mark a box telling your age. Although, Megan was under aged Tina made sure she set the privacy setting on her daughters account as well as knowing the password to the account therefore being able to access the account at any given time. During these six weeks Megan became very fond of Josh however, on October 15, 2006 Megan began receiving very disturbing from Josh that said, “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.” On October 16, 2006 Megan became very upset after discovering that people that been posting mean things about her," They are posting bulletins about me." A bulletin is like a survey. "Megan Meier is a slut. Megan Meier is fat." Tina however, had to take her other daughter to the orthodontist and was running late but told Megan to log off before she left. After Tina came home she went downstairs only to discover Megan had not listened to her at all. Tina then became very anger with Megan. Megan then ran from the computer up stairs yelling, “You’re supposed to be my mom! You're supposed to be on my side!". Tina then ran upstairs only 20 minutes later only to discover Megan hanging in her closest. Megan died the next day just before her 14th birthday. Later that day Megan’s parents opened Megan’s myspace account to find the last message that Josh sent to her which was, "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.” Later, authorities discovered that Josh Evans was actually a former friends mother that had created a fake myspace account to find out if Megan was talking about her daughter.
Megan’s story is a sad example of how even though parents can take many precautions technology can still be a very dangerous place for innocent teens and young adults like Megan to be bullied. This is why it is so important for account users to know ALL of their friends and have met them face to face.
STOP BULLYING.
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