Cyberbullying and the Tragic Case of Megan Meier
The case of Megan Meier, a nearly 14-year-old girl, is truly a tragic one. According to the Megan Meier Foundation, Meier was a victim of cyberbullying and, after a vicious cyber attack involving “catfishing,” she committed suicide by hanging herself in her bedroom.
In order to discuss the cyberbullying that Meier faced, one must first discuss her story at large. According to the Megan Meier Foundation, Meier had started eighth grade at a new school, Immaculate Conception in Dardenne Prairie, MO. She was involved in some extracurricular activities and seemed to be doing well in her new school, especially considering that she left her previous district with the rocky end of several friendships.
Meier, who maintained a MySpace page, met a 16-year-old boy named “Josh” on the site and began a friendship with him. She spoke with him daily and he seemed to like her and as the foundation says “she finally had a boy who she thought really thought she was pretty.”
Unfortunately, Meier’s happiness was cut short when she received an unusual message from “Josh” that read “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.” The next day, Meier was anxious and upset because “Josh” continued to send harsh messages and seemed to have shared her messages with other people. Within minutes, MySpace users had begun posting “bulletins” or survey-like posts calling Meier a slut and fat. Later that night, Megan Meier hung herself in her bedroom closet.
In the days and weeks after her death, Meier’s family made unfortunate discoveries, including the last message Megan was thought to have read before her death. It said “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, the family would discover that “Josh” was really created by the mother of one of Megan’s former friends and the abuse she felt was at the hands of three different people: the mother, the daughter, and an 18-year-old employee of the mother.
Cyberbullying encouraged Megan to commit suicide in the form of abuse and attack as well as a direct message telling her that the world would be better off without her. In Megan’s case, she was already particularly vulnerable after previous bullying and suicidal thoughts.
Meier’s family was aware of previous bullying and took action (in the form of bringing her to therapy). During Meier’s cyberbullying, her parents were aware, but because of the short amount of time that elapsed from the attacks to her suicide, they were not able to take action.
Had Meier’s timeline not progressed so fast, there are a number of things family and friends may have been able to do. One of these things is contact the suicide hotline, which is a service that provides free and confidential emotional support to people with suicidal thoughts or distress. According to Mayo Clinic, getting help from trained professionals is crucial and that the individual may need to be hospitalized until the crisis has passed. If any of Megan’s friends at school had concern that she may be suicidal, they could have reached out to counselors and other school personnel.
In the Megan Meier case, Lori Drew, the neighbor and mastermind behind the “Josh” catfish on MySpace, was acquitted of charges. The reason for this is largely attributed to the lack of clear guidelines in what to do in a situation like this. The question of whether the platform or the individual was at fault was largely debated.
In the wake of Megan’s death, her mother Tina Meier founded the Megan Meier Foundation, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The foundation’s mission, according to the website, is “to support and inspire actions to end bullying, cyberbullying, and suicide.” This particular foundation, gives talks to youth to educate on the dangers of cyberbullying.
Two other foundations of note are the Tyler Clementi foundation and the It Gets Better Project. The Tyler Clementi foundation was established by Tyler’s family to prevent bullying. The It Gets Better Project is a nonprofit organization that works to “uplift, empower, and connect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth around the globe. These two organizations are both very successful. The Tyler Clementi Foundation has a number of different programs to help educate people on acceptance and the It Gets Better Project has a “Story” section on their website where many real people share their stories with each other.
Overall, cyberbullying is an unfortunate reality of the age of technology. As a result, adults need to work on creating safe spaces for social interaction on the internet for their children and also continue educating on the dangers of bullying, both in person and online.