Myspace Now Blamed for Suicide of a Teenager
November 17th, 2007 Posted in Technology
By now, many have heard the story of Megan Meier, a 13 year old girl who committed suicide after being dumped by a virtual friend. The accusation was made by her parents, blaming the people behind the fake friend. She has pressed charges and is blaming the people behind the online Josh character for her death. Now, did you notice that this girl was 13 years old? Also, did you know you must be 14 to create a profile on MySpace? And finally, if you read the CNN article carefully, you will notice that it states, “Megan’s mother, who monitored her daughter’s online communications, returned home and said she was shocked at the vulgar language her own daughter was sending.” If Megan’s mother knew her daughter was using MySpace before legally allowed, how does she have a case at all?
This website, as well as many other sites known as “Social Networking” sites started out as something completely different that what they are serving as now. In fact, MySpace was once inteded to simply be a place where emerging musiciens could share their songs and grow their fanbase. But that was then. This is now. They have become a place rampant with deceit, misconceptions, fraud, and perversity.
The stories are everywhere. There is also talk about Cyber Bullying. Here is part of a story out of Marin Independent Journal.
The frustrated parent, whose daughter suffers from epilepsy, could not believe what she saw when she logged onto MySpace and found “Olivia Haters” club pages created by fellow Hill Middle School classmates. When school officials declined to intervene to her satisfaction, Gardner arranged a transfer to a private school.
“This was so hateful and intense, my daughter just started sobbing when we brought up the page,” she said. “Kids are really tearing other kids up with it.”
Please take no offense to this parents… but I know of no other way to say it. You need to get a clue! Do you really understand what your children are part of? Do you really care about what they are doing? So many parents (and I have heard this myself!) truly believe, “… but my daughter would NEVER do that” This is the reality of today. There is no way we can or even should hide ourselves from the world, but proper protection and diligent work will solve the problems. MySpace can be avoided, and in my opinion, should be. Especially for young children with emotional issues. What exactly do you expect to happen when a young girl finds someone to latch onto? My advice? Know exactly what they are getting into. Know exactly where they go and who they talk to. Communicate. Investigate. Consider what the consequences to your lack of involvement and influence can be. Hopefully no one else will find their daughter like Megan was found. But if we all just hoped and did nothing, we would find ourselves with serious problems.
Don’t wait any longer. Don’t worry about their reaction. Be a parent and know what’s going down online or off. Because you can always place the blame on the lack of protection MySpace has on their site, but you will never be able to push your guilt away when the worst happens, and you should have seen it coming and should have done something earlier.