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I would have some questions here about the meds this girl was taking, her state of mind and parental controls on the internet.

I do think that the person/adult that was pretending to be "josh" should be held accountable, just maybe not for murder. This child had some issues if this caused her to kill herself. I feel for her and her family. I am not sure of all of the circumstances but they are certainly tragic.

My first instinct is that the meds she was on mgiht have played a part in her desperate over-reaction. I know that some of the medicines for depression especially in young people can have fatal consequences.
Wait. Read the article closely. The girl's parents were/are slightly nutty, too. And the girl was obviously disturbed to begin with. What kind of medical/psychological help was she getting? Or family counseling (the mother knew she was writing inappropriate stuff to the "boy", at least). The kid didn't have a chance. Yes, it was mean of the other family and somewhere they'll always have that on their conscience. BUT, the parents bear a portion of the guilt. And it's only the mother who's saying the internet thing is what made the kid kill herself. From the sounds of it, it may be a contributing factor, but I don't think and certainly don't know that it was the only factor. I'd check the home a little closer before I ruled a suicide.
quote:
Originally posted by SHELDIVR:
It was more than just mean, it was illegal. Several laws were broken including Federal statutes pertaining to computer harassment and endangering a minor.

I think this story may have another chapter or two before it is finished.



I think so too. It just seemed TOO cut and dried. I think the "rest of the story" is forthcoming.

Anyway, the parents who PRETENDED to be an interested boy needs to be treated as predators in my opinion, they PICKED her to do it to, so that puts them in a different category, right?
I've read several articles, and seen this on the news a few different times since this story broke.

My heart aches for this girl's family. I'm sure her parents' really do feel guilty. If you've seen them on the news, you can tell just how heart-broken they are, and how much anguish they are going through. Regardless of the girl's mental illness, it should have never happened.

The People that harrassed this girl, should face some kind of punishment and partake in at least 50 % of the responsibility for this situation. The Girl's Parents from what I've read/heard did Monitor her interaction with this "boy". If that's true, then they were doing what they could (short of her not having a computer) to make sure she wasn't getting into trouble.

The girl was also 16, though, so they /might/ have given her a little leeway, and if they did, then that's something they will have to live with. It's obvious that there was underlying depression issues, and possibly medication issues, that most probably did have a part into why she did this as well.

The People that harrassed this girl aren't speaking, so who knows if they are remorseful, or living with this. Seems to me if you are cruel enough to create a fake account, just to harrass your neighbors' daughter, then you already have a major character flaw and below normal conscience. Not to mention, a broken moral compass.

Anyone that pulls pranks like that, I just shake my head with disgust and disdain.

I liken it to the people that "fake deaths" on the internet. They morbidly think it is funny, but to those people that have grown to care for them as friends, their grief is very real, and to find out it was a hoax, makes it even more heart-wrenching. I know, because I've seen it a couple times on the site I volunteer for. There are some people out there that just don't care if they hurt others, or they put on a complete facade, just to have others play a sick game.

People like that are extremely cruel and broken. I so much agree with TSC in this matter as well. No wonder kids these days are so cruel. They learn it from their parents/guardians. *shakes head*

People today are apathetic though, so it's only natural to try to blame it on the internet, or the website. Fact is that this is not a clear cut situation. The parents of the girl, the girl and the predators all bear responsibility. However, I do think the neighbor lady that set all this into motion, KNEW that the girl was already having issues. In that, she had advance notice of what might become of her role playing if she advanced her plan. Perhaps she didn't think it through, but it would be hard for me to believe that she had no idea the girl already had some sort of depression issues. Therefore, with her doing this, she should have more burden to bear when it comes to being held accountable.

~Amanda
I don't know, I watched these parents on the Today show, and they presented more questions, than answers.
I was really surprised at the lack of emotion that they displayed. I know that everyone greives differently, but...
Also, they stressed that they monitored her computer use..yet, she had 600+ friends. How would they possibly be able to keep an eye on that much activity? The kids I know, who have myspace, have them set to private where only people that they know can have access.
During the conversation about what had happened, the mother was casually speaking about running into the woman down the street that was supposed to be responsible. It sounded more like schoolyard squabbling, rather than the terrible event that it was.
I feel that there is a lot more to this story.
I didn't see the interview you are talking about Gypsy, but I would assume that the lack of emotion or being so upset about it, would be because this happened a year ago.

They were told to stay quiet about it, by /I think/ their lawyer, but once they saw that nothing was being done in any way about their daughter, is when they decided to talk.

I have over 100 friends on Myspace, I rarely talk to some of them, and others I message every once and awhile. Even though the girl had over 600 friends, does not mean she talked or communicated with every one of them. In fact, that would be kind of hard to do, or I would think, especially since the girl was still school age.

I'd love to hear the harrassing people's side of the story. I think that is what is missing for me. The parents seem to me like two very heart broken parents, on every news broadcast I have seen. If I remember correctly, they even seperated after all this too. It's very sad.

Also, on the monitoring issue, I believe they did the best that they probably knew to do. She was 16 years old, so they might have given her a bit of leeway, but only they really know for sure.

Either way, when I was 16 I wasn't monitored 24/7 on the internet. Then again, I was very, very careful about not mentioning anything that could have made me a target for a predator. However, my mom would check over what I had been on, and who I had chatted with anyway, just to make sure. I didn't mind that, and I can only assume here, but perhaps that's what her parents' did for her too.

I'm sure they feel guilt over it, anyway. Whether they monitored her closely or not.

~Amanda
quote:
Originally posted by sad2know:
kids should not be on the internet without a parents supervision.


She was being supervised, as was the child of Lori Drew. No charges are being filed against Ms. Drew, but I imagine the harassment she is receiving might be a good punishment. I've noticed on the Internet that several groups have staged "peaceful protests" outside the Drew house. Their information is spread all across the Internet so anyone can call them or go to their house.

Even if it isn't criminal, it is disgusting what this woman did. Even if Megan was unstable, as someone mentioned earlier, no adult should be picking on her. I heard on the news today that Lori Drew is now saying she didn't have anything to do with the fake account and she's blaming it on her daughter and employee. Her teenage employee is now receiving psychiatric care. Good parenting, Lori Drew.
Why should he be responsible for something that someone else did, is the post office responsible for harrasing letters? He provides an outlet, in fact one thing the internet has done is provide a form of press that almost every citizen can partake in for minimal to no cost at all. With this comes some great responsibility, I don't think any of us would drop our 16 year old off in a seedy side of town and then drive off but the internet has a dark underbelly, it has it's own seedy side.

I am not saying lock down the computers but begin to monitor and ask questions and know what your kids are doing. Take part in there lives and slowly let the leash out so that as they get older they have some idea of what the real world is like but also have some idea of how to behave. It is the parents job to monitor what is going on in their childs life, not the government, not school, not myspace, but the parent.

It is a tragedy, one that sickens me that an adult would wilfully put another child through emotional pain.
Someone mentioned ' how could the parents be monitoring the girl if she had 600 friends' -- Myspace activity is not that busy. She may have had 600 people added to her friends list, but in reality, she may only correspond with 30 people or so on a regular basis out of the 600.

For example: I have 185 friends, but I usually only have "activity"/communication with about 20 of those people. Some of the "activity" is the form of a "bulletin" that goes out to all of the people on my friends list. That is where some of this "communication" was proably coming from. Bulletins reach more people than the message and comments do.

As far as holding "Tom" the guy that started myspace responsible for this and other crimes? I agree that would be like holding the US Postal Service responsible for harassing letters. Or better yet, that would be like holding UPS or the Postal Service or FedEx responsible for someone receiving a Pipe bomb or a "suspicious package". Don't shoot the messenger in other words.

I think this is a very sad case and it shows just how crazy our world has gotten in such a short time...no one (including parents) wants to be held responsible for their actions...or inactions...

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