Pushed Too Far: 15 Bullying Cases You Will Not Easily Forget
Bullying has been viewed as normal for much too long. For too many years, schools, parents and even children and teenagers turned a blind eye to bullying. Because of this attitude, bullies have been allowed to have it their way without receiving any kind of punishment.
These stories will show how diverse bullying can be and what tragic consequences it can have. Furthermore, they may suggest solutions to this problem, and may provide inspiration and optimism about the possibility of winning over the bullies.
These stories will show how diverse bullying can be and what tragic consequences it can have. Furthermore, they may suggest solutions to this problem, and may provide inspiration and optimism about the possibility of winning over the bullies.
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Excerpt
Megan Meier
Recently, bullying and cyberbullying have come to the attention of the public as serious issues that need to be stopped. When Megan Meier’s story came out in 2006, many could not believe it, and it forced people to recognize cyberbullying as a problem.
Megan Meier was born in 1992 to Christina and Ronald Meier. She grew up near the Dardenne Prairie. As a child, she had self-esteem issues related to her weight. She started visiting a psychiatrist, and was diagnosed with depression and attention deficit disorder. The psychiatrist prescribed citalopram, methyphenidate and ziprasidone.
Up until the 8th grade, Megan attended various public schools, but because of her self-esteem issues, her parents thought she would feel more comfortable in a school with a required a uniform and a no-makeup policy, so they enrolled her at the Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Dardenne Prairie.
Soon after changing schools, Megan opened a MySpace account. She received a message from a boy named Josh Evans. The two of them started to chat on a regular basis on the website, but they never met in real life. For her parents, this new friend seemed like a good thing. They noticed Megan was feeling better and that her mood was completely uplifted by her interactions with Josh.
Josh told Megan that he lived in the nearby town of O’Fallon. He also told her he was homeschooled and that he did not have a phone number. Soon after their “acquaintance” Megan developed a crush on Josh and they started to chat more and more.
On October 16th, the tone in Josh’s messages started to change drastically. He told her that he wouldn’t want to be friends with her and that she was an awful person to her friends. More messages of this kind were sent, until Josh sent the last message on MySpace, stating again that Megan was a horrible person and that he wished her to have a bad life. The last sentence suggested to Megan that her life was worth nothing and the world would be much better off without her in it. Megan responded to his message, saying she believed him to be a boy that girls would commit suicide over.
20 minutes later, Megan was found hanged by her belt in her closet. She died the very next day, after several failed attempts at resuscitation.
Investigations showed that Josh was not who “he” appeared to be. Lori Drew, the mother of a girl living four doors apart from the Meiers, admitted that she and a few other people, such as her 18-year-old employee, Ashlee Grills, had run the hoax account. As Lori admitted, the account had been opened to torment young Megan because she had allegedly spread rumors about her daughter. According to Lori Drew, the account had started as a joke, but its main purpose was to gain Megan’s trust and find out what she truly believed about her daughter (as well as about other people). Later on, investigation showed that the one who had been sending most of the messages to Megan (including the final one that was meant to end the hoax and terminate communication) was Ashlee Grills. However, this was only presented at a press conference in December by Jack Banas, the prosecuting attorney who mentioned that he had not interviewed Ashlee before because she had been under psychiatric treatment. For the most part of the early news reports on the matter, Lori Drew’s name remained undisclosed.
It was only one year after Megan’s death that her parents started to speak publicly about their story and about all the things that had been revealed during the investigation. When Megan’s aunt saw an article about Internet harassment, they contacted the journal and finally talked openly about what had happened. Up to that moment, the FBI asked them to refrain from any kind of public speaking about the matter, as they were still investigating the issue.
Lori Drew was convicted for the violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in 2008, but her sentence was reversed on appeal a year later. She also reportedly closed the business she had been running (an advertising agency focusing on coupon books) because her name was made public.
When the Suburban Journals published Megan Meier’s story, people felt outraged that the Drews’ names had still been undisclosed. However, bloggers posted their names, addresses, phone numbers, and a picture of Lori Drew. This led to violations of privacy, vandalism and even Internet stalking. Bandas, the prosecutor who had been investigating Megan’s death came out and told everybody that although the Drews cannot be prosecuted, this should not turn into a violation of the law itself.
The reactions stirred by Megan’s death and her story were mostly rooted in the idea that an adult could be involved in such an act. In November 2007, a vigil was held for Megan and the event’s location was close to the house of the Drew family.
Although the Meier case was not completely resolved and the ones who caused Megan’s death were not punished, the case stirred the interest of the authorities. The Board of Aldermen for the city of Dardenne Prairie passed an ordinance in November 2007 prohibiting any kind of harassment over electronic media (including the Internet, text messaging, pagers, etc.), although this harassment is treated as a misdemeanor and is only punished with a fine that goes up to $500 and with up to 90 days of imprisonment. The city of Florissant, Missouri and other cities and states have started to take into account this case and passed similar laws.
Furthermore, Missouri decided to change the laws for harassment because electronic harassment was slipping through the cracks. This is now punished as a felony with up four years of imprisonment if an adult harasses a child under 17 or if the harasser has been previously convicted for harassment.
Missouri was one of the first states to pass a law against cyberbullying and cyber-stalking, but other states have followed suit. The case of Megan Meier raised awareness over the fact that the Internet had become a new medium in which bullies can stalk and harass their victims and that something has to be done in order to protect the children out there from this kind of things happening.
Megan’s death is one of the most tragic cases of bullying out there and laws such as those passed by Missouri are meant to prevent this kind of event. For the bubbly and friendly Megan, these laws came too late, but for many other children like her they are one step ahead for their own safety.
It is of the utmost importance that we all acknowledge the fact that bullying is not a way to make kids grow up and that it should be completely intolerable. Many times, both parents and teachers close their eyes when they hear their kids and students are being bullied, because they know that this has been happening for a long time and that they themselves may have been victims of bullying when they were their children’s age. Bullying should not be considered the norm and solving this issue starts with acknowledging that, in the end, it is everybody’s responsibility to encourage children to be tolerant with each other, instead of being hateful and harmful.
When parents are encouraging bullying, the situation gets completely out of control. In the case of Megan, her death and the fact that the one who came up with the idea was a mother herself shows that there is something wrong with our society – something that needs immediate change.
Recently, bullying and cyberbullying have come to the attention of the public as serious issues that need to be stopped. When Megan Meier’s story came out in 2006, many could not believe it, and it forced people to recognize cyberbullying as a problem.
Megan Meier was born in 1992 to Christina and Ronald Meier. She grew up near the Dardenne Prairie. As a child, she had self-esteem issues related to her weight. She started visiting a psychiatrist, and was diagnosed with depression and attention deficit disorder. The psychiatrist prescribed citalopram, methyphenidate and ziprasidone.
Up until the 8th grade, Megan attended various public schools, but because of her self-esteem issues, her parents thought she would feel more comfortable in a school with a required a uniform and a no-makeup policy, so they enrolled her at the Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Dardenne Prairie.
Soon after changing schools, Megan opened a MySpace account. She received a message from a boy named Josh Evans. The two of them started to chat on a regular basis on the website, but they never met in real life. For her parents, this new friend seemed like a good thing. They noticed Megan was feeling better and that her mood was completely uplifted by her interactions with Josh.
Josh told Megan that he lived in the nearby town of O’Fallon. He also told her he was homeschooled and that he did not have a phone number. Soon after their “acquaintance” Megan developed a crush on Josh and they started to chat more and more.
On October 16th, the tone in Josh’s messages started to change drastically. He told her that he wouldn’t want to be friends with her and that she was an awful person to her friends. More messages of this kind were sent, until Josh sent the last message on MySpace, stating again that Megan was a horrible person and that he wished her to have a bad life. The last sentence suggested to Megan that her life was worth nothing and the world would be much better off without her in it. Megan responded to his message, saying she believed him to be a boy that girls would commit suicide over.
20 minutes later, Megan was found hanged by her belt in her closet. She died the very next day, after several failed attempts at resuscitation.
Investigations showed that Josh was not who “he” appeared to be. Lori Drew, the mother of a girl living four doors apart from the Meiers, admitted that she and a few other people, such as her 18-year-old employee, Ashlee Grills, had run the hoax account. As Lori admitted, the account had been opened to torment young Megan because she had allegedly spread rumors about her daughter. According to Lori Drew, the account had started as a joke, but its main purpose was to gain Megan’s trust and find out what she truly believed about her daughter (as well as about other people). Later on, investigation showed that the one who had been sending most of the messages to Megan (including the final one that was meant to end the hoax and terminate communication) was Ashlee Grills. However, this was only presented at a press conference in December by Jack Banas, the prosecuting attorney who mentioned that he had not interviewed Ashlee before because she had been under psychiatric treatment. For the most part of the early news reports on the matter, Lori Drew’s name remained undisclosed.
It was only one year after Megan’s death that her parents started to speak publicly about their story and about all the things that had been revealed during the investigation. When Megan’s aunt saw an article about Internet harassment, they contacted the journal and finally talked openly about what had happened. Up to that moment, the FBI asked them to refrain from any kind of public speaking about the matter, as they were still investigating the issue.
Lori Drew was convicted for the violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in 2008, but her sentence was reversed on appeal a year later. She also reportedly closed the business she had been running (an advertising agency focusing on coupon books) because her name was made public.
When the Suburban Journals published Megan Meier’s story, people felt outraged that the Drews’ names had still been undisclosed. However, bloggers posted their names, addresses, phone numbers, and a picture of Lori Drew. This led to violations of privacy, vandalism and even Internet stalking. Bandas, the prosecutor who had been investigating Megan’s death came out and told everybody that although the Drews cannot be prosecuted, this should not turn into a violation of the law itself.
The reactions stirred by Megan’s death and her story were mostly rooted in the idea that an adult could be involved in such an act. In November 2007, a vigil was held for Megan and the event’s location was close to the house of the Drew family.
Although the Meier case was not completely resolved and the ones who caused Megan’s death were not punished, the case stirred the interest of the authorities. The Board of Aldermen for the city of Dardenne Prairie passed an ordinance in November 2007 prohibiting any kind of harassment over electronic media (including the Internet, text messaging, pagers, etc.), although this harassment is treated as a misdemeanor and is only punished with a fine that goes up to $500 and with up to 90 days of imprisonment. The city of Florissant, Missouri and other cities and states have started to take into account this case and passed similar laws.
Furthermore, Missouri decided to change the laws for harassment because electronic harassment was slipping through the cracks. This is now punished as a felony with up four years of imprisonment if an adult harasses a child under 17 or if the harasser has been previously convicted for harassment.
Missouri was one of the first states to pass a law against cyberbullying and cyber-stalking, but other states have followed suit. The case of Megan Meier raised awareness over the fact that the Internet had become a new medium in which bullies can stalk and harass their victims and that something has to be done in order to protect the children out there from this kind of things happening.
Megan’s death is one of the most tragic cases of bullying out there and laws such as those passed by Missouri are meant to prevent this kind of event. For the bubbly and friendly Megan, these laws came too late, but for many other children like her they are one step ahead for their own safety.
It is of the utmost importance that we all acknowledge the fact that bullying is not a way to make kids grow up and that it should be completely intolerable. Many times, both parents and teachers close their eyes when they hear their kids and students are being bullied, because they know that this has been happening for a long time and that they themselves may have been victims of bullying when they were their children’s age. Bullying should not be considered the norm and solving this issue starts with acknowledging that, in the end, it is everybody’s responsibility to encourage children to be tolerant with each other, instead of being hateful and harmful.
When parents are encouraging bullying, the situation gets completely out of control. In the case of Megan, her death and the fact that the one who came up with the idea was a mother herself shows that there is something wrong with our society – something that needs immediate change.
