Megan Meier, then thirteen, was ecstatic when a cute boy befriended her on Myspace. They struck up conversation quickly and became fast friends. He was three years her senior, claimed to be homeschooled and live in a town nearby and seemed like a really good guy.
But soon things took a turn for the worse—compliments turned to insults, they were arguing via the Internet constantly and Megan’s mom became nervous. She went to the police to see if she could verify the accounts legitimacy. They told her there was nothing they could do.
Then Megan receives a message from Josh saying, “I don’t think I want to be friends with you any longer because I hear you’re not nice to your friends.” Then more and more began coming, “You’re a slut, and you’re fat.”
The embarrassment and stress of the situation became too much for Megan. She couldn’t deal with it and sadness took over. Megan had a history of depression. Bullying through the cyber world ultimately took over her personal world and Megan committed suicide in October 2006.
Though tragic, Megan’s story is not uncommon.
In September of 2010 forty two percent of children had been bullied online, 1 in 4 have had it happen more than once. Thirty five percent of children have had their physical well being threatened online and 1 in 5 have had it happen more than once.
It is in longer a sad taboo but a huge reality in a young person’s social life on the Internet. WCA students are not immune from this problem either, who have even faced similar abuse to Megan Meier.
“I never felt insecure about my physical appearance till I received hurtful messages over Facebook. He called me awful names and said things I’m too embarrassed to even say out loud. What hurt the most is that it was a guy I really liked and trusted and he used things I told him against me and told me our whole relationship was a lie,” said a sophomore who wanted to remain anonymous.
Though harsh words over Facebook or other social networking sites are the most prevalent forms of cyber bullying it is definitely branching out. Recently sites dedicated to bashing and slandering a person are becoming more and more popular. Though most focus primarily on celebrities there are some like www.thedirty.com and www.peoplesdirty.com that are targeting any and one who dares to have pictures of themselves on the web.
The culprits of all of these Internet woes don’t seem to see the problem with what they are doing and typically claim no responsibility for their verbal abuse. The Terms Of Service on thedirty.com claim that they have every right to voice their opinion.
“Thedirty.com is all about gossip and satire. The content that is pubished contains rumors, speculation, assumptions, opinions and factual information. Postings may not contain erroneous or inaccurate information. The owner of this site does not ensure the accurateness of any content presented on thedirty.com”
In smaller cases such as Facebook harassment, assaulters have similar opinions.
“I like to bug people. It’s hilarious to share with friends and just laugh because we know that we got to them. It’s not a big deal. Its just Facebook. If you can’t handle it, you shouldn’t be on the site,” said a sophomore who also wished to remain anonymous.
There are many differing opinions on cyber bullying but the heart of the problem is how it should be handled or disciplined. Harassment over the Internet is illegal but sites like thedirty.com defame and slander people every single day and post pictures without their consent under the law of freedom of speech.