Yes, it was “only MySpace.” Yes, kids can be cruel, whether it is face to face, or over the Internet, and teenage boys are no exception. But what happens when the teenage boy is not a teenage boy, but the parents of a teenage girl’s former best friend?
Megan Meier (above) was an 8th grade volleyball player who loved what any typical teenage girl loves - dogs, music, being outdoors, and of course, boys. She had a troubled past, including treatment for depression and ADD, and severe self-esteem issues. But she had been improving, losing weight and regaining her self-confidence after ending a lightswitch friendship with another girl. Megan’s mother, Tina, attributed the positive changes to her new MySpace friend, Josh - a boy who thought Megan was pretty.
And then things changed. One day, Josh decided not to be Megan’s friend anymore. He had heard that she was not very nice to her friends. He said that everyone in town knew she was a bitch and a slut. He told her that the world would be a better place without her.
What Josh never told Megan is that he never really existed. He was, in fact, a fabrication of Lori Drew - the mother of the girl Megan had once been friends with.
Distraught, Megan hung herself in her closet, a few weeks shy of her 14th birthday. Tina Meier said that Megan had been looking forward to her party. She had even bought a new dress - a dress that would not make its grand entrance until Megan’s funeral.
The only thing more despicable than the action itself is the fact that there will most likely be no criminal charges pressed, because there is, “no charge to fit [the crime.]” How about harassment? Child abuse? Involuntary manslaughter?
Many news outlets declined to publish the parents’ name, out of consideration for their teenage daughter. I call bullshit, as do many other outraged news-readers. Other blogs and comments on news threads have outed these parents, as have I.
Name them, and let them face their shame. Demand justice for Megan Meier.
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