A 49 year old Missouri woman made a decision to go on Myspace in 2006, create a fake person (a 16-year old boy), and then bullied a young girl into suicide. Recently she was indicted by a federal grand jury for “one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to get information used to inflict emotional distress on the girl”.
So…a 49 year old woman decided that it would be fun to cyber-bully a 13-year old child? And the girl’s parents had no idea that such bullying was taking place. No idea? Apparently the 13-year old girl was taking medication for depression and ADD. And then she hung herself.
I know this story is 2 years old, but it’s just weird. Does anyone else think there’s something wrong with this picture?
It is totally weird, and sad. Apparently, they were neighbors. It’s f-ed up. How could you be that mean? And obviously, the girl was already struggling with something if she was on medication for depression. Why the frick would you push on a kid like that??? Jeez.
So either I live under a rock or I’ve totally forgotten about ever hearing this story. I know some parents like to fall back on the whole I like to give my child their independence and privacy when it comes to the computer but I’m sorry I have to call bullshit on that one.
My 13 year old isn’t into Myspace but loves Facebook and guess who has the password to that account as well as his yahoomail…yep, that’s me. Guess who checks it on a regular basis, yep that’s me. I also check his text messages and the history on his laptop. Am I invading his privacy? Hell yes. Do I care what he or other people thinks about it. Hell no!
Have a great weekend!
By the way, I’m so coming back here often!
I totally agree with DeeDee. You know I have no kids, but Chris’s 13 year old sister made a friend on Neo Pets last year… he was 40. I’m definitely gonna invade my kids privacy.
DeeDee: Welcome! You are totally my kind of mom. Invade!!Invade!! You’ll be glad one day that you did! mom