Cyber Bullying

The news article I read about cyber bullying was about how it led to a girl's suicide. This 13-year-old girl, named Megan Meier, befriended a boy online through Myspace. However, what started out as a friendship soon turned sour. It started out when the boy wrote to Megan, "I don't know if I want to be friends with you any longer because I hear you're not nice to your friends." Soon, their compliments turned to insults as the boy started sending Megan cruel messages and posting online bulletins saying things such as 'Megan Meier is fat' and 'Megan Meier is a slut.'

This led Megan, who had suffered from low self-esteem all her life, to depression and she hanged herself in her bedroom closet a day later.

Six weeks after this took place, Megan's parents

 found out that the boy who had made Megan so much didn't exist, and that his account was in fact created by the mother of one of Megan's former friends. Although Megan's parents do not believe it was her intention for Megan to commit suicide, they still blame her for their daughter's death. Ever since, both of them have been striving and doing everything they can to increase online security and protect vulnerable teenagers from cyber bullying.

Megan Meier, a 13-year-old girl who committed suicide after becoming a victim of cyber bullying.

Growing Up Online

Growing up online is a documentary that shows the negative side of technology. When I watched the video clips of Growing Up Online, I was extremely shocked at what I saw. There were teenagers in it that spent almost all of their lives on the Internet, even eating their meals in front of it, never moving from that one spot in front of the computer. It was more effective for their parents to send them an e-mail or an instant message than to actually talk to them because they seemed not to hear words that they said.