Quote From: jphuffWow! Isn't this a little harsh? No, not a little, this is ridiculous. You can blame a lot of people for what happened and the truth is that there may be multiple places where the blame lies. But saying the mother herself is responsible for the death by her actions is just cruel. First of all, Megan chose to take her own life; no one did it for her.
You can blame the mom for not being "supportive" all you want but I challenge anyone with children to tell me how they've been perfectly supportive with every issue that's ever bothered their child. If you tell me you've never said "buck up!" when your child has been hurt or never said "I told you so!" in some situation, than you're lying. We ALL say things like this from time to time. None of us are perfect or perfect parents. So don't dare to blame the mother just because hindsight shows she MIGHT have been able to prevent what happened by being psychic, not to mention perfect and unable to be frustrated or emotional herself. The mother has enough blame from herself, I'm sure, saying the exact same thing. And that's too bad, because it WASN'T her fault.
The mother clearly said and showed that she WAS involved with what was going on. She had read the emails with her daughter and WAS discussing them. That's more than most parents even know in these situations. Sadly most only discover what was even going on AFTER their child has taken some regrettable action. So she did right. She simply did not have any clue that her daughter was so disturbed that she was possible of taking things to the extreme that she did.
So in my book, the mother did better than 99% of the parents in these situations that I've read or heard about before because at least she communicated with her daughter and knew what was going on. Again, we can't be perfect, and we can't predict the future, especially when dealing with someone who evidently has mental issues we are not aware of or do not know the degree of.
This kind of thing has happened throughout history with teenagers, back before Romeo and Juliet. The message is clear though. Parents simply have to do the best they can. Know what their children are doing and stay involved and communicative with them. That's all you can do. Also, don't be hesitant to pull the plug on communications like a computer or even a cell phone if things are getting out of control. Yes, the child probably won't appreciate that either, but if you feel things are out of control enough to warrant it, wouldn't you rather be safe than sorry?
Bottom line, stop attacking the parents for not being perfect and not knowing exactly what would happen. It's not fair and it makes you look like a fool as well. What happened is tragic enough without heaping extra blame in places where it doesn't belong. In the end, the buck stops with each individual. No matter what, we are all responsible for our OWN actions.
Sorry that I'm very late on this, but I 100% agree with you from this statement. People have no idea what it’s like to lose a child due to the intense bullying that she had suffered, among what other incidents that children suffer due to others. And it certainly doesn’t come from their parents. Shame on those of you that are defending Lori’s actions.
While it’s also true that Lori didn’t cause Megan to commit suicide, she, Ashley Grills, & her daughter, Sarah, KNEW what kind of problems that Megan had mentially, & decided to act out on it, & had shown absolutely no remorse for what they did, & had started this whole charade in the first place. That's why people are blaming them, & that's why they have been receiving all the public humilation that they’re getting, & rightfully so. Plus don’t say that they aren't drama queens, because if they weren't, then they would have just marched their butts onto Tina's doorstep, & just simply asked her if Megan was bullying Sarah. Now how hard is that? It’s not. This whole tragedy could have all been avoided if they were to simply do that of what I said. Period. Now I dn't know if you'll agree with what I said, but this is what I think of this whole situation. I hope that those that are judging Tina doesn't have any kids.
Plus to all you Lori defenders out there, here are some links which Lori describes this situation as "funny", & a few ones which knew Lori or used to know her personally.
http://stcharlesjournal.stltoday.com/articles/2008/06/19/news/sj2tn20080619-0620stc-drew0.ii1.txt http://drphil.com/messageboard/view.user/2207006/
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/11/lori-drew-pla-2.html http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/05/15/internet.suicide.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
Still think that she's all goody-goody? Now think, is this the type of person that I want to be friends with? I sure don't. If you do, let me know so I can get her phone number for you.
Please, people, open your eyes & wake up.
You've heard the saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” But what happens when someone posts malicious comments about you on the Internet? This trend, known as e-vengeance or cyber bullying, can have deadly consequences. Thirteen-year-old Megan Meier committed suicide after being taunted on MySpace by “Josh,” whom she believed to be a cute teenage boy. Unbeknownst to her parents, Ron and Tina, Josh’s profile was fake, which they believe was created by an adult neighbor to monitor Megan. Was this a case of freedom of speech, or harassment? A state senator proposing anti-cyber-bullying legislation and a First Amendment attorney weigh in. Then, Colorado councilwoman Sandy Tucker made national headlines when she posted a controversial joke online. When the mayor asked her to remove remarks he considered offensive, Sandy refused and then resigned. She doesn't feel the need to apologize and says people need to lighten up. Holly lives in Sandy's town, and joins the show via Web cam to tell the former councilwoman why the joke is no laughing matter. Plus, meet a man who says he's constantly taunted by racist slurs while playing Xbox Live. Join the discussion.
