Real Stories From Around the World
The Megan Meier MySpace Incident
Megan Meier was a 13 year old from Missouri who struck up an online friendship on the popular social networking site MySpace with a person she believed was a new boy in her hometown. In actuality, the “friend” was a group of individuals, including adults, who were intent on humiliating the poor girl because of a friendship with another child that had gone awry. Megan was very upset when she found out the truth, then later committed suicide once the friendship had terminated. The horrifying case stunned the community and caused state government officials to pass some of the harshest cyber bullying laws in the country.
The “Kill Kylie” Campaign of Hate and Homophobia
Kylie Kenney, an eighth grade student from Vermont lost two years of her life as a result of cyber bullying from classmates. From junior high through her sophomore year of high school, Kylie was forced to deal with websites created by her classmates that featured names like “Kill Kylie Incorporated” that were filled with threatening, homophobic remarks about the young girl.These hurtful kids obtained screen names with handles close to Kylie’s name and used them to make suggestive remarks and sexual advances on Kylie’s teammates on the field hockey team.As a result police filed charges of harassments against the individuals responsible.
The “Dog Poop Girl”
In South Korea, a female college student was riding the train with her dog when it defecated on the floor of the subway car. After the girl refused to clean up the mess, another passenger on the train took her picture using her cell phone and posted it online. In the months to follow, it became an Internet sensation in South Korea and “Dog Poop” girl became the target of extreme harassment. Individuals found out her name and address and soon she was forced to withdraw from school and move to another part of the country.
Phoebe Prince, 15, Commits Suicide After Being Cyber-Bullied By Fellow Students
Her principal called her smart and charming. And a boy had just invited 15-year-old Irish immigrant Phoebe Prince to the winter cotillion, the height of the social season at South Hadley High School in Massachusetts. But then police received a call.
It case from one of Phoebe's sisters. When cops arrived, they found that the freshman student had hung herself. Two days before the big dance.
A sister found 15-year-old Phoebe Prince hanging in her home Though they're not releasing any details, police say she was a victim of cyber-bullying from girls at the school.
This wasn't just any case of high school girls behaving badly toward one another. Phoebe apparently faced many horrible messages via texts, Facebook messages, and in person at the school. Even after her death, the bully girls left insulting messages on a Facebook page created in her memory.
Megan Meier was a 13 year old from Missouri who struck up an online friendship on the popular social networking site MySpace with a person she believed was a new boy in her hometown. In actuality, the “friend” was a group of individuals, including adults, who were intent on humiliating the poor girl because of a friendship with another child that had gone awry. Megan was very upset when she found out the truth, then later committed suicide once the friendship had terminated. The horrifying case stunned the community and caused state government officials to pass some of the harshest cyber bullying laws in the country.
The “Kill Kylie” Campaign of Hate and Homophobia
Kylie Kenney, an eighth grade student from Vermont lost two years of her life as a result of cyber bullying from classmates. From junior high through her sophomore year of high school, Kylie was forced to deal with websites created by her classmates that featured names like “Kill Kylie Incorporated” that were filled with threatening, homophobic remarks about the young girl.These hurtful kids obtained screen names with handles close to Kylie’s name and used them to make suggestive remarks and sexual advances on Kylie’s teammates on the field hockey team.As a result police filed charges of harassments against the individuals responsible.
The “Dog Poop Girl”
In South Korea, a female college student was riding the train with her dog when it defecated on the floor of the subway car. After the girl refused to clean up the mess, another passenger on the train took her picture using her cell phone and posted it online. In the months to follow, it became an Internet sensation in South Korea and “Dog Poop” girl became the target of extreme harassment. Individuals found out her name and address and soon she was forced to withdraw from school and move to another part of the country.
Phoebe Prince, 15, Commits Suicide After Being Cyber-Bullied By Fellow Students
Her principal called her smart and charming. And a boy had just invited 15-year-old Irish immigrant Phoebe Prince to the winter cotillion, the height of the social season at South Hadley High School in Massachusetts. But then police received a call.
It case from one of Phoebe's sisters. When cops arrived, they found that the freshman student had hung herself. Two days before the big dance.
A sister found 15-year-old Phoebe Prince hanging in her home Though they're not releasing any details, police say she was a victim of cyber-bullying from girls at the school.
This wasn't just any case of high school girls behaving badly toward one another. Phoebe apparently faced many horrible messages via texts, Facebook messages, and in person at the school. Even after her death, the bully girls left insulting messages on a Facebook page created in her memory.