Mom in MySpace Suicide Case Speaks to Students

Mom in MySpace Suicide Case Speaks to Students


Reported by: Mike Landis
Wednesday, Jan 7, 2009 @10:34pm CST

Rock Port students listened in shock as they heard a suburban St. Louis mother paint a picture of how hurtful words can be.

"I go out and speak to schools in hopes that you're never standing in the place that I am today," said Tina Meier. "They are going to target you for whatever it is that bothers you. And for Megan, her weight, her self esteem, that was it.

Tina Meier said her thirteen year old daughter, Megan, hit rock bottom when she received a series of hateful messages on MySpace.

"Got this horrible feeling in my stomach and I took off running to Megan's room," she said. "I opened the door and found her hanging in her closet."

The messages came from a teenage "boy" she'd befriended online, Josh Evans.

Come to find out, "Josh" was actually, all along, a 47 year old woman playing a joke.

It was a case that shocked the nation and led to tougher laws against cyber bullying.

School counselors are also tackling these new tools used for taunting.

"I tell the kids, if you wouldn't tell it to their face, it shouldn't even be typed out," said Meier.

Tina said, think twice before you speak or push send.

"Once you send it, you can't take it back," said Meier. "You don't want to have that last word that you say cannot be something you cannot take back, you have to live with for the rest of your life."

The woman who sent the messages to megan, Lori Drew, was recently convicted on three misdemeanors related to the case.

This past summer, Missouri lawmakers passed Megan's Law in honor of Megan Meier.

It makes harassing others using text messaging, cell phones and the web a crime.