Well, as someone well familiar with depression myself (been there, *not* done that, got to live), I can only say this: I don't see how it was the fault of Megan's parents. They did monitor her, everything (apart from one strange message the day before) seemed to be fine, and Megan seemed to be all right, too. It's true that Megan's mother should have done something while she was at the orthodontist's, but what? She was talking to Megan on the phone, telling her to log off. Why Megan didn't do that is another story. Of course, we might say that Mrs. Meier could have rushed home to make her log off, but would that have changed anything? I honestly don't think so. Most of the damage had already been done by that time, I'd say.

The only blame I can find with Mrs. Meier is that she only scolded her daughter for *not* logging off instead of trying to comfort her.

The parents (or mother?) of Megan's former friend though acted viciously, I think. And that's exactly why I think so:
  • They *knew* that Megan was treated for depression. If they had taken the time to find out what that means, they should have known better.
  • They created the fake account with the sole purpose of spying on Megan, gaining her trust. I mean, just imagine creating a persona to infiltrate somebody's most private thoughts! Or, worse, imagine that same thing happening to you! How vile can it get?
  • They made sure to even grant other people access to "join the fun", as one girl who declined the invitation phrased it. That alone shows that the purpose of their online spying (or whatever you want to call it) was not benign and not only meant to protect their own daughter from harm (as might be assumed).
  • After they made sure that Megan trusted "Josh" and took his opinion to heart, they started a flaming campaign of the worst sort. Not only by saying really bad things about her, but also by implying that her real life persona, the *real* Megan, was known for all sorts of bad things. Being on the receiving end of a flaming campaing alone is bad enough, but being made aware that your whole neighborhood knew about all your (imagined?) bad traits... How must that girl have felt? I mean, if you're being flamed on mySpace, you can easily decide to leave it. But how is a thirteen-year-old supposed to leave her neighborhood?
  • Bear with me and read this final message once again: Everybody in insert hometown here knows how you are. You are a bad person and everybody hates you. Have a shitty rest of your life. The world would be a better place without you. Do I have to say anything else?





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Originally posted by shimauma:
Should her parents have been watching her round the clock surveillance? I suppose if my kid had tried to commit suicide once, I suppose I wouldn't be leaving her side for a minute, at least until she could legally get away from me on her own.
TEJ, it's good to know you have nothing else to do. No making money, no sleeping, no nothing. Believe me if I say this, but you can't keep up 24/7 surveillance of anybody, not even your own child, much less for years.

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Originally posted by shimauma:
If I knew that it was my on line connection that was giving her problems, there goes the connection.
The point is that the Meiers didn't know that MySpace was giving Megan her problems. At least not until the very same day she committed suicide. Thus, your tons of practical solutions are strictly beside the point. (Forgive me for asking, but did you actually read the whole text, or did you only skim it?)

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Originally posted by shimauma:
If the girl had been taught not to disobey her parents, she might still be around. It is in fact the duty of every loving parent to teach children to avoid harmful elements if possible. They must be trained to make smart decisions. Raising a kid to think rightly, practically and logically and still closely monitor their behavior doesn't seem contradictory at all.
Well spoken, but does it work all the time? Do your children always obey you? Do they do so *at once*? Even when they feel they only have to 'finish up' defending themselves, even if they're in emotional turmoil like Megan? Really? Well, if they do, then congratulations.

As a matter of fact, I can understand how Megan felt in that very situation. She was trying to defend herself against unfair accusations from people she considered her trusted friends, and she badly needed someone to be on her side, to tell her how to cope. Sadly, she didn't know how.

The only known quantity that moves faster than
light is the office grapevine. (from Nan's fabulous Home series)