Posted on 03 December 2007 by Antonio D. French
While the parents, media and lawmakers look for someone to punish for the suicide of Megan Meier, others wonder how Internet postings could possibly drive someone to suicide.
“What if the boyfriend was real?” asked a friend of mine. “What if he dumped her, called her a [vulgar name] and she ran home and killed herself? Would they try to prosecute him?”
Good question. While the link to the popular social networking website MySpace has made this St. Charles tragedy a worldwide story, the media’s thirst for sensationalism mixed with politicians’ opportunism has really left common sense and any idea of personal responsibility at the roadside.
Shouldn’t a 13-year-old be able to handle “meanness” better than this? Or is this newly-coined “cyber-bullying” really a new, more menacing threat to young people, as an editorial in the Post-Dispatch claimed today:
“The pervasiveness of technology, including cell phones, e-mail and instant messaging, coupled with the anonymity it bestows, makes electronic harassment less escapable and more effective. Bullies no longer lurk only in school hallways and playgrounds; now, they slip right into a child’s bedroom, wreaking havoc even when school is out.”
Really? Are emails really more scary than three bigger kids beating the hell out of you everyday at lunch? Because sticks and stones can indeed break your bones. Words — well, they can be hurtful too, but at 13 years-old aren’t kids at least responsible enough for their own actions as to rule out the words of a faceless boy or girl as the reason for them killing themselves?
Ironically, at the same time newspapers, TV news, and the girl’s parents are arguing that 13-year-old Megan was not responsible for her own actions, a St. Louis County judge sentenced young Sherman Burnett Jr. to 60 years in prison for a crime he committed when he was — you guessed it — 13 years-old.
So which is it, Missouri? Are 13 year-olds responsible for themselves or not?
Because if they are, young Sherman should go to jail for a very long time for kidnapping, beating and sexually assaulting his 6 year-old neighbor. And young Megan was old enough to know what the hell she was doing when she decided to take her own life. No words from someone she never met caused her suicide.
Or is someone else really responsible for causing Megan to hang herself in her room, because as a child, Megan was manipulated and harassed to the point of her own suicide and, like young Sherman, had no concept yet how precious life — theirs or others — actually is.
So which one is it, Missouri? What are 13 year-old kids responsible for — your kids and mine?
