“Cyber-Bullying”

Cultural Context:  The term used by MySpace and FoxNews.com to describe the actions of Lori Drew, a Missouri woman who allegedly engineered a fake profile of a teen-aged boy on MySpace which she used to deceive a neighbor teen-aged girl.  The teen-aged girl committed suicide after receiving numerous “cruel” messages from the non-existent boy including one telling her that the world would be better off without her.  Ms. Drew was indicted this week on federal charges of conspiracy and accessing protected computers without authorization related to the girl’s death. Read the stories here and here.

Hmmm…
As I read the stories linked above, one question screamed and then came barreling full steam to mind:  WHERE are the grown-ups here?

One supposed adult hired someone to fake a MySpace account so that she could learn what a 16-year-old girl was saying about her own teen-aged daughter.
Hmmm…  Is she also in 10th grade with her daughter?

Another supposed adult, a 19-year-old employee of Ms. Drew, wrote disparaging messages and told a 16-year-old girl that the world would be a better place without her because she thought the trick had gone too far (or so she told Good Morning America).  
Hmmm…  You want to STOP harrassing a girl, so you tell her she’s worthless?

Then, you have two parents who admit they knew their 16-year-old daughter had violated MySpace’s guidelines for both age and acceptable posting content, but they were able to “closely monitor” the account.
Hmmm… Just what does closely monitoring entail?

This is indeed a tragic situation.  Two families have been destroyed and one young girl is dead – before she even had a chance to realize that there is life beyond 16.  Perhaps the most tragic aspect of all is just how preventable the situation was if only a few grown-ups had chosen to BE grown-ups rather than “cyber” buddies.

I think I’ll turn off my computer, and go kiss my kids now.