I have watched with sadness the story about Megan Meier in  the news recently.  Megan was a 13 year old girl who had battled ADD, depression and weight issues so imagine her happiness when she was shown some attention by a boy on MySpace.  Her mom cautioned her not to get too excited or too involved with this boy, but Megan told her mom she just didn't understand.  How often as parents do we hear those words? 

The supposed boy broke up with her and then proceeded to vilify her on the internet site.  Megan was so devastated that she took her own life about a year ago. 

I cannot imagine what her parents are going through.  But imagine their shock when they found out the cyber-bullying was coming from a computer right down the road from their home.  Apparently a mom from her neighborhood created the boy who was interested in Megan.  Why?  That I am not sure about...something about Megan saying something about the perpetrator's daughter.  As my kids say, "WHATEVER"! 

I cannot imagine why this woman would resort to this cyber-bullying?  What a horrid thing to do to a child.  But how can we expect our children not to behave this way, if we have parents doing so? 

It's very hard to have your daughter come home from school and say she'd had a bad day because of some mean comment someone said about her.  I have been there...been the mom of the daughter and the daughter (more than a few years ago).  I try to reassure my daughter that the comment is inaccurate, mean spirited and said to make the girl feel better about herself by knocking down my daughter.   I do remember the intense need to fit in when I was a 12 year old  girl myself. 

Imagine though that your daughter is being bullied in the privacy of her home through her computer or cell phone.  Words typed or texted cannot ever be taken back.  They are very painful and I can only imagine Megan's desperation when she hung herself. 

We all must educate our tweens and teens about the ramifications of their words, whether spoken or typed.