In this story, 19-year-old Ashley Grills admits she participated in the Internet hoax that eventually led to 13-year-old Megan Meier’s suicide. If she can go on national television and admit such a thing, how can this not be a crime of some sort?
Nineteen years old is OLD enough to know when you are being cruel.
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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I believe some punishment in the court of law should be required in this particular case; I’m not sure which amounts of jail time, community service, or fines would be correct. But, this young lady’s punishment in the court of public opinion will be far worse.
I at least give Ashley credit for admitting her role and showing remorse. The same can’t be said for Lori Drew.
this is an unprecendented case. Actions that result in the death of another person usually have some sort of consequence, such as involuntary manslaughter etc. What about sorority and fraternity hazing? aren’t they held accoutable when hazing results in a death? What about drunk driving that results in a death?
Are we to say to the victims: sorry, you should have known that joining a fraternity or driving in the evening could result in death. Sorry your parents didn’t teach you better…
I feel for Megan’s family. I pity Ashley and Lori - what a waste of genetic material you must be to mess with a child like that.
Still, being a jerk isn’t a crime. Neither is failing to properly monitor your children’s internet activity. There’s plenty of shame to go around.
Ashley is able to offer her catharsis under the protection of indemnity and at the same time use it to undermine Lori’s position. As such, the apology is self-serving and isn’t of value here. Take it up with God, Ashley - the rest of us don’t want to hear it.
Cruelty and taunting is not (and should not be) against the law. Neither things are objectively able to be defined– what one person sees as taunting and horrid may just bounce off a more secure person. Telling someone the world would be better off without another may not be nice, and it is unfortunate that Megan’s parents did not raise her to better deal with people like Ashley/Josh, (such as having some better critical thinking skills, and a better self-image than to be jerked around by jerkish behavior by another.)
Now, physical stalking is another thing entirely, but one can hardly call it stalking when one has to log onto the Net to participate.
Obviously Ashley made some bad decisions, and shouldn’t be held up as a teenage role model, but she knows she did wrong– and it’s gonna follow her the rest of her days. If she were unrepentant and blew off her behavior– well, maybe some punishment might be in order to bring her to her senses. But she’s obviously messed up her own life as well…doubly so by going public.
I disagree with the so-called Megan’s laws…I see much potential in them towards social engineering and using the law to enforce mere political correctness. It’s so suburbia that we’re even talking about this.
Lord knows enough people were taunting and cruel to me as young teen — while I thought them boorish, cruel, stupid, and possessing no manners– I wouldn’t have wanted them punished beyond school detention — definitely not having a criminal record because they got their jollies out of picking on me. In retrospective, it helped me grow up not thinking the world was made by Disney. It’s simply not worth it. I, unlike Megan, had parents who taught me how to
stand away from the crowd and be strong on my own, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.