Cyber Bullying

A blockmate once mentioned that she will never ever forget bullies. And here's a bully story no one should forget.

Megan Meier, a 13-year old girl from Missouri, believed that a certain Josh Evans was interested in her. Evans sent her an e-mail introducing himself as an 18-year old boy who lived nearby. They became "friends," communicating online through the social networking site, myspace.com.

The make-believe friendship continued for more than a month. But it ended abruptly on the day Meier received a message from Evans saying that he no longer wanted to be friends with her since she was not nice to her friends. Meier also received cruel messages and bulletins from Evans calling her a slut and fat. She was also called a bad person and was told that the world would be a better place without her. Perhaps due to her history of depression, Meier was not able to take the attacks. She hanged herself in her bedroom and was found dead on October 16, 2006.

Subsequently, a neighbor of the Meiers informed Meier's parents that Evans was an imaginary character created by one of their neighbors. The neighbor turned out to be a mother who admitted creating Evans to know what Meier was saying about her daughter.

Unfortunately, no charges have been filed against the creator of Evans. Several residents from Missouri have proposed a new ordinance against child endangerment and internet harassment.

Cyber bullying is nothing new. A search with google.com will reveal several websites concerning this issue such as http://www.cyberbullying.org and http://www.stopcyberbullying.org. While these websites provide guidelines on how to combat this problem, they do not really provide solutions. They merely help prevent it. And they are useless in cases such as the one confronting the Meiers. A law which punishes this crime must be passed in order to further address the problem.

A look at Philippine laws would reveal that Meier's death caused by her neighbor's cyber bullying is not punishable. While the Revised Penal Code contains the following provision:

"Art. 253. Giving assistance to suicide. — Any person who shall assist another to commit suicide shall suffer the penalty of prision mayor; if such person leads his assistance to another to the extent of doing the killing himself, he shall suffer the penalty of reclusion temporal. However, if the suicide is not consummated, the penalty of arresto mayor in its medium and maximum periods, shall be imposed."

I don't think that this would be applicable since it does not contemplate a situation where the other person led the deceased to commit suicide. I believe it only covers cases wherein the deceased actually sought the help of the other person.

Perhaps a case may prosper under the Civil Code provisions on Human Relations. But I don't think that would be enough. The persons guilty of cyber bullying must go to jail.

While cyber bullying may be unheard of in our country, our legislators must do something to address it. With the proliferation of all these social networking sites and considering that younger children already have access to the internet, cyber bullying is one issue that must be looked into seriously.

Indeed, bullies should never be forgotten. But more importantly, they should never go unpunished.


Sources:
Associated Press Article
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Story?id=3882520&page=1

- Trina Joy A. Solidon