The Megan Meier Case

Bullying is very common in most schools in the United States Around three million United States students miss class every month just because of bullying. When Alex Libby shared his story he gave a voice to millions of children who suffer from bullying, because he shared his story it changed the way most people think of the effects of bullying. An example of bullying is there was a girl named Kelby Johnson who was mocked by teachers and students because she was a lesbian, she had to stop playing basketball because her ignorant teammates didn’t want to be near her. Alex Libby is one of the 13 million school children in the United States that is being bullied. Alex’s mom said “ Kid’s back in the day, could go home and be safe you can’t do that a lot now, now you can get bullied online.”

Bullying takes a huge toll on you and can affect you for the rest of your life. Your parents condition you to think a certain way about others. Students at Reardan and Wellpinit ridiculed Junior because he wasn’t like the other kids. Mental health issues drastically increase due to being the victim of bullying; these include depression, anxiety, or aggravation. Everybody has their different ways to cope with bullying.

There are plenty of impacts that happen to someone when they are physically bullied or verbally bullied. “Kids who are bullied are more likely to experience: Depression and anxiety, increased feelings of sadness and loneliness, changes in sleep and eating patterns, and loss of interest in activities they used to enjoy. These issues may persist into adulthood.” ( www.stopbullying.gov) Bullying is something that shouldn’t be joked about as there are plenty impacts that can really hurt someone. Being bullied as a kid can even affect someone when they are older.

After Megan opened her first Myspace page, she started talking to a supposedly, Josh Evans. When Meier became friends with “Josh”, her family said that her spirits have been lifted. This supposedly 16 year-old male names “Josh Evans” was registered on the Myspace account that was used to cyberbully Megan Meier. The creator of this hoax Myspace account was Lori Drew, the mother of one of Megan’s friends. Lori Drew was helped with this account from her daughter, Sarah, and Ashley

The result of this is many people feeling depressed and worthless, believing that nothing good will ever happen in their lives. Sometimes these feeling of worthlessness may even lead to suicide for those who are bullied. Bullying causes death, depression, anger, hatred, fear, and health issues. Additionally, bullies may lack friends, have anger issues, have problems at home, or do badly in school. Bullying others can lead to those being bullied to become bullies of others, leading to further problems.

Children and young adults that are bullied in this way could be affected in different ways. They may blame themselves. They may also suffer from depression. They could inflict harm to themselves. They may feel ill or start developing phobias. Children who suffer from this type of bullying may be extremely shy and lack confidence. They may also develop mental health problems. They might also find comfort in overeating. They may not want to go to school and may also be withdrawn and isolated.

Children who are bullied may have short term effects on them. They often do not like to go to school, have problems making friends, and in extreme cases develop depression can lead to suicide. Bullying can have lasting effects on a victim. Fortunately, most who are bullied receive support from others tend not to have any lasting effect.

Megan Meier case is a perfect case to be a referral in this analysis. She was an overweight, 13 year-old girl who battling low self-esteem and depression. She was even prescribed medication due to her depression. In October 2016, she was contacted by “Josh Evans”, a16 year-old boy via Myspace. After few conversations with “Josh”, he turned on Megan and said that he no longer has desire to befriend with her again.

Bullying is a serious problem that should not be ignored. Bullied children are known to be more likely to have anxiety, depression, and thoughts of suicide. Bullies often seek victims who seem unable to defend themselves. Targets may also suffer long-term consequences of persistent bullying. Many researchers have indicated that bullies have antisocial tendencies.

In order to enhance understanding it is important to know what bullying is. Bullying is something that can hurt people inside and out. Bullying can damage self-esteem. Some examples of bullying is when someone is gossiping or spreading rumors about you or someone, when people put-down others more than once, hurtful or violent threats, violent attacks, harassing someone over and over again, taunting someone, and name-calling . Bullying is usually when someone does something to someone over and over again that doesn’t make that person feel good. Bullying is not something someone can do on accident, bullying is intentionally. Bullying can leave scars or marks on someone's skin and heart. That is what bullying is mostly about.

In all, if a child is abused in any sort of way, bullied or even teased, they are more certainly to continue their lives within that path, negativity, surrounding their environment with hatred and unconsciousness of love and acceptance.

The case of twelve year old Rebecca Sedwick, who leapt to her death is a prime example of what bullying leads to when there is not enough done to stop the bullying nor stiff enough penalties to make sure it is prevented from going this far. She was bullied relentlessly at school, on her phone, and through social media by two young girls. Her mother was left to bury her daughter out of her own pocket even though she took all the necessary steps to protect her daughter. With schools and social media becoming a breeding ground for vicious verbal and sometimes physical attacks, who is responsible for such antics that lead to many victims taking their own lives or having to relocate? With no clear cut on who is financially or criminally responsible, the victim’s family is often left to deal with the unexpected finances and no way of having any closure or piece of mind knowing the responsible party was held accountable. Interventions, financial restitution, and criminal charges should all be mandated if it is found that the school system or parents of the bully did little to nothing to stop the bullying.

Many people do not realize how serious bullying has become. If you look at statistics suicides due to bullying have increased over just a few short years. This has become a very big problem for not only the victim but the bully as well as it affect both of them. School bullying is mentally destructive to not only the victims, but bullies because of the harmful words, harassment, and physical violence involved as well as the consequences for the bully.

Some people believe that bullying is only seen on television or in the movies but it is a real life issue that is seen and experienced by many every day. People of all ages, races, cultures and backgrounds are affected. There are some who are embarrassed to report bullying but it occurs every day, everywhere. It is important to learn about and understand what causes people to be bullies, as well as understand the effects that being bullied can have on a person.It is important for people to understand all sides of bullying, from the signs of someone being bullied to what you can do to prevent it.

Bullying, in its many forms, is becoming an extremely hazardous problem that many individuals endure. Bullies torment others because they themselves have insecurities, have been bullied themselves, or have a mental illness that brings out the worst in them. Nevertheless, bullying can physically and emotionally destroy the victim, whether it is by physical abuse, cyber bullying, or verbal abuse.