Adults dupe teen into MySpace-assisted suicide

[SoloAJ]

gump, An adult doing it to another adult (e.g., a 2p2 poster) is worlds different than and adult doing it to a child anyway.

I really don't know about the legal issues here and what they SHOULD be. I do know that it is absolutely sickening that the parents did this AND that they don't have any remorse.

Seriously, she felt "less guilty" because the girl had tried it before? Uhhhh, that should make you despise your actions even more. This article lifetilts me and pretty much makes me want to avoid having children because I know all too well that there are scum like this roaming the lands.

[gumpzilla]

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gump, An adult doing it to another adult (e.g., a 2p2 poster) is worlds different than and adult doing it to a child anyway.

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People are getting sidetracked by that conversation. My point was that 14 year olds do this too; Alobar says they don't understand the implications, and that adults stop because they do understand the implications. I disagreed with that.

[swingdoc]

Liability still requires negligence or strict liability. Strict liability would be impossible to prove since the girl was already suffering from clinical depression and tons of stressors could have contributed to the death. Negligence would require the "reasonable person" test. If a reasonable person could forsee that the obvious emotional distress the adults inflicted would lead to Megan's death, then they are liable.

[SoloAJ]

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gump, An adult doing it to another adult (e.g., a 2p2 poster) is worlds different than and adult doing it to a child anyway.

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People are getting sidetracked by that conversation. My point was that 14 year olds do this too; Alobar says they don't understand the implications, and that adults stop because they do understand the implications. I disagreed with that.

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I think what he (and I) is contending is that the adults stop tormenting 14 year olds because they realize the effects that torment can have on a 14 year old.

Youth haze youth, sure. But I have no idea how so many of you don't understand how wrong it is for a parent to do it to another parent. I dig mbillie's posts usually be he is sooo far off in this one.

[mbillie1]

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Youth haze youth, sure. But I have no idea how so many of you don't understand how wrong it is for a parent to do it to another parent. I dig mbillie's posts usually be he is sooo far off in this one.

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I definitely think it's wrong, it's disgusting, repulsive, etc. I just don't think that the legal system ought to be constructed in a way that holds them criminally responsible for the girl's death, because of those gray areas. I also don't think that the legal system ought to substitute cash settlements (liability) in cases like this where a conviction is harder to get, although I recognize that the way the law is now that obviously they'd be held liable.

I realize I've been arguing confusedly... I hope this clears up what I mean a bit

[traz]

haha i'm pretty much on the same page as mbillie here. We're all pretty much on the same page (except maybe alobar :P), but we're discussing different aspects of the same thing

[mbillie1]

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haha i'm pretty much on the same page as mbillie here. We're all pretty much on the same page (except maybe alobar :P), but we're discussing different aspects of the same thing

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lol yes, and I definitely apologize for my expansive role in confusing the issue here

[gumpzilla]

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I think what he (and I) is contending is that the adults stop tormenting 14 year olds because they realize the effects that torment can have on a 14 year old.

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Huh? I don't think that's what he's saying at all. We're talking about peer interactions there. I also think it isn't very clear that the source of the torment matters very much to the 14 year old, but even if it did, this one would have perceived it as coming from a peer.

And again, writing off how unhappy and upset kids can be made by other kids (who will generally mob up to do it, which adults generally won't) as just "oh, that's standard kid stuff" seems to me kind of tone-deaf. Consider that in this case, if you think there's culpability, that the girl killed herself because of what she thought a teenage boy said.

[SoloAJ]

gump,

Maybe Alobar isn't saying that. I don't know. I know what I'm saying and it seems that the lot of you don't seem to see where I'm coming from.

You keep talking about how we're talking about kids doing it to other kids, etc. I'm not. I'm saying that what makes this incident particularly pathetic is the fact that it was an adult doing it. I don't think that it's any more harmful (necessarily) to the victim because it is an adult. However, when you look at the intentions of a [bully child vs. bully adult] against a victim child, you're talking about some leagues of difference here.

I am getting the impression that some of you aren't considering it to be all that different from the tormentor's side. That is the best I can do at the moment to respond to your "huh?"

And I'm not saying it's "standard kid stuff." I do think that it is much much worse if an adult is doing it.

[SoloAJ]

mbillie et al.,

My concern isn't even about the legal issues, I guess...which is what you're arguing. I was just getting a heavy impression that most of you don't think that it is any worse because it is adults doing it.

I am pretty sure I echo Alobar's thought...but they're a little jumbled in this thread so I can't be sure. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]