Megan’s Story

Many of you have probably seen links that read: “Take the Megan Pledge.” In case you aren’t sure what exactly that means, I’m going to explain it to you. Megan was a thirteen year-old girl who was cyberbullied and felt that she had to take her own life rather than suffer cruelty of her peers and the betrayal of her friends. This is Megan’s story.

Megan was in eighth grade when she asked her mother to allow her to have a myspace account. She would log on every day to work on her page and check messages and friend requests. Eventually, "Josh", a cute sixteen year old boy who was moving to her town and who said that he was being homeschooled friended her. He and Megan began talking and soon Josh became the focus of Megan's social networking activities. Megan’s mother knew about Josh, but she monitored her daughter’s conversations with him and knew that it was innocent. She was glad that Megan was happy after years of being bullied about her weight. But one day, when Megan logged on, she saw a message from Josh saying that he’d heard that she was a bad friend and that he didn’t want to be friends with her anymore. His attacks escalated, becoming crueler and more personal. He made fun of her weight and called her hurtful names. Soon others, including those whom Megan had considered her friends, had joined in. Within hours, Megan was in hysterical tears. Her mother told her to sign off, but she didn’t. The attacks became worse and worse, and when Megan’s mother finally arrived home to force her to get off the computer, she had completely broken down. Her mother was understandably angry that she had disobeyed her and sent her to her room while she discussed the problem with Megan’s father. While Megan’s mother was talking about what should be done with her husband, she suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. She ran up the stairs and into Megan’s room, where she found that Megan had hung herself in her closet. A neighbor performed CPR on her and she was rushed to a hospital, but it made no difference. She was pronounced dead the next day.

Megan is not the first to have committed suicide in response to cyberbullying. With your help, however, we hope to make her the last. My Teenangels chapter created the Megan Pledge in response to the widespread problem of cyberbullying. By signing it, you can take a stand against cyberbullying and be part of the solution. As Executive Director of WiredSafety, Parry Aftab has said: “We need your help. Do it for yourself, do it for your friends, do it for Megan.”

• Follow this link to find out more about the Megan Pledge >>

Teenangel Stephanie