Friend Game: Behind the Online Hoax that Led to a Girl's Suicide

          In the article, Friend Game: Behind the Online Hoax that Led to a Girl's Suicide, Lauren Collins talks about an incident that led to a tragic suicide of a thirteen year-old girl, Megan Meier. Megan Meier had been suffering from depression and anxiety since she was really young. She was having issues with self-esteem, especially regarding her weight. So Megan was depending on medication and counseling. The Drews, who were the neighbors of the Meiers, had a daugher who was a close friend with Megan. Although they had been life-long friends, they had quite different personality. "The Drews' daughter, according to neighbors, was prim and obedient, while Megan had the wilder, more domineering personality" (3). Many times they have skirmishes but no big fights. Later, the daughter of the Drews who had been offended by Megan's behavior and remarks on her (calling her lesbian, etc) made a Myspace account that belonged to a 16-year-old boy Josh Evan, a fake identity created by her and with her mother, with the contribution of an 18-year-old employee working under the Drews. After the investigation (after Megan committed suicide), the Drew and her daughter admitted that they created account to take revenge on Megan.
        Personally, I think that in this case the blame almost 100% lies on the Drews. While reading the article, I became disturbed by their immaturity and logics. The parent, Lori Drew, who created the account with her daughter said that what they did was just a joke. I was readily surprised at the fact that creating a fake account was the way Lori Drew came up with in order to solve her daughter's problem. If she was aware that her daughter was having problems and conflicts with her friend, she should have offered her daughter of a wiser way to deal with the problems. She should have been wiser in her decision-making. She even knew that Megan was psychologically unstable and taking medication. A 13-year old girl is too young to foresee what was to come because of her actions and what kind of impact her actions would have on other people. Can we say that Drew's daughter should be held responsible for this tragedy? I don't think so. How can we expect a thirteen year old girl to be mature enough to know the consequences when her parents were willingly helping her to create a fake online account and together attack on Megan's vulnerability? She must have thought that this is not a wrong thing to do.
        Nonetheless, it is painfully apparent that this article addresses one of the biggest and most important problems that online space has; the problem of identity and anonymity. Although this case involved adults, numerous tragedies resulting from the issues of identity and anonymity involve very young people. This is when the problem gets serious. Even adults make mistakes and insulting remarks online without thinking just because it is anonymous and they can literally be whoever they want. Young people are far more vulnerable to this anonymous world, for they are more likely to be unaware of potential consequences of their actions. But again, I am not sure whether or not we can say that these people can be legally responsible for the bad consequences (if that happens). The boundary is really slippery. What do you think? Should we put the blame on them for being immature or on the system (or policies etc) that makes the online real name identification system unconstitutional in the first place? Do we blame their parents who don't lead their children the right way? Who's responsible?