“You are a bad person and everybody hates you. Have a sh--y rest of your life. The world would be a better place without you” were the last words 13-year-old Megan Meier read before she committed suicide Oct. 16, 2006.
Tina Meier, Megan’s mother, founded the Megan Meier Foundation in December 2007 to commemorate her daughter’s passing and to raise awareness and education about bullying.
She spoke at the “Ending the ‘Mean Girls’ Trend” event Tuesday night in the Reitz Union Auditorium.
The event was hosted by UF’s Student Government Women’s Affairs Cabinet in affiliation with the UF Bateman team’s Spot It, Stop It … Bullying Hurts Everyone! campaign.
The event, sponsored by the Reitz Union Board of Entertainment and the Panhellenic Council, educated students on the consequences of social bullying. Tina Meier encouraged students to not conform to what others were doing, but to stand up and stop bullying when they see it.
“You’re gonna be one or the other: You’re going to be the person who always conforms with what everyone says because that’s what you’re supposed to do, or you’re going to be that person who steps outside of that box and says ‘It’s not okay,’” Tina Meier said.
Megan Meier’s story resonated with the audience of about 100 students. A few left clutching their tissues.
When Megan wanted a Myspace account, her mother allowed it but set restrictions on her usage.
Three weeks after she set up the account, Megan began talking to a boy named Josh Evans.
Tina Meier monitored the relationship so she could make sure their conversations were healthy and safe. Things were finally going well for Megan, Tina Meier said.
Five weeks into the relationship, however, Megan received a message from Josh that said he didn’t want to be friends with her anymore.
The messages began to spiral. Two other girls entered into the argument, and the messages became “cruel and humiliating,” Tina Meier said.
Tina Meier tried to ease her daughter’s confusion and sadness, telling her everything a concerned mother would say.
But the argument inflicted too much pain; Megan could no longer handle it.
One night, when Tina Meier opened the door to Megan’s room, she found her daughter hanged in her closet.
Caroline Forman was one of the students at the event who was upset about Megan’s story.
“You don’t really realize the implications of your bullying and how bad it can really get,” said the 19-year-old nursing sophomore. “A lot of people are bystanders and tend to just let it happen.”
Director of Women’s Affairs Cabinet Sarah Delahunty, a 20-year-old political science sophomore, said bullying is a serious concern on campus, especially for women.
“I think the event will make them realize the consequences of such bullying in a less poetic way of hurting feelings and more in a real way of how they can emotionally traumatize someone,” Delahunty said.
