This spring's Internet Safety Event in Macomb will feature as its keynote speaker the mother of a Missouri teen who committed suicide after an adult neighbor harassed her on the Web.

Tina Meier became a nationally recognized speaker after her daughter, Megan Meier, took her life just days before her 14th birthday in 2006. She will speak at 6:30 p.m. at the April 1 Internet Safety Event sponsored by the Macomb Online Safety Team (MOST) and the Hancock-McDonough Regional Office of Education.

Meier's daughter's death has been attributed to cyberbullying through an account on the social networking Web site MySpace.com. The account, purportedly belonging to a 16-year-old boy, was created and monitored by a friend of the Meier family.
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According to reports, the Meier girl received a message from a boy calling himself "Josh Evans" shortly after she opened her MySpace account. They became online friends, but never met or spoke in person.

On Oct. 15, 2006, the tone of the messages sent by Evans, actually neighbor Lori Drew, the mother of one of the Meier girl's friends, changed and the messages sent became hurtful. After an argument with her mother over vulgar language used online, the girl ran upstairs to her bedroom and was found 20 minutes later, hanging by her neck in a closet. She died the next day.

The case has brought international attention to the rapidly growing problem of electronic bullying, which is bullying over the Internet.

Jace Shoemaker-Galloway, MOST chairperson and West Central Four Internet safety coordinator, said she was honored that Tina Meier will bring her compelling and powerful story to the Macomb area.

"Last year, our Internet Safety Event focused on a wide array of online safety issues and concerns," Shoemaker-Galloway said. "This year, I wanted to focus solely on the disturbing trend of electronic bullying. My main objective was to procure an expert in the field or someone who has been personally touched by cyberbullying. Tina's life has dramatically changed since her daughter was bullied online.

"Over the many conversations I've shared with Tina over the past few months, it is clear she wants to dedicate her life to this growing and disturbing problem our children are facing," she added. "I am extremely honored and grateful she will be coming to Macomb to share her story with us. I hope our schools, our parents, teachers and entire community will show their support to Tina. I highly encourage everyone to attend."

Tina Meier has been featured on CNN, Fox News, "Dr. Phil," "The Today Show" and other venues.