Teenager found hanged after trolls bombard her with online abuse

[Locutus]

A teenage schoolgirl has become the latest youngster to take her own life after being subjected to online bullying by internet trolls.

Hannah Smith, 14, was found dead after she received a series of abusive messages on the Ask.fm website, telling her to “drink bleach”, “go get cancer” and “go die”.

Her devastated parents who found her hanged at their home in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, are now calling for Ask.fm to be closed down before any more tragedies occur.

The Latvian based website, which launched in 2010, has been heavily criticised by anti-bullying charities because it allows users to post anonymous comments or questions - often of a sexual or insulting nature - on the pages of children as young as 13.

Some child safety experts have even described it as a “stalker's paradise” and an online petition has been set up demanding action is taken.

Messages found on Hannah’s account show how trolls left postings calling her ugly and saying she was overweight.



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Teenager found hanged after trolls bombard her with online abuse - Telegraph

 

[gerryh]

so, for 3 years this site has been known to be not such a nice place, and yet, her parents allowed her to belong to it. interesting.

 

[Nuggler]

so, for 3 years this site has been known to be not such a nice place, and yet, her parents allowed her to belong to it. interesting.

Sounds like a case of lack of communication.. If her parents knew, they might have suggested the site was total crap,. and she should pay no attention to it. Or toss the puter out the freakin window.

But, just barely into the teens, the hormones ragin, and of course the whole world just shi ts on YOUR head. Betcha all she needed was someone kind to talk to.

eh !

 

[gerryh]

the parents are playing the blame game and blaming the web site. They want someone to blame, they should look in the mirror. It was their responsibility to know what their child was doing online.

 

[damngrumpy]

gerry you have a point a fourteen year old should not be on these
websites unsupervised. Sad to say but at some point parents have
to be aware what their kids are doing before something happens
not after.
Oh I know you can't really control a kid from sixteen on the only way to
do that is use good parenting skills before their sixteen. But kids at
fourteen need supervision and that is a fact of life.

 

[gopher]

I don't get it - If she is getting abused there, why did she pay attention?

The easy solution is to just close the account or alter the privacy settings as reported in the article and I wonder why her parents didn't suggest that (???).

 

[Locutus]

There's more than one adult among us that can't seem to use the ignore feature here.

This girl was only 14.

If we can't do it, why expect a child?

 

[spaminator]

there does seem to be an increase in bullying and suicides. perhaps an 18 age minimum should be put on the internet. back in my day if I wanted to communicate with someone I had to use something called a telephone. if I needed info i had to go to something called a lyberry and sign out things called books.

 

[L Gilbert]

A teenage schoolgirl has become the latest youngster to take her own life after being subjected to online bullying by internet trolls.
Teenager found hanged after trolls bombard her with online abuse - Telegraph

That's just sad. I agree with Gerry, tho; her parents should have been aware of what was going on. Also, the girl should have just used the block function or at least ask a friend or the administrator how to stop from seeing the bullying. But teen girls are pretty sensitive and can't think logically at times. Sad stuff.

 

[gopher]

There's more than one adult among us that can't seem to use the ignore feature here.

This girl was only 14.

If we can't do it, why expect a child?

There are no threats on this forum. Besides it is well established that online threats are a crime. When someone is subjected to them, they are to report them to police or some other authority. Here in Minnesota we have PSA's on radio/tv every day which discuss that. I'm sure she must have seen or heard plenty of those.

 

[gerryh]

There's more than one adult among us that can't seem to use the ignore feature here.

This girl was only 14.

If we can't do it, why expect a child?

wasn't up to her, ultimately, it was up to her parents.

 

[damngrumpy]

You can call it a crime or whatever you want there is a difference between
feelings and logic happens everyday. On one hand she didn't want people
making comments on the other hand she couldn't help but wonder what they
were saying.
Makes me sick to my stomach, she was a little girl even with parents alone in
the world that was coming down on her. We can debate all day about what
happened here, but what are we going to do to stop it from continuing? That
is now the question.

 

[gopher]

You can call it a crime or whatever you want there is a difference between
feelings and logic happens everyday. On one hand she didn't want people
making comments on the other hand she couldn't help but wonder what they
were saying.
Makes me sick to my stomach, she was a little girl even with parents alone in
the world that was coming down on her. We can debate all day about what
happened here, but what are we going to do to stop it from continuing? That
is now the question.

I mentioned the solution above = cyber stalking is a felony. Report it to the police or other authority and the problem is solved.

 

[gerryh]

You can call it a crime or whatever you want there is a difference between
feelings and logic happens everyday. On one hand she didn't want people
making comments on the other hand she couldn't help but wonder what they
were saying.
Makes me sick to my stomach, she was a little girl even with parents alone in
the world that was coming down on her. We can debate all day about what
happened here, but what are we going to do to stop it from continuing? That
is now the question.

It's been "happening" forever. I was bullied from grade 6 right through to grade 11. Didn't kill myself. The internet is no different than it was when I was younger. I'm sure you even knew some boy that was bullied continuously when you were growing up, grumpy.


My second youngest was bullied badly in junior high and on the internet at the same time. Difference between my wife and I and her parents, we knew what was happening, we did what needed to be done to stop in on the computer and made the pricipals life a living hell since he did very little to stop what was happening at school. That was enough for my son to see that we supported him even if the school did not.

 

[B00Mer]

Her devastated parents who found her hanged at their home in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, are now calling for Ask.fm to be closed down before any more tragedies occur.

What they should dois trace the IP's of those nasty comments thought the carriers and charge the individuals who pushed her so far.

I would also like the see ASK.fm sued.

Things like this are so tragic and very avoidable ...

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

so, for 3 years this site has been known to be not such a nice place, and yet, her parents allowed her to belong to it. interesting.

So, the obvious solution is to ban everything that could possibly upset a hypersensitive four-year-old.

Let's get on that.

 

[Blackleaf]

A teenage schoolgirl has become the latest youngster to take her own life after being subjected to online bullying by internet trolls.

Why didn't she just leave ask.fm, and then she wouldn't have known about the abuse? Simples.

 

[WLDB]

there does seem to be an increase in bullying and suicides. perhaps an 18 age minimum should be put on the internet. back in my day if I wanted to communicate with someone I had to use something called a telephone. if I needed info i had to go to something called a lyberry and sign out things called books.

That would do far more harm than good. If a kid gets to 18 and hasnt been on the internet or used a computer before things will likely be difficult for them. An internet connection and a computer are needed for quite a few jobs and for post secondary education. Starting to teach them how to use the things at 18 makes no sense.

Also most kids do have phones now and if they want decent marks in high school and college/university they will need to use books. Though less and less now. There are some I havent had to buy for school because they are online. Quite handy.

Before the internet existed both suicides as a result of bullying and school shootings happened. They are not that hard to find if you look for them. THe only difference now is you hear about most of them now compared to back then. I dont understand why schools and parents are not doing anything about it in most places. If you dont do anything its just inviting more tragedies like this.

Why didn't she just leave ask.fm, and then she wouldn't have known about the abuse? Simples.

You expect a teenager being attacked to act rationally? Most of them dont in the best of times.

 

[petros]

If you don't know how to use this:





Don't cry to me about this:

 

[WLDB]

I would also like the see ASK.fm sued.
.

That wont do much on the internet. If they go under another will pop up immediately doing the same thing. The internet is very difficult to control which is a double edged sword.