Mashable - The Social Media Guide - Latest Comments in 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

Re: 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

Name — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:21:24 -0000

evelyn, I just want to say that that's disgusting and im afraid I wouldnt handle that properly if I were in your shoes I would probably find those people at the school have my kids point them out and beat the living shit out of them but obviously that's the illegal way to go about it. It would def feel good though. As for who to talk to dont know I would think laywer but hey im sure you've tried that? All I can say is people that enjoy treating people like that are not only lower than dirt possibly will end up burning in hell for eternity if they continue down that path of torture it only gets worse.

Re: 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

Name — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:17:07 -0000

Goes to show you how horrible humans are.

Re: 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

Nick — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:13:20 -0000

Perhaps so, but Nancy Drew was foiled by those meddling kids.

Re: 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

Trey - Swollen Thumb — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:23:48 -0000

Haven't you heard? It's perfectly legal to get online and misrepresent yourself, and purposely cause emotional distress to other people. Lori Drew got away with it.

Re: 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

marjiekilleen — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:19:34 -0000

I live in the same town as the people involved in the lawsuit and I have two kids who are both on Facebook. I think it's important that teens realize that what they do on Facebook IS seen by adults - by parents, by teachers, by coaches - and has consequences in the real world. For more on this topic, see my article "Peek-a-Boo Facebook kids, we see you" at www.trueslant.com/marjiekil...

Re: 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

ginote — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:07:34 -0000

lame kids why disrespect our president..... http://bit.ly/1e1F3f

Re: 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

Callmechaz — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:37:46 -0000

My dad taught me to walk away from confrontation IF it would end there. He also taught me, by example, to stand my ground when otherwise.

I can say with some confidence that at some point my father would have had a personal talk with the offender's parent(s). Assuming the other kid had a father, his dad would not want to see what the next step would have been. My parents were tough on me when I was wrong, but they stuck up for me when I was right. My father took time off from work to literally stand toe-to-toe with a private school coach that kicked me. He didn't go to the headmaster. He didn't call the cops. In fact, he went toe-to-toe with a cop that abused me for something I didn't do. My dad was a gentle man. When he was protecting me, you just knew it was time to pull in your horns. Both men backed away from him--he didn't budge. Both apologized to me.

Here we didn't walk away. He would not risk me being kicked again, or worse. He couldn't risk me losing respect for cops because of one bad egg. I now know when to walk away, and when to fight.

You have to protect your kids, no matter what it takes. You have to make them feel that even when they are 57 and you are gone, they are safe because you taught them when it makes sense to stand their ground. I stopped our local police chief from chastising my daughter even after he learned she walked away from a group of kids getting themselves into trouble, and then she called us. He thought about it, backed off, and praised her. She's 32 now. I hope she feels safe when she remembers that.

I'm not suggesting the exact same scenario needs to take place. But your kids need to know you will protect them whatever means it takes. In court or toe-to-toe, you don't walk away unless you know it will end there. Bullying usually doesn't end there.

Re: 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

rajagiri4 — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 04:57:32 -0000

better talk to head master.

http://www.seodoom.info/200...

Re: 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

Name — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:36:52 -0000

I was a victim of a hacker who got into my account and pretending to be me wrote some pretty horrible things on my wall. He/she also wrote to my friends, changed my photos, wrote threatening letters for me to find and then lastly, deleting all my friends lists.
Has this happened to anyone else? Surely there would be a way of detecting who it was?

Re: 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

Designer Glue — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 04:27:41 -0000

stupid kids, i hope they get a very heavy book thrown at them. some guy before made a hate site about me before, and he didn't even know me, passed himself off as a web designer, i think it was because i was local designer and he thought it would look good if he put me down like that. his site doesn't show anything offensive to me no longer but just goes to show any one can be kiddish even in profession :)

Re: 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

Seattle_Jeff — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:39:15 -0000

If I was in this kids position, I'd higher someone to take these damn bullies out, one by one. Scare tactics.

Re: 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

Deb — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:54:21 -0000

A fake facebook page will be on the internet for ever to be found by colleges and employers, while facebook will take it down it can not really be removed, people have already viewed it and most likely sent it on to others. There will be more lawsuits and schools are finding out that if policies are not followed they will be included in lawsuits. Neither the victim or the bully is helped by ignoring the problem.
The stastics on bullying are alarming 160,000 kids miss school every day due to bullying, a high percentage of bullies continue into adulthood bullying in the workplace.

Re: 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

Deb — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:37:01 -0000

I am so sorry to hear about the abuse and bullying your daughter and her friends went through. Some states have anti bullying laws for schools - not sure if all private schools must follow through by having a policy and steps for reporting and dealing with bullies. Perhaps filing a police report is an option you may consider; if the bullying continues a "paper trail" is available and the school will be on notice that you will protect your daughter. I am part of SafeWave an online safer site that helps stop cyber bullies and cyber predators. We hear from parents and students about physical, emotional and cyber bullying -a "boys will be boys" answer is never acceptable. Does your school have a written policy regarding bullying on campus and on the net?

Re: 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

Elizabeth K. Barone — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:55:23 -0000

And sadly, many ignore it until it's too late.

Re: 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

Elizabeth K. Barone — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:53:24 -0000

It's a criminal matter, if only because it could be considered identity theft (displaying his number without permission, pretending to be him, etc.) Also, bullying is a criminal offense. By law, it is not allowed in schools (ie, The Zero Tolerance Act, or something like that). It's often heavily ignored and not properly put into place, but it does exist.

Re: 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

Elizabeth K. Barone — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:50:39 -0000

@Joseph (couldn't reply directly to your comment): It's an attitude like yours that only enables further bullying. If we continue to just "walk away," our children will continue to suffer. I'm probably heavily biased because I was badly bullied as a kid, but if my parents had chosen to "walk away," I would probably not speak to them to this very day. I am grateful every day that my parents took every step they could to protect me and keep me safe. I suffered from horrible depression years later because of the bullying I faced as a child. It is not something to be taken lightly, nor is it something to "walk away" from.

@Evelyn: I would continue to push the headmaster for action on the bullies' behavior, and get in touch with the other parents to organize some kind of rally. One parent is easy for a headmaster to ignore; several are very difficult to ignore. Maybe these other parents are interested in suing, in which case you could all pool your resources. You don't have to be alone.

Even if you find that you can't sue (someone below gave some really good suggestions), you can do what someone else below said and pull your daughter out of the school. Personally I don't think that really solves anything, because if not your daughter, then someone else will be bullied, but if all else fails at least you know she will be safe.

I wish the best for you, your daughter, and your daughter's friend and her family.

Re: 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

Elizabeth K. Barone — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:43:17 -0000

It angers me that kids get away with stuff like this all the time. I hope the victim and his family win, and I hope these little jerks (big understatement) get punished to the fullest extent of the law.

I was bullied as a kid, and I wish that the bullies could have the tables turned on them to see how it feels.

My heart goes out to John Doe. I'm sorry that you had to go through such a disgusting ordeal, but you are strong and you will come out of this better than the idiots (again, understatement) who did this to you.

Re: 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

Cheriana — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:25:31 -0000

A lot of fake fb profiles were created at my college for different purposes, but they were mainly just to poke fun at a close friend and post random funny quotes. This story takes it above and beyond.

Re: 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

Name — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:57:52 -0000

I had to deal with a bully in high school. The problem was addressed with the Principle and nothing was done to stop the bullying, the harassing notes put in my locker, the threats of violence that occurred everyday, the only way it ended was when I ended it. A bully will only pick on someone they know will not stand up for themselves, so after being knocked into my locker I turned around and broke the girl's jaw, the bullying stopped and it never happened again. I was not suspended nor was the other girl...we both were placed in what they call in-school-suspension. I was never bullied again and I don't regret what I did, I only wished I had done it sooner...

Re: 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

Name — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 15:07:29 -0000

Ray, you have a big problem you might want to sit down and talk to your mother.

Re: 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

pete peterson — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 14:56:03 -0000

It happened to me in highschool. I was a sophomore, and one of the seniors who did not like me put up $100 to anyone who would beat me up badly (this was in 19979). A couple weeks went by where I would be thrown about in the hallways and threatened often... once with a gun. Fearing for my safety, I reported it to the dean of students. He called the boy in and told him that he would now be my protector. If anyone beat me up, he would be kicked off all team sports, he would have continued detention for the year, and that this incident would go on his transcript for any colleges that he tried to get into. Needless to say, the bullying stopped immediately and I was left alone. Make the guilty protect the child... or have the bully face having the things that he likes... taken away from him. It worked in my case.

Re: 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

mlaiuppa — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 13:55:29 -0000

Not under a criminal trial. But I think I read that after the criminal trial she was being sued in civil court. Much like what happened with O.J. Who was found not guilty but was hardly innocent.

Re: 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

mlaiuppa — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 13:53:11 -0000

That's not the point.

If he's NOT gay, then it's defamation because it's a lie.

Re: 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

mlaiuppa — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 13:51:00 -0000

Good. These cyberbullies need a slap upside the head. They need to be made blatant examples of to other teens. They're lucky they're not adults. It would be much worse for them if they were and they need to know that now. This is a wake up call to all children who think the internet is some sort of free for all playground where the law does not apply.

Re: 4 Teens Sued for Obscene Fake Facebook Profile

Denise — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:47:20 -0000

This is how I handled a bullying problem. I was not proud of what I had to do, but it worked and that was all I wanted. My son was in 3rd grade and a kid from 4th grade made his life miserable. I went to my kid's teacher and let her know there was a kid who was hitting my son everday. We identified the kid and the teacher brings the kid in and more or less told him not to do it again. The bullying continued. I went to the principal. His attitude was boys will be boys and he would speak to the kid. A week or so later, as I waited outside the school in my car for my son, as he was walking across the school yard towards me, I saw this bully kid come running up to him full speed and wham! right in my son's back. Of course my kid started to chase the kid to try and "get him back", but the kid was too fast. The next day I stood outside the school to pick my kid up. As we walked towards the car, I saw the bully kid. I called him over and told him that I had paid two fifth grade boys to watch my son's back, and that everytime he messed with my son, they were gonna mess with him, but worse! I had lied to the kid, but I was at my wits end. My son didn't want to go to school because of this kid. Well, it worked for us and that was all that mattered in my mind. That kid never approached my son again, so maybe you can take something from my experience and get a little creative on your own. Oh btw, my son graduated from high school this year with honors and is now a full-time college student. Best of luck to you and your child.