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NEW: Meier to speak at cyberbullying summit; receive award
Tina Meier, of O’Fallon, is the keynote speaker April 1 at a summit on cyberbullying at Lindenwood University and later in April she will be awarded a humanitarian award by Teen Line, a Los Angeles teen hot line.
Meier’s 13-year-old daughter, Megan, killed herself in October 2006 after she was harassed on MySpace, an Internet social network, by what she believed to be a 16-year-old boy. Six weeks after Megan’s death, Tina and Ron Meier, who were married at the time, found out the boy never existed and was created, in part, by Lori Drew, an adult who lived four doors down the street in Dardenne Prairie.
About 100 middle and high school students are expected to attend the third annual Cybersummit at Lindenwood from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Several students from Hardin Middle School and St. Charles High School in St. Charles will attend, said Diane Stirling, who works for CHARACTERplus, a project of the Cooperating School Districts and BJC Healthcare School Outreach.
The students will develop plans to try to prevent cyberbullying and to stop it once it starts.
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In California, Tina Meier will receive the 2009 humanitarian award at an April 29 luncheon at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
"We think she is doing a remarkable job in turning a terrible tragedy into a way of helping others," said Elaine Leader, executive director of Teen Line, a teen-to-teen hot line sponsored by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
After Megan’s death, Tina Meier created the Megan Meier Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing cyberbullying and cyberstalking. She often speaks at schools.
"We see that Tina is reaching out throughout her area and throughout the country, and we applaud that," Leader said. "Tina is making meaning out of her loss."
A Los Angeles jury in November convicted Drew of three misdemeanor charges of illegally accessing a protected computer. She was found not guilty of the more serious felony charges of illegally accessing a protected computer to inflict emotional distress. The jury deadlocked on a fourth felony charge -- conspiracy -- and the prosecutor has said he will not re-try Drew on that count.
Drew, who turns 50 on Tuesday, is scheduled to be sentenced in Los Angeles federal court April 30 – the day after the Teen Line awards luncheon. Tina Meier plans to attend both.
The Teen Line hot line has been in operation 29 years. It is not only for young people experiencing cyberbullying, it is for teens who wish to discuss drugs, pregnancy, gang activity, eating disorders, sex, rape, suicide, depression and other problems.
The line is staffed by trained teens and is open daily 8 p.m. to midnight (Central time.) The number is 800-852-8336.
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