BBM
I think you're right. I've been torn as to whether the girl is criminally responsible or not for someone else's suicide because there have always been mean people who do and say things to hurt other people. But I think technology/social media will change how hurtful words are viewed. I think that's the most astounding part of the charges against MC -- it is her words that incriminate her, they are accessible to LE and they cannot be erased. Thirty years ago, someone could have walked a person through a suicide over the phone and LE would not have knowledge of what was said.
I can think of at least two people I've known with personality disorders -- people who are mean and manipulative and especially target people who are vulnerable. Some people are more resilient to their attacks; others are not. I have a tendency toward depression (and mental illness runs in my family), so I try to avoid people who make me feel worthless when possible. I worked at a job for more than 12 years where there were several mean people (one who, IMO, definitely had a personality disorder and another had bipolar disorder). I was made to do physical work I wasn't supposed to do (I had already gone through vocational rehab 2x for a back injury) and they treated me like I was stupid (I was the most educated person there but had the most menial job). I really suffered physically for a few years (even lost weight when I was already underweight), but when the job became less physical I had a cheerier attitude -- which the mean people really hated! Then, they still criticized me for everything I did and said -- even for things I did out of courtesy. It only took one person to be mean, and others followed along because they thought it was funny! Ultimately, though, the physical work took a toll on me which threw me into depression and I had to go through counseling because my condition is irreversible and causes me a lot of pain. Fortunately (depends on the way you look at it), I lost my job at the time I was consulting doctors for treatment. They also targeted another woman who was going through a difficult divorce and custody battle.
After I was unemployed and did some research, I discovered that my coworkers fit perfectly into the description of workplace bullies and that the behaviors present in my workplace aren't that uncommon. We know how bullies in elementary school can affect young children, but bullying is not a behavior limited to childhood. Bullying becomes more serious and with more serious consequences in the teenage years and into adulthood because bullies have learned how to manipulate people's emotions and lives. Mean people do target people who are especially vulnerable and try to wear them down. I think MC was able to do so with Conrad because of social media. Although they lived an hour apart, she was able to bombard him with 1,000's of text messages. It wasn't like he could escape those messages unless he just ignored them. But, I think he was probably smitten with MC. She acted like she loved him and he believed her, and that made him feel good about himself. To MC, though, I guess Conrad was just a toy and she enjoyed playing with his mind. Some of her texts make me wonder if there were friends privy to what she was doing -- I think that has been mentioned before. As I read more on this thread and think of my own experiences, I do think there should be legal consequences for this type of behavior.
