Tina Meier from the Megan Meier Foundation (MMF) on March 8 spoke to students and parents at Linn R-2 and Fatima R-3 about bullying, cyberbullying, and suicide.

MMF was founded by Tina Meier in 2007 following the suicide of her 13-year-old daughter Megan after an adult neighbor posed as a 16-year-old boy and began cyberbullying her on the then-popular social media platform MySpace.

“My hope here is to try to help you guys to think about the things that you say,” said Meier. “This one presentation’s not going to change the entire culture of your school and make everybody nice. What it can do is be a start to make a difference. To try to think about somebody else besides yourself. Empathy is the whole part of this presentation. It’s about when you see someone going through something, putting yourself in their shoes and thinking ‘what would I feel?’”

Meier said that students are under a lot of pressure and that events surrounding COVID-19 have caused even more struggle and upset in their lives. She pointed out that virtual learning has taken its toll on several young people. Meier also told the students that cases of suicide are rising at alarming rates and that discussion of the topic can no longer be taboo. 

“Suicide has gone up 56 percent in the past 10 years,” said Meier. “I talk about the word suicide because I need you to understand that it is okay to talk about, to ask somebody for help, or help somebody else. I also do it so that the teachers and parents and people in your community understand that when a student comes to them or their child or somebody comes to them and says ‘I’m having thoughts of suicide, I’m really struggling’ to be able to listen to them.”