According to a newspaper column written by syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts that was in today's Sunday paper, Megan Meier--of the state of Missouri---was a gawky, thirteen year old adolescent girl---a heavyset, emotionally vulnerable child with Attention Deficit Disorder who also struggled with depression. Megan had a childhood friend, a girl who lived just a few doors down. Megan and this girl had been friends through seventh grade---best friends one day, feuding the next, as kids that age will do. Megan had finally broken off their friendship for good. The girls were no longer in each other's lives.
Not long afterwards, a hip, cool dude calling himself Josh Evans showed up on Megan's MySpace page, wanting to be added as a friend. Josh says he is cute, new in town, homeschooled, fatherless, a musician--in short, a real "hottie"---and he wants to be Megan's friend. He says he thinks Megan----chunky, socially awkward Megan----is pretty!
A really great online friendship develops between Megan and Josh. Then one Sunday night, Megan gets this message from Josh: "I don't know if I want to be friends with you anymore, because I have heard that you are not very nice to your friends." Megan is shocked and dismayed by this comment.
The next day after school, Megan asks her mother, Tina Meier----who had restricted Megan's internet access----to log on so Megan can see if there are any new messages on her MySpace page. Megan is horrified to find more mean messages from Josh---and crushed to find out that Josh has been sharing Megan's personal messages to him on the internet with others.
Now a barrage of mean and ugly comments about Megan is posted online for all the world to see. The online community is buzzing with nasty invective: "Megan is fat----Megan is ugly---Megan is a slut." Megan is totally destroyed---- devastated--- especially after one last really hateful comment from her dear friend, Josh, that tells Megan she is a bad person, everybody hates her, and that the world would be better without her.
SO MEGAN HANGS HERSELF LATER THAT NIGHT.
How tragic!
Weeks later, the truth came out that Josh Evans was a fictitious boy created with the sole purpose of initially befriending and later causing as much emotional hurt as possible to Megan Meier. The lie of Josh Evans was created by adults Curt and Lori Drew, the PARENTS of Megan's former childhood friend, as retaliation--revenge, payback---- against Megan for perceived slights to their own daughter.
How despicable is that?!!! Adults and PARENTS, no less! This happened last year. Apparently, under Missouri law, these parents cannot be prosecuted for any crime, not even the crime of negligent homicide. (In Texas, one can be tried under a charge of negligent homicide in the death of another person, if that person died as a result of their unintentional actions.....Don't know if it would apply here or not--in my mind, it would.)
However---like me---a lot of folks must believe that actions have consequences, and that you should be held accountable for your actions, as the Drews have received death threats and there are fears for their safety, once it became known that their actions contibuted greatly to a vulnerable young girl's death. People don't want these parents--these adults who should have known better--- who did such horrible, despicable things to a child ----to get off scot-free!
And that is as it should be. You must be held accountable for your actions, especially when your actions cause harm--- especially intentional harm, with malice aforethought----- to a vulnerable child or young person. There should be some kind of consequences for these parents who would knowingly cause great harm to a child.
Though little can truly compare to a young girl's death, when I read about Megan, I was struck by the similarities between her and my niece, Kaitlan Head, the 2007 Cranfills Gap Valedictorian banned from campus and her own graduation--- with malice aforethought, as retaliation against an adult, Kaitlan's aunt---- by former Cranfills Gap School Superintendent Carla Sigler this last May.
Kaitlan was also harassed and bullied from an early age for being heavyset ("fat"and later "fat b---h" in the bully's words) and for being the smartest student and having the highest grades in class ("nerd", "dork", and worse in the bully's words)----all these harassing, bullying words meant to demean you, make you feel worthless, and not the bully's peer.
Supposedly, the bully feels better when he or she can make someone else feel they are not as good ----have as much worth--as the bully. If you call the bullies on their bullying, and you tell them bullying is unacceptable behavior, harmful to others, and will not be tolerated, the bullies will tell you they are "only teasing", that they are "just playing". In the mind of the bully, bullying is acceptable behavior, no matter what the consequences of their actions, no matter who they are hurting with their words or actions. And, to vulnerable young people, words can hurt a lot--perhaps, as in Megan's case, even to the extent of death.
Kaitlan--- like many other children--has heard a lot of mean and ugly comments through the years, and--- being older than Megan-- has developed her self-esteem, along with a protective "veneer", an outside show-to-the-world toughness that masked the hurt within. (Psychologists will tell you this "veneer" is a very human, protective measure, done by the victim of bullying to ensure good mental health as much as is possible in each individual case.)
However, I shudder to think what could have happened to Kaitlan--or any other child--- if she hadn't had this protective veneer, or high self-esteem, or if she had been much younger--- like Megan--- and just couldn't bear the agony and had chosen to end the misery by death. Thankfully, Kaitlan chose life in spite of the terrifying, agonizing, life-changing ordeal Carla Sigler put her through.
The most striking similarities I see between Megan and Kaitlan are the intentional maliciousness---in legal jargon, malice aforethought--- and the vindictiveness of the methods that adults chose to hurt them, though in Kaitlan's case, the target of the retaliation was not Kaitlan herself, but rather Kaitlan's aunt, Cranfills Gap ISD board member Sue Lee, whom Sigler had long perceived as a foe.
The proof that actions against Kaitlan were retaliation by Sigler are:
(1.) The appropriate and original punishment of one day suspension from school was meted to Kaitlan by Sigler, who--once she realized that Kaitlan was her foe's niece--- escalated Kaitlan's punishment excessively and beyond what the law and school policy called for, and
(2.) No punishment----NOTHING-----not even being sent to the office----was meted to the other girl, Sarah Sellers, the 2007 Cranfills Gap Salutatorian, who was involved in the altercation with Kaitlan-----Sarah is the one who it took it to a physical level by striking the first blow rather than getting the teacher or other authorities involved. Sarah escalated the altercation to a physical level by using force, but received no punishment at all.
I believe that Kaitlan, the same as any one, should be held accountable for her actions. However, I believe that punishment should be appropriate and fit the crime, at all times following the state laws of Texas and school board policy, and that was not the case under the decisions of Carla Sigler.
Carla Sigler wanted to inflict as much damage as possible to Sue Lee by inflicting as much harm as possible to her niece, Kaitlan, no matter how much harm that Kaitlan--- a child and student in Sigler's charge and under her authority--- might suffer as a result. Kaitlan Head was to Carla Sigler just "collateral damage", sadly, as all the little children in the daycare center of the Murray Building in the Oklahoma City bombing were to Timothy McVeigh--- who cared not a whit that innocent lives might be harmed or lost as a result of his retaliatory actions.
Every day innocent civilians are killed in warfare---they are not the target of the bombs or attacks, but they die anyway----and they are considered "collateral damage." Apparently, in the minds of some, "collateral damage" is unavoidable and justifiable, if you want to hit your target. Even the fact that Carla Sigler would have to break the law repeatedly to inflict intentional damage on Kaitlan, a child, did not deter her from her intended target, school board member Sue Lee.
Some folks are still saying, What's the big deal about Kaitlan? She did not get to participate in her graduation ceremony, but she did get to graduate and get her diploma and valedictorian scholarships, so what's the big deal?
Well, the big deal is this:
For one thing, WITHOUT ATTORNEY INVOLVEMENT TO THE TUNE OF OVER $4000, Kaitlan would NOT have been allowed to graduate, get her diploma and scholarships. Sigler had illegally fixed it where that would be the result, and this was done with malice aforethought. This action was so malicious, few people would have believed it if you had told them.
For another thing, the huge sum of money that Kaitlan's father, Charles Head, spent is nothing compared to the agonizing, truly terrifying ordeal that Kaitlan was put through by Carla Sigler beginning May 10th, 2007. Kaitlan was maliciously and intentionally denied her senior trip, the honors field trip, her baccalaureate service, all the senior parties with her childhood friends and classmates, as well as public recognition as Valedictorian by participation in the graduation ceremony. Kaitlan's senior year ended on May 10th, 2007, and she might as well have been dead, as far as school and her classmates were concerned.
On May 16th, 2007, a disciplinary hearing was held at the Cranfills Gap school to determine what the charge and punishment would be for Kaitlan. All of Kaitlan's teachers had been summoned by Carla Sigler, who stated in public and on tape that Kaitlan's teachers had asked to attend so they could state problems they were having with Kaitlan. However, Sigler was lying---no teachers had asked to attend--in fact, these teachers had no clue as to why they were there---the few who did speak, spoke rather favorably of Kaitlan, who was present, basically saying any problems were minor and could be said of any student, not just Kaitlan--certainly nothing to be disciplined for.
Teachers Reed Starnes, Sarah Doty, and Beth Ann Warrick had no comment at all--apparently they had no problems with Kaitlan or maybe just did not feel the need to speak about Kaitlan. It was later revealed that no teacher had asked to attend or knew why they were there, so Carla Sigler had maliciously lied about that. Many of the teachers felt this hearing was unfairly purposely degrading to Kaitlan and were shocked, dismayed, embarrassed, appalled, and truly ashamed of Sigler's obvious malicious actions toward a child, a student under her authority.
Carla Sigler then maliciously escalated Kaitlan's punishment to beyond what the law and school policy called for, ordering Kaitlan to attend DAEP, even though that was-- by Cranfills Gap's own school policy--- for repeat worst offenders and certainly not the appropriate or legal punishment for Kaitlan. Also, any DAEP time would have been cancelled out by Kaitlan's PERFECT ATTENDANCE for the last several years. But you have to remember, Sigler was bound and determined that Kaitlan would not graduate, and Sigler did all she could to ensure that would happen.
Superintendent Carla Sigler and the Cranfills Gap school board had refused to hold the regularly scheduled May meeting, at which Kaitlan could have appealed Sigler's decision to ban her and send her to DAEP. Sigler and the board had purposely set the next meeting for June 1st, 2007---SIX DAYS AFTER GRADUATION ON May 26TH. By June 1st, Kaitlan's appeal would have been a moot point, as the graduation date and the end of school would have already passed, and Kaitlan would have been denied a chance to appeal Sigler's decision.
However, Kaitlan's attorney, John Cullar, of Waco, Texas forced Sigler and the board to hold a special meeting on May 25th--- the night before graduation--to hear Kaitan's appeal. It was at this meeting where Sigler and the school board repeatedly violated the Texas Open Meetings Act by going into closed session TWICE, against the advice of experts and even their own Cranfills Gap attorney. It was in closed session that new evidence--in my opinion, fabricated and illegal-- was illegally presented that influenced the board to uphold Sigler's decision to ban Kaitlan.
Kaitlan did--- only with attorney involvement--- get her diploma and valedictorian scholarships and was allowed to graduate after all, but she was not allowed to participate in the graduation ceremony and remained banned from campus. Also present at this meeting was Teena Head, Kaitlan's stepmother--- who had previously had a rather rocky relationship with teenager Kaitlan. Teena--- a very astute lady and mother of three----- saw what Sigler and the board were trying to do to Kaitlan and made the comment, "These people are assholes!" From that moment on, Teena became one of Kaitlan's biggest supporters.
One more note on the May 16th Disciplinary hearing for Kaitlan:
Kaitlan got through the May 16th degrading disciplinary hearing fairly well, only to be blindsided the very next day----a full week after the incident ---by a complaint of disorderly conduct (fighting) that was filed by the salutatorian Sarah Sellers, at the behest of her father, who--supposedly had been told by school authorities--perhaps Sigler herself--- that Kaitlan might try to stop Sarah from graduating, thus, Sarah needed to file charges, which Sarah did very reluctantly, according to the Bosque County Sheriff's Deputy who took her complaint.
This same Bosque County Sheriff's Deputy told Kaitlan she could file a counter complaint against Sarah, as Sarah was fighting also, but Kaitlan declined to do so. The complaint of disorderly conduct led to a ticket for Kaitlan of Assault, a Class C Misdemeanor. A hearing date was set for August 2nd, 2007, before a judge in Meridian.
So Kaitlan---- an honor student already accepted at Tarleton and planning to use her various valedictorian scholarships to enroll in the Fall Semester----- now had very serious criminal charges hanging over her. How would she ever hold her head up again, with people thinking she was a criminal? Would she have a record, a criminal history? Would Tarleton still want her? Would she even be able to go to Tarleton, or would she be in jail? Never having been in any trouble with the law, Kaitlan had no idea what might happen. So, the threat of jail and not knowing what her once-bright future might hold, hung over Kaitlan for THREE AGONIZING MONTHS! That's ninety days of uncertainty, great emotional stress, and fear of the future that a child had to endure!
On August 2nd, 2007, at the hearing in Meridian, County Attorney David Christian stated he felt it was a case of two eighteen-year-olds acting like twelve-year-olds, that Kaitlan had already been punished enough, and asked the judge to dismiss the charges. The Judge complied by fully exonerating Kaitlan of all charges.
So now Kaitlan is free to go on with her life. Only---- as guidance counselors will tell you, once a young person's education is "derailed"--especially when under horrific circumstances such as Kaitlan's--- it is very, very hard---almost impossible ---to immediately get back on track. So much mental and emotional damage--the damage you don't see---has been done, that some young people never recover enough to get themselves "back on track"--- and no one can do it for them. It is almost impossible to follow all the excellent advice from those who care: Just suck it up and go on------- Don't waste your brilliant mind----Don't let others stop you----It's not the end of the world (though at the moment in that kid's life, it IS the end of the world as they know it) ---You'll get over it!---And on and on and on! All that great advice is pretty much useless until the necessary mental and emotional healing has taken place.
And that is where Kaitlan is right now. Hopefully it's not too late for her. Hopefully, Kaitlan will regain her focus, though it's possible she was knocked out of using her valedictorian scholarships due to time constraints. Sadly, Kaitlan is now just "collateral damage", all due to Carla Sigler's malicious and illegal actions to gain revenge against an adult.
And you know, none of what happened to Kaitlan ----just like what happened to Megan ----had to happen. In Megan's case, I would bet the parents of Megan's former friend did not intend to have a hand in her death--I doubt they intended for Megan to really kill herself. But they did intend to hurt her as much as possible------ Still an awful thing to want to happen to anyone, much less a child.
However, in Kaitlan's case, Carla Sigler could have been stopped, and what happened to Kaitlan would not have happened. Carla Sigler was allowed to do many malicious things, especially the illegal things done to Kaitlan. Cranfills Gap school board members Kenneth Weise, Jeff Rose, Kathie Witte, Shelly Stuart, Virgil Tindall, and Jackie Ray Sorrels could have stopped Carla Sigler, but these fine, upstanding citizens----most with kids of their own---were derelict, incompetent, and knowingly broke the law to uphold Sigler's retaliatory decisions.
Only one Cranfills Gap school board member---a school board member for ELEVEN YEARS--one who cares enough to know the law and school policy and has always had the best interests of the students in mind---- had the courage to stand up to lawbreaker Carla Sigler. And for that, school board member Sue Lee was publicly chastized, criticized, and ostracized for almost a year, and, finally, was asked to resign by those incompetent hypocrites Kenneth Wiese, Jeff Rose, Kathie Witte, Shelly Stuart, Virgil Tindall, and Jackie Ray Sorrels!
Accountability means holding one responsible for one's actions. We ask that our children ---our students---- be accountable for their actions. We ask that our politicians and our elected public officials be accountable for their actions. We ask accountability of many people in many areas of life. Why should these derelict, incompetent Cranfills Gap school board members be any different? They should be held accountable for their indefensible actions--- as willing accomplices to Sigler's malicious crimes-- just as anyone else would be held accountable.
Where would you stand on the issue of Megan Meier, and where would you stand on the issue of Kaitlan Head----- if this had been your child or your friend's child------ and the tragic part is that it really did not have to happen?
