Bullying

A federal judge in Los Angeles on Thursday tentatively threw out the conviction of a Missouri woman for her role in a cruel Internet hoax on a teenage girl who ended up committing suicide. The decision by U.S. District Judge George H. Wu, which will not become final until he files a written ruling, was a blow to prosecutors who had hoped to send the message that cyber-bullying is a crime. Wu had repeatedly delayed sentencing to consider a defense motion to dismiss the entire case. U.S. Atty.

A Missouri woman is accused of cyber-bullying for allegedly posting photos and personal information of a teenage girl on the "casual encounters" section of Craigslist after an Internet argument. Prosecutors said Elizabeth A. Thrasher put the 17-year-old's picture, e-mail address and cellphone number on the website in a posting that suggested the girl was seeking a sexual encounter. St. Charles County police said the victim was the daughter of Thrasher's ex-husband's girlfriend.

Gizelle Studevent was a 13-year-old eighth-grader at prestigious La Jolla Country Day School when the harassment began. She returned from a basketball tournament to find an unsigned note in her suitcase: Addressed to "Senorita," it mocked the girl's skills on the court and suggested she go home to Mexico. Over more than two years, an anonymous band of bullies tormented Gizelle. Their acts grew increasingly cruel -- on the Internet, in notes and around school. Finally, she transferred.

On a sunny May afternoon, teenagers dismissed from a Beverly Hills middle school gathered outside a restaurant four blocks away and gossiped about their friends. Amid lots of giggling, the conversation among the eighth-graders touched on the prom and limousines but was dominated by an unflattering assessment of a girl at school, who was called a "spoiled brat" and a "slut." "I don't hate her, it's just, I wouldn't prefer to hang out with her for a million years," one girl declared.

A Midwestern mother accused of using a fake MySpace account to torment a teenager who later committed suicide thought the plan was a clever and funny way to deal with a girl she suspected was spreading lies about her daughter, according to witnesses Thursday. Ashley Grills, who was testifying under a grant of immunity, said that Lori Drew was directly involved in creating the bogus MySpace profile of a 16-year-old boy that was used to lure Megan Meier, 13, into an online relationship.

Parents who felt relieved by the study released this week showing that long hours trolling the Internet can actually improve the social skills of teens might also consider the murkier message being delivered now in a Los Angeles courtroom. The study suggests that online social networks help kids learn to manage relationships, and create a safe space for the "geeks, freaks, musicians, artists, dorks . . . who generally exist at the margin of teen social worlds." But the trial unfolding in U.S.

A 21-year-old woman accused of sending a vulgar text message to a 17-year-old girl is one of the first cases brought under a Missouri law against cyber-bullying that was inspired by the suicide of a teenage girl. The 2006 death of 13-year-old Megan Meier after she received cruel Internet messages prompted state lawmakers to update the harassment law this year so that it covers bullying and stalking through electronic media, such as e-mails and text messages.

The videos started popping up last month on YouTube. In one, secretly videotaped by a student, a teacher at Malibu High School loses control of the class and raises his voice while students laugh at him. In another, teenagers make fun of fellow students, who also appear to be taped without their knowledge. The videos have roiled the high school and sparked a debate among students, parents and administrators about what to do.

She's taken away the cellphone, she's banned the television, but when her daughter was suspended for bullying a classmate last week, Ivory Spann felt a new punishment was in order: public humiliation. After checking to see if it was legal, Spann forced her 12-year-old daughter, Miasha Williams, to spend the last four days in front of several Temecula schools carrying a big sign saying, "I Engaged in Bullying Behavior. I Got Suspended From School ... Don't Be Like Me. Stop Bullying."

"The Ant Bully," animated film written and directed by John A. Davis. The premise LUCAS NICKLE (voice by Zack Tyler Eisen) is a short, spectacled 10-year-old boy whom his mother calls "Peanut" and treats him like a much younger child. He is bullied by Steve (Myles Jeffrey), who says, "What are you going to do about it? Nothing, because I'm big and you're small."