Jessica Logan
I found myself in a surprising debate with Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks while discussing the suicide of teenager Jessica Logan. The 18-year-old student had “sexted” a nude photo of herself, from her neck down, to her boyfriend Ryan Salyers. After they broke up, Salyers spread the photo of Jessica to a large number of students at Sycamore High School and Loveland High School. Naturally, this led to severe harassment by her peers.
Jessica’s friends and mother report that she would skip class or hide in the bathroom at school in an attempt to avoid the students who would call her a “slut,” “whore” and “skank.” Logan tried to get help from guidance counselors at Sycamore High, as well as local police. But the name calling, teasing, and harassment did not stop.
In July of 2008, Logan attended the funeral of a friend who had committed suicide. When she came home she took her own life by hanging herself in her room. Logan’s mother discovered her body, and said her daughter’s cell phone was in the middle of the floor. The teenager’s parents are now filing lawsuits against her ex-boyfriend, and those who contributed to the severe emotional harassment. They are also suing Sycamore High School for negligence.
The suit was filed in Ohio by Cynthia and Albert Logan who say that the students’ “degrading sexual insults” caused their 18-year-old daughter Jessica, their only child, severe emotional distress, which led her to kill herself in July 2008, a month after graduating from high school.
The debate I had with Cenk centered around the question of whether or not the girl’s parents should sue the ex-boyfriend, as well as the school officials. His stance was that despite the tragic outcome of their daughter’s situation, the parents should avoid pursuing legal action and let the case go. I disagreed with him.
Although Logan made the initial mistake of sending a nude photo of herself to her boyfriend, he invaded her privacy by spreading the image. According to Mass Media Law, privacy is the expectation that confidential personal information disclosed in a private place will not be disclosed to third parties when that disclosure would cause either embarrassment or emotional distress to a person of reasonable sensitivities. Information is interpreted broadly to include facts, images, photographs, videotapes, and disparaging opinions. Logan had the expectation that the image she sent her boyfriend would not be disclosed to the entire high school.
I also feel that pressing charges against the school officials is justifiable. Too many students are let off the hook for bullying and harassing their peers, and there are too many stories of teenagers taking their own lives because they can’t cope with the constant harassment. According to Family First Aid, almost 30 percent of teens in the United States (or over 5.7 million) are estimated to be involved in school bullying as either a bully, a target of teen bullying, or both.
In April of 2009, 11-year-old Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover hung himself because his classmates constantly teased him and called him gay. Although his mom begged the New Leadership Charter School to address the problem, nothing was ever done to punish the bullies.
In October of 2008, 15-year-old Jeremiah Lassiter shot himself in the head in the school bathroom. He was a special ed student who, according to students and campus officials, was almost constantly bullied.
How many of these cases are we supposed to read about before something is done?
Yale University conducted a study that indicates that there is a correlation between bullying and suicide among teens. So what do we do? Should be allow school officials to turn a blind eye to bullying on their campuses? My main issue is the negligence demonstrated by the school counselors. A school official’s job is to protect students and make sure they are not distracted so they can focus on their education. A large number of educational institutions turn a blind eye to bullies because they have this notion that harassment is just part of life and students should find their own way of dealing with it. That’s not an effective solution to the problem.
It’s difficult for adults to put themselves in the shoes of a teenager who is consistently bullied. In the case of Jessica Logan, she was a young girl who was humiliated by the fact that her nude photo was spread among her peers by someone she previously trusted. Being targeted and labeled as a “slut” is beyond damaging to young girls. The school should have done something to stop it.
I’m not an advocate for immediate harsh punishment. Bullies should first be punished with detention. If that doesn’t help, they should get suspended. If the suspension still does not deter their behavior, bullies should be expelled. It’s that simple.
Cenk questioned what the Logan lawsuit would achieve. Aside from giving Jessica’s parents some feeling of justice, it would set an example to students and school officials. Students would understand the consequences of sexting, as well as the consequences of bullying. School officials would be more aggressive in tackling the issue of bullies if they knew that negligence would lead to real consequences.
You can watch my discussion with Cenk in the video below:
Comments
Though it's clear that more should be done to combat bullying, from the perspective of the school it's tough to say what they should have done in this case. If the entire school was bullying her, what could they do? Detention for the entire school? Suspend the entire school? Perhaps they did give some people detention, but do you think that really changed a thing? Kids are bullied in the hallways, in locker rooms, and in the street away from the prying eyes of school administrators all the time. I know. I have experienced bullying. Many teachers were willing to do something when they SAW it, but it's sketchier when it's second hand and they have no evidence. Kids are clever enough to lie about being bullied too in order to get someone in trouble.
Probably they could have and should have sent a letter home with the students, maybe had an assembly to talk about bullying and sexting. There's no guarantee that would have done anything, but it's worth doing anyway. Still hindsight is 20/
I think I come down on Cenk's side on this one. He did not "invade" her privacy. She sent him the photo. Yes, she had an expectation that he would not share it, but in relationships with people there all manner of expectations, some of which hold, and others do not.
In romantic relationships part of the process of getting close to somebody is letting go of a certain amount of your privacy. That's what she was doing, but in this case it backfired. Should he have done what he did? Absolutely not. But to then sue him for her death is a bit much.
A lot of suicides come from a bad romance. Why should this situation be any different than a girl who kills herself after she catches her boyfriend cheating? Would suing that guy make sense? No. So why would this?
I can understand the anger the parents have but this isn't going to fix that. Suing this kid into oblivion isn't going to bring their daughter back or fill that hole she left. It's a big waste of time and money fo
I agree with you 100% - I was bullied a lot in school, and if someone had stepped in and helped it would have made things a lot easier. The only downside is when someone is punished for bullying they tend to do it more, and will do it so teachers and faculty can't see it being done, like walking home from school, etc. My parents complained, but nothing was ever done.
I'm going to go on the side that they should not sue the boyfriend. The reason being is because their is no way the boyfriend could anticipate whether she will take her own life or not. And there is no evidence that he did know even if that is the case. Far worse things have happened in schools and those students didn't take their lives. Also I'm 100 percent sure other cases of teasing and bullying is done in that school as well just like schools around the country. So the school is not at fault here. What the boyfriend did was morally wrong yes but he is not at fault for her death either. Because he is not the one who killed her, she killed herself.
The author needs to use another term besides "committed suicide" - was this girl a criminal? I doubt it. Murderers 'commit' crimes, not people suffering from mental illness. The student 'took her life' or suicided.
I don't see the problem as schools failing to prevent bullying. I see it as a failure on the parents part on both sides of the argument. The bullies parents for not instilling values and principals in the children not to be bullies, and a failure on the victim's parents (of the ones who commit suicide) for raising a mentally weak child. If I had a child kill themselves over such an insignificant issue, the only person I would be mad at would be myself for my failures as a parent in not raising a self confident, strong and proud child.
Nah. You can't be held liable for someone taking their own life because you are an a-hole. Maybe some legal theory of the school not doing it's job to ensure the safety of it's students, as far fetched as it might be, but you can't turn kids pranking or embarassing each other into a criminal offense.
Hypo: Same chick. Same scenario. Except this time she goes postal and shoots up the entire school. You still gonna hold the ex-boyfriend liable?
I was bullied a lot in school, I was a huge outsider (went to school in the bible belt of the south as a liberal northerner). I got death threats on a daily basis, and elaborate pranks that were anything but funny to me.
It's awful, it really is, but it also made me stronger person today for it. I look back at those other kids and know my life is so much more than any of theirs ever will be.
It's a tragedy the girl killed herself, but you can't place the blame for that event on the bullying. If she had decided to attack students at school instead, would that have been justified? It's a tragedy she died, and I wish her family the best of luck getting through this, but the end fault of the suicide lies with the girl, sadly.
Even if the school had stepped in, the bullying wouldn't have stopped. They can't suspend everyone, and the school defending her would just make her a bigger target. I've been there, I know.
Charging everyone wont prevent this from happening again, and it won't bring back the girl. So what is the point.
Sadly - bullying has gone on in schools for decades and will likely continue due to the fact that it is nearly impossible to stop.
In order for a child to be punished for harassment he/she must be caught in the act and most bullies are smart enough (believe it or not) to do it with no witnesses.
To make matters worse - if a bully is caught and punished it usually makes things even more difficult for the target of the assaults.
I know this will not be a popular comment - but the parents of the bullies have a great deal of liability for not raising their children to respect others.
As a parent I know that it is not impossible to raise a child that treats others the way he/she wants to be treated.
All of the cases sited in this article are tragic to say the least but lawsuits will not stop it.
Responsible parenting is the first step.
Im really annoyed by the "boy" who sent a gorgeous women to her death. BTW im 17 in highschool.... cenk is all wrong on this topic her parents deserve something to help lift stress off their shoulders. HE SHOULD OF NEVER SENT IT AROUND what dont you guys get.
I was bullied a lot in school, I was a huge outsider (went to school in the bible belt of the south as a liberal northerner). I got death threats on a daily basis, and elaborate pranks that were anything but funny to me.
It's awful, it really is, but it also made me stronger person today for it. I look back at those other kids and know my life is so much more than any of theirs ever will be.
It's a tragedy the girl killed herself, but you can't place the blame for that event on the bullying. If she had decided to attack students at school instead, would that have been justified? It's a tragedy she died, and I wish her family the best of luck getting through this, but the end fault of the suicide lies with the girl, sadly.
Even if the school had stepped in, the bullying wouldn't have stopped. They can't suspend everyone, and the school defending her would just make her a bigger target. I've been there, I know.
Sue the ex-boyfriend. But sue the school? How is the school district any more or less responsible than the parents?
I don't get why parent's force their kids to continue to attend the school where they are being harassed.
Switch School's!
You have that right and if someone tells you that you can't, challenge them!
Suicide is contagious. Keep you children away from other's who talk about killing themselves, don't let them go to funeral's of kid's who have done this. Plan a day of rememberance that you and your child can honor..alone! And then, don't let them out of your sight!
Schools can't be blamed for everything. However, they do have a lot of traditions etc that encourage bullying, and often turn a blind eye to it. My son was emotionally bullied at a young age and the school minimized my concerns. Within months, I got him out of that school. He has done just fine in every environment since.
Yellow. I did watch the segment live on the show, and after watching it again on youtube, I have to say that the debate came off as incomplete as many of your arguments were left out (watch it if you haven't).
I'm with Cenk in only in the privacy issue (remember they were both minors), but I DO agree with you that something should be done, especially suing the school, the main bullies AND the perp who distributed the pics--but on different grounds like human rights violations, gross negligence that results in pain and suffering, psychological torture, etc.
In short, there is an argument to be made in legal grounds, I think; but to be honest, but you came away as too livid during the exchange with Cenk that people with a chip on their shoulder may feel tempted to overlook your argument.
On a side note: you should have asked Cenk if he, somehow, thinks the girl may have been "weak" by taking her own life, and if that, in turn, could impair his judgment on the iss
I was bullied in grammer school and it was horrible, It got to the point that I was being beat up on a daily bases.
Am I a better person because of it? I don't know, it seems, all I was left with was allot of anger issues that carried on into highschool and life in general.
Bullyism takes your sense of security and robs you of your self-empowerment where you end up, spending the rest of your life trying to get it back, ask any rape victim.
Based on the stats, it's what's behind the creation of most serial killers.
In this instance, yes, the parents and kid should held to account.
These senseless acts of hate, violence, anger and death are becoming too commonplace in our society. There is an international motivational speaker coming to DC/Baltimore on December 14-16 with the primary objective to speak with leaders and parents about this epidemic that has become a wide spread problem, on an international level. The Scary Guy (his legal name) www.scaryguy.com is speaking at the Living Hope Church, 7484 Candlewood Road, Suite F, Hanover, MD 21076 on Tuesday December 15th. The VIP Leaders Session is 8:30 am-10:30 am. There will be a general admission speaking session at 6:00 pm-8:00 pm Tuesday December 15th. Price for general admission is $45.00 or $25.00 for Perfect Networker Members (www.perfectnetworker.com -- a Maryland-based social networking community) -- (10% of proceeds go to Living Hope Church). To register to attend: contact ken@perfectworker.com. The Scary Guy has been touring Europe for over 12 years spreading an Anti-Hate message to the youth.
This is a tragedy, and I completely agree with you. I don't necessarily think that pursuing a law suit would have the outcome we hope for, but it's a possibility.
I was bullied in grade school. All I can say is that the (emotional/mental)pain I endured is indescribable.
If the school knew about what was going on and did nothing to stop it, then yes, these parents should sue the hell out of them. They need to be held accountable for the safety of the kids attending classes there, whether it be physical or emotional distress. By not nipping this in the bud, they were basically turning a blind eye towards the bullying. If they are not held accountable, then this will happen again and again until they are.
The ex-boyfriend doesn't deserve a lawsuit. He deserves a beating by guys who are not dickheads in his grade. A severe beating.
You state suing the ex-boyfriend and the school will send a message about the problems with sexting. If the actual suicide didn't send a message home to the ex-boyfriend, the school officials, and the bullying students - how with a lawsuit help?
I'm not aware of any way for schools to actually halt bullying. They reprimand the bullies, have assemblies outlining the adverse aspects of the behavior, pull in the most egregious offenders - and then there are the football field bleachers, the corners of the cafeteria, the stalls in the bathroom where the taunting still continues.
In the adult world this is gossiping. Every adult knows gossip is wrong. Do you listen to gossip? Repeat the good stuff?
There were a lot of bad choices made here. Suing isn't going to undo any of them.
Ana... first of all, you're so very good -- always -- when appearing on The Young Turks. I always enjoy your perspective and commentary.
Next: Stick to your guns (not that you need anyone to tell you this, for you do that so very well on your own), particularly on this... fast-moving innovation in technology is presenting challenges to officials all across society, and courts are the only place available -- in the U.S. -- where the issues can be sorted out and decisions made. This is not to say that courts are perfect -- nor even all that consistently good (the work of Bedau, Radelet and Putnam in "In Spite of Innocence" underscores this tragic structural failing quite well) -- but courts do tend to get the whole of whatever the issue happens to be hashed through and -- most important -- recorded. And in detail.
So I agree with you on the importance of the legal action... even though it will be expensive and -- as Cenk predicts -- will most probably, ultimately, fail.
But it m
There is no doubt something should be done about it, and it was the school's responsibility to address the issue from the very beginning with whatever punishment necessary, but this lawsuit is not going to go through because of the picture.
If you go for invasion of privacy, then all celebrity sex tapes, paparazzi pictures, etc, everyone would be able to start suing everyone...
That's the problem with law, every sentence creates a standard that can go both ways. Also, even though the boyfriend is "not the nicest person on earth", to put it that way, pinning it on him is just too much. He should definitely get punished, and I feel for people that are being bullied that way, but she made the two big decisions that are the main issue discussed here.
She sent the picture and decided to end her life, and start pointing fingers is not going to bring her back, just some relief for the parents, but that's not how law works, it's about who is going to be able to sue next and why.
You could however sue the school for letting the bulling go on and not putting and end to it, and the money for the school also comes from somewhere else, I just think that everytime something dramatic happens there's a lawsuit to make people feel relief as well as getting "slightly" richer, but not many go through and I believe it's the way it should be.
Because the sad truth is, even though she was mentally abused, she took her own life, no one took her life away from her, and any judge is only going to hear: "High school drama and undesired media attention."
I feel very sorry for her but suing is not the answer here
Yes there are failures in many places that lead to this outcome...from parents, school, ex-boyfriend, other students...come on all she did was provide a naked picture to her lover, most people enjoy seeing a naked woman specially if it's a woman you love so that was no cause to bring on the bullies and shame...it's quite an issue with our society when someone is labelled a slut and publicly humiliated over and over ONLY for showing a naked body to a lover who then broke that trust by spreading the pic...it's that guy that should be ridiculed for his actions...women more often than not end up being in a more vulnerable position and destroying a woman's social life because you don't feel like fu$$%ng her anymore is despicable!!
On the other hand there is little that the school could do about it, school involvement against widespread bullying usually makes things worse for the victim.
Afaik that girl was not sleeping around with the local sports team...so in the general population's mind if a girl gangbangs the football team she gets no public humiliation even though all students will know about it but if a girlfriend shares a naked picture with her boyfriend and he later shares it with everyone then bring it all on that girl because oh yeah she's the school slut!! Very sad.
There's plenty of liability on the school level and by the ex-boyfriend. They're right to sue. Furthermore, we need toughen penalties for bullying in school and make it a priority. We're not supposed to be a society where any minority is harassed or persecuted for any reason - that would include scapegoating someone like this. If you wish to live in a country where minorities are regularly targeted, maybe his attitude is okay. But not in the US I hope.
I disagree that guy who showed everyone that picture should be sued for slander and infringement of her privacy.
not hung. she "hanged" herself.
I'd have to say that young girls these days set themselves up for these type of issues. Even her low cut blouse from the obituary photo hints that one may easily choose to call her a slut right?
25% of teens are sexting? I can't believe everyone on this site loves it when you pull those statistics out of your ass........
It's sad because their parents too aren't that familiar with how cell phones can be used, but nonetheless this was a tragic ending for a young girl.
As they saying goes, if you can't take it you might not make it.
Ana, whilst you may have a watertight definition of "privacy" I think you are getting into a grey area when placing it in the same sentence as "invade". What we have here is a clear case of "betrayal" of privacy NOT "invasion". From what I can tell, at no time did the ex boyfriend encroach upon or infringe to obtain the picture of Ana. Having said that, if there is a law in the US which addresses betrayal of privacy (NOT invasion) then I think a law suite should go ahead against the boy.
My heart goes out to the family of the lost girl.
That last comment should read "From what I can tell, at no time did the ex boyfriend encroach upon or infringe to obtain the picture of the girl"
NOT
"From what I can tell, at no time did the ex boyfriend encroach upon or infringe to obtain the picture of Ana".
Where was my mind at lol
When I was a teenager some of my girlfriends "sexted" me with pictures of themselves, but even after breaking up with them, even when it was them ending it with me in a bad way such as them cheating one me, I never showed anyone the photos any of them sent me, or told anyone that they gave them too me. I never laughed about it with my friends.
I think that guy is a total douchebag and he is largely responsible for her commiting suicide. I dont care how they broke up, he shouldnt have circulated that photo.
And if you cant get a "sext" without telling you're friends, then you're either an insecure loser who desperately needs attention and praise, a womaniser who doesnt care about the feelings or privacy of the girl you're with, or both.
Oh and at the end Cenk, massive Slippery Slope Fallacy argument there. I'm sure when that girl sent it to him she probably made him promise not to show it to anyone and stressed how private it was etc. And even if she didnt, youd have to be a retard not to know what was going to happen if you did spread the photo. Its not like he didnt know she was going to get bullied, he probably wanted her to get bullied. Its nothing like the innocent sharing of a funny email that you didnt realise wasnt meant to shared which had little to no consequences.
The bf should sued for harassment.
I guess you could blame the school officials for not stopping the bullying, however people have the right to say what they want. I can still make jokes about how stupid Palin is whether or not it makes her depressed. It's unfortunate that the students at that school lacked the empathy to see what was happening to Logan.
The problem is that you cant control all the kids in school, they are going to say what they want, majority are still immature "kids". I dont think the parents or the school really knew how deep this really affected the girl. They were hoping this whole thing would just fix itself sooner or later. I personally believe the parents shouldve communicated better with her and transferred her into a new school or new location. Im 100% sure all she wanted was a new start.
My heart goes out to her...I was in a similar position once. My ex-boyfriend decided to ruin my life by sharing very personal information about me with his friends, family, and people I didn't even know.
This girl made a very poor decision when she sent nude pictures of herself to him. It was stupid. However, no one is perfect. We all make mistakes. She didn't deserve to be bullied.
I'm very sensitive. Back in 2006, I contemplated suicide because of the problems I was dealing with. I decided to live despite the emotional and mental pain. This poor girl couldn't take it anymore. People constantly taunting, judging, staring, laughing and pointing at her.
Matt...your comment is completely insensitive. Her low-cut blouse makes it OK for people to call her a slut? Wow.
I have to agree with Anna on this one, I'm a 20 year old guy living in scandinavia where the law is very soft and defined so black and white that you can't even sue over cases that show extreme negligence, and therefore, sad to say, cases like these are not a rare occurrence. The thing is there is so much to say - she sent the pictures, the school can't possibly help it, the guy is dumb and young etc. but he clearly invaded her privacy, I'm sure the school can come up with some sort of solution or they should renovate the whole faculty and the guy is old enough not to be so dumb. Suing the guilty parties is not about getting money for your daughters death or being extreme in justice, no, its simpler than that. You have paid a price, a price much greater than anyone else responsible, and paying the price/consequences for a mistake ensures that we are more aware and work to make sure these mistakes don't happen. Why do you think corporates invest billions into the right R&D and still make sure consumers know there are side-affects. The justice here is that the people responsible should pay a price, so that they understand they are wrong and work to make sure situations like this won't happen again. Now, what do you think might happen if the boy thought he was right and shouldn't be sued and other dimwitted kids like him saw that too?
I don't think girls or women are sluts or whores or tramps just by sending a nude photo of themselves. Females are beautiful. I don't believe in double standards and name-calling. Screw her ex-boyfriend and other males like him.
The guy did not invade her privacy because she made her privates public. Instead of taking preventive measures our society has decided to take action after the deed is done. Where was this mother when her daughter was doing all this. The ugly truth is that parents have decided to shed of all responsibilities towards their children in today;s world. They randomly do stuff infront of their children which is hardly the example that they should be setting. That is the main reason whey children are taking the wrong path. Its because parents are making it ok so that they themselves can pursue their immoral lives. Its sad but the truth and even more dreadful is the fact that all of us are becoming like that. We want to do something hence we do not stop our children. Then finally there comes a time when parents have to pay for their selfishness.
Once upon a time men used to woo girls go crazy winning them over. Thanks to irresponsible parenting, porn and deteriorating standards pf education women stand now at a poisition worse than before. They are contstantly raked by society to do everything they can to please the guy sexually and 'win him over'. There self esteems have hit rock bottom and noone seems to care. easy solution-there should be separate girl and guy schools after elementary schools.
Agree with Sye-make separate schools for guys and girl elementary school onwards!
America will be able to produce smarter kids and no more the schools will be meat markets rather than prestigious institutions!
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!