New Zealand coroner Wallace Bain is calling for a law against text and cyber bullying in the wake of a 15-year-old girl’s death after receiving ‘extraordinarily abusive’ texts from an ex-boyfriend’s wife.
Rotorua schoolgirl Hayley Ann Fenton died in hospital in July 2009, after intentionally taking her father’s heart pills, four days after her 27-year-old boyfriend, Pelesasa Tuimalu, ended their five-month relationship via text message.
Mr. Bain says serious consideration should be given to a law to deter ‘abusive and malicious content’ via text messages and the internet, which had led to the deaths of a number of young people.
He recommended his findings be referred to the Law Commission, which is currently working on the issue of cyber bullying, along with the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, to consider a law change.
RIGHT: Much loved Rotorua teenager, Hayley-Ann Fenton, 15. LEFT: Her mom Lesley Fenton.
Check out the article:
http://www.rotoruadailypost.co.nz/news/call-for-law-on-cyber-bullying/1403411/
