Mom’s Snapchat warning

LONDON: A grieving mother has issued a heartbreaking warning to the bullies who drove her teenage daughter to suicide over Snapchat taunts.

Megan Evans, 14, took her own life after being subjected to abuse on the social media app. Police are probing Megan’s death and her mother Nicola Harteveld, 40, urged youngsters to think about comments they make using their smartphones.

She said: “Be careful what you say, words can’t be taken back. They may seem trivial or may be said in anger or jest, but they can’t be taken back.

“You don’t know how that person will take it so be mindful of someone else’s situation.”

The devastated mother said teenagers being constantly on their phones exacerbates the issue, and is urging other parents to look for signs their children are unhappy.

She said: “I don’t want her death to be in vain. I want to raise awareness to parents to keep an eye out for the signs. I just had no idea.

“They say you see signs, and looking back, there were. She was a budding artist and the content of some of her pictures, you can see she wasn’t happy.”

She asked Justin Bieber to send a gift to her daughter’s funeral. She wants to put signed Bieber memorabilia dedicated to Megan in her coffin. Megan had a VIP ticket to see her idol in June and hoped to get his autograph.

Harteveld said: “We bought her a VIP ticket to see him and she sobbed when she got them. She lived and breathed him.

“Megan was going to use the pass to get a signature and she won’t be able to now. ● Teen suicide prevention week runs from February 21 to February 28. In South Africa 9% of all teen deaths are caused by suicide. – Daily Mail