By By Chris V. Thangham Jun 14, 2008 in Crime Social networking sites have become another deadly place for kids: a teen committed suicide after repeated bullying at Bebo by the site's fellow members. This is the eighth underage death in Britain over the past few months.

Memorial for Sam Leeson

Sam’s parents didn’t realize that he suffered from bullying until they checked his Bebo page after his death. Sally Cope, 45, mother of Sam Leeson blamed Bebo for her son’s death and demanded a crackdown on bullying in websites. Bebo, like other social networks, do little to thwart bullying; most of their main interests are to attract more users into the network and they seldom monitor any bullying activities. Sam liked alternative music and used to wear gothic-like dresses. Because of his unique lifestyle, he was taunted at Bebo by his peers over his “emo” like appearance and that taunting led to his suicide. Emo – short for "emotional' – is a fashion and music style associated with gothic and punk subcultures, often stereotyped by asymmetrical fringes and skinny black jeans. Ms. Cope told Sam's eldest sister Emma, 22, said that she was aware of the bullying but Sam used to dismiss it at that time. There is also another online memorial site “ But not many are impressed with these memorials, British Labor MP Madeline Moon said these memorial pages shows “some sort of romanticism of death”. She told Besides doing the memorial pages, their friends should fight against the bullies instead. The social network should monitor the bullying or have the “report abuse” buttons and remove the offenders from the networks. Parents should also warn their children about bullying in social networks, so they are better prepared to handle it. Many flock to social networking sites as a fun way to meet friends, but is it becoming a place of bullying? Sam Leeson, a 13-year-old student from Tredworth, Gloucestershire, was found hanging in his bedroom because of months of bullying online at Bebo. Bebo.com is a popular site in UK and is similar to MySpace and Facebook social networks.Sam’s parents didn’t realize that he suffered from bullying until they checked his Bebo page after his death. Sally Cope, 45, mother of Sam Leeson blamed Bebo for her son’s death and demanded a crackdown on bullying in websites. Bebo, like other social networks, do little to thwart bullying; most of their main interests are to attract more users into the network and they seldom monitor any bullying activities.Sam liked alternative music and used to wear gothic-like dresses. Because of his unique lifestyle, he was taunted at Bebo by his peers over his “emo” like appearance and that taunting led to his suicide.Emo – short for "emotional' – is a fashion and music style associated with gothic and punk subcultures, often stereotyped by asymmetrical fringes and skinny black jeans.Ms. Cope told The Sun : “Sam was such a loving boy…He was into his appearance and often wore his black skinny jeans. If anything can come from this utterly pointless death of a lovely boy we want to try and help.”Sam's eldest sister Emma, 22, said that she was aware of the bullying but Sam used to dismiss it at that time. Daily Mail is also covering this article and it said the Bebo users who taunted Sam have left apologetic messages on his page. His friends have set up four YouTube videos and a special page as an online memorial for Sam.There is also another online memorial site “ Gone Too Soon ” where friends post online memorials.But not many are impressed with these memorials, British Labor MP Madeline Moon said these memorial pages shows “some sort of romanticism of death”. She told The Times : "What is concerning is that you're getting internet bereavement walls. That's not going to help anyone…What people need is not to go into a virtual world of the internet to deal with emotional problems…They need to stay very much in this real world and talk to real people."Besides doing the memorial pages, their friends should fight against the bullies instead.The social network should monitor the bullying or have the “report abuse” buttons and remove the offenders from the networks. Parents should also warn their children about bullying in social networks, so they are better prepared to handle it. More about Bebo, Social Networking, Bullying bebo social networking bullying