Bullying Leads To Another Teenager Suicide
Another teenager had to die because of the age-old vice of bullying at educational institutions. Phoebe Prince, a 15-year-old Irish immigrant girl, could not take it any more and hanged herself.
The incident happened on January 14. After months of harassment and threats of physical abuse in her new school, Prince committed suicide. Last Monday, the local district attorney Elizabeth Scheibel pressed nine students with various charges, and South Hadley, a rural town in Massachusetts, became the focal point of worldwide shock and anguish.
Massachusetts does not have any laws against bullying; therefore, the district attorney had to be imaginative to bring charges such as stalking, harassment and statutory rape.
Who gets blamed for this sad ordeal?
Apparently, a group of students known as "Mean Girls" harassed Prince for dating an older boy. Prior to her death, Phoebe’s mother reported the harrassment to two school staff members, but they failed to take any action.
Mitchell Brouillard, the father of another bullying victim, told AFP:
“I think quite a few people are complaining against the administrators of the school and might require resignations. All the administration at this point is equally responsible.
It’s been going on for a couple of years now. My daughter decided to speak to some local reporters after Phoebe’s suicide. And the day after the report was published; she was bullied again and physically harmed.”
Angeles Chanon, mother of one of the students charged in this case, defended her daughter by stating, “They’re teenagers. They call names. She did not physically assault (her). I know she knows better than that. I wouldn’t accept that.”
You may not accept that, Ms. Chanon, but Phoebe Prince is dead. If only parents such as you would have been serious about the allegation and acted in a timely manner!
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