9 students charged with bullying that lead to a suicide

[IDrinkaRum]

Student Phoebe Prince committed suicide on January 14

The last day of her life, she was bullied by the 9 teens. In full view of at least one faculty member and several students. No one reported it until after Ms. Prince's death.

Out of the 9 students, 3 were males, and of those 3 males, 2 of them were charged with statutory rape.

Ms. Prince had recently moved to the United States with her family from Ireland. She had a brief relationship with a boy and it was because of that relationship (allegedly) that the bullying started.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Some of those teens were charged with statatory rape? This seems as tho it goes way beyond "normal" bullying. Those who witnessed the torture should be ashamed of themselves.

[crashhelmet]

The statutory rape charges puzzled me too. Were these guys that she had been involved with or was she assaulted/grabbed/touched in places she shouldn't have been? What are the criteria for pressing those charges?

This article doesn't go into it too deeply, but I read in another article that it started almost right after she started going to that school and escalated after she broke up with some guy. They didn't say if that guy was one of the accused or not. They only described him as being "popular."

I'm waiting for the parents to file a wrongful death suit against the school and the school district. There are reports that her mother approached administrators at the school a few times and nothing was ever done.

All in all, I continue to blame acts like this on the lack of discipline kids are raised with today. Parents can't do anything, schools can't do anything. Kids are raised with the mentality of "it's only bad if the cops catch you."

CH

[Dreamstalker]

I also think the school should be charged. There seems to be no doubt that they knew about it. A student who spoke out against the bullies during a memorial was thrown into a wall and hit repeatedly; you can't tell me someone in authority didn't see this or find out about it.

A lot of bullies will only back off if the target hits back. Problem is, a lot of adults--parents and school officials included--seem to be telling kids to "suck it up".

[Lace Neil Singer]

Or saying "Bullying is part of school life". -.- Yes, normal sparring and teasing is; and anyone who starts screaming about being bullied for being teased in that way is overreacting. But bullying is devastating and can have terrible effects on the victim. I was bullied in school, and developed an eating disorder and self harmed. The effects stayed with me for years after I'd left the school.

[elsporko]

The statutory rape charge just seems like something the DA is throwing on there to give themselves more leverage for a plea bargain. If the relationship went well the BF would never have been charged.

As sad as the suicide I am not convinced anybody should be charged with anything. We don't know the extent of the bullying or the extend it played in the suicide choice. It could be this is a girl with a history of depression that took things out of proportion. The school apparently didn't see the bullying as an issue and no complaints were made to the police so how seriouse could it have been? I would want something rock solid (suicide note, confession to somebody about why she was about to commit suicide) before people start going to jail for this.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I don't think, necessarily, that anyone should be charged with inciting this girl to commit suicide, but they certainly should be charged with the bullying. For example, assault charges. It's a very slippery slope when you start charging people with murder cuz someone committed suicide; it smacks of removing personal responsibility. The suicide is tragic, but the girl made the choice herself and committed suicide herself. No-one handed her the rope, the knife or the pills. The decision was solely hers and no-one should be charged with murder.

It may sound harsh, but it's just how I feel. Let's take a personal example. I self harmed while at school and being bullied. However, no-one used the razor blade or knives on me to create those cuts; I did them myself. The bullies might have tormented me to the stage that I ended up self harming, but they shouldn't have been charged with say, assault with a deadly weapon cuz the decision was mine.

[Plaidman]

The statutory rape charge just seems like something the DA is throwing on there to give themselves more leverage for a plea bargain. If the relationship went well the BF would never have been charged.

As sad as the suicide I am not convinced anybody should be charged with anything. We don't know the extent of the bullying or the extend it played in the suicide choice. It could be this is a girl with a history of depression that took things out of proportion. The school apparently didn't see the bullying as an issue and no complaints were made to the police so how seriouse could it have been? I would want something rock solid (suicide note, confession to somebody about why she was about to commit suicide) before people start going to jail for this.

And its pieces of shit that act like you act. You really belive that the sonofabitch bullies are innocent?

Bullies are fucking scum. They make you suffer. They beat you. Destroy you. Threaten to not only murder you, but to piss on your corpse and rape your mom at your own fucking funeral. They do it all with a smile too.

And they never get punished. Period. No jail time. No suspension. Not even detention. However, when the bullied does something to stand up?

OMG! Your a fucking psyscho!!! It was just bullingy! You cannot take matters in your own hand to stand up. We are going to suspend you. Yeah, you told us he bullied you. We talked to him. That was enough.

NO. ALl bullies. Flat out. Need to be destroyed. Burned. Branded. Cast off into the far oceans and never be allowed to return. Not a damn one of them. NOT A DAMN FUCKING SCUM BUCKET BULLY DESERVES BREATH.

[Dreamstalker]

Yes, assault charges for the students, and possibly negligence for the school. Phoebe's mother asked the school to do something about the bullying a good while before she committed suicide, so nobody can tell me they weren't fully aware of what was going on.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Yes, definitely negligence charges. The school failed in its role; to protect its students. Someone's head should roll for their failure to protect Phoebe.

[powerboy]

I agree with PlaidMan. Bullies do not get any type of punishment. Why do you think that school shootings go on. Because the bullies get away with everything. Yeah they might get detention. But that is not going to stop them. This is not Mayberry

[elsporko]

If a bully isn't getting in trouble then there must not be any evidence of the bullying. Would you like it if in the real world a person could claim you committed a crime and you were punished without any other evidence? Why should we do that in a school setting?

Typically stories of this type go something like this

"I got bullied every day and everybody knew and nobody did anything"

"Who did you tell about it?"

"I told a teacher once and all she did was talk to the bully so I never told anybody else for the next ten years how I was bullied every second because they wouldn't help. Then one day the teacher watched me punch the bully and I got in trouble! Its like they didn't even see him not punching me."

[Nyoibo]

One of the things I was wondering about in that article is why they want the superintendant to resign, by the sounds of it he'd have no clue as to what was going on because the teachers under him weren't reporting anything, it should be the teachers that ignored it that should be made to resign or are fired.

[Greenday]

Harassment charges should without a doubt be handed out like candy to these douchebags.
Gross negligence should be handed out to school officials who knew and did nothing.

One of the things I was wondering about in that article is why they want the superintendant to resign, by the sounds of it he'd have no clue as to what was going on because the teachers under him weren't reporting anything, it should be the teachers that ignored it that should be made to resign or are fired.

When I underwent serious bullying, there was no reason to go to the teachers for help. They saw it and let it go on so they weren't the ones I complained to. I complained to the VP, the principal, the superintendent. Thank God our superintendent was awesome or else nothing would have been done. And thanks to my guidance councilor for not taking no for an answer. When it's that bad, it's not the teachers that are receiving these complaints.

[smileyeagle1021]

I'm 23 and still deal with with what could easily be described as bullying (in this state it's called justifiable retribution against those who practice a deviant lifestyle)...
My opinion, charge those people with anything and everything that can stick. Hell, sit them down in the electric chair and I don't think it would be too much... the chair may send a loud enough message to the rest to back the fuck off.