Articles

A Teen’s Suicide Inspires Action Against Cyber Bullying

February 24th, 2010 by Shannon Mcconchie

Prince Family Photo, Source: Boston.com

Source: Boston.com

Update:
(March 31st, 2010)

Nine teens have been charged over the tragic suicide of Phoebe Prince. The teens, seven girls, and two boys, are being charged with criminal harassment, violation of civil rights and disturbing a school assembly. The two boys, aged 17 and 18, are also being charged with statutory rape.

Click here to watch a video of our Kiwi Expert Robin Sax on NBC talking about the issue.

“Their conduct far exceeded the limits of normal teenage relationship-related quarrels,” says prosecutor Elizabeth Scheibel. “From information known to investigators thus far, it appears that Phoebe’s death on January 14 followed a tortuous day for her, in which she was subjected to verbal harassment and threatened physical abuse.”

After the suicide of 17-year-old Alexis Pilkington, a star soccer player, on March 21st, who also suffered from torturous cyber bullying, it is good to see that courts are starting to address this issue. Pilkington’s abusers continued to send mean and harassing messages even after her death, on her Facebook memorial page.

South Hadley High School is taking action against bullying after the untimely death of one of their students, Phoebe Prince. Two students have since been expelled after being accused of incessantly harassing and bullying Prince in person and through Internet and cell phone messages, which ultimately led to the 15-year-old’s suicide.

Over 350 students and parents attended a seminar on Tuesday (Feb. 23, 2010), which allowed participants to learn about cyber bullying and preventative measures. The seminar began with a standing ovation for the school’s principal.

Originally posted February 12, 2010

Raised in a tiny village in the west of Ireland, Phoebe Prince and her family relocated last fall to South Hadley, Massachusetts so that “Phoebe could experience America.”  At 15, Phoebe had adapted well into her new life. She was a freshman at South Hadley High School, her principal called her “smart and charming”, and she had a date for the school’s big event, the winter festival.

But on January 14th at 4:40 pm, Prince’s sister made an emergency call after finding her body hanging in her bedroom closet. Though Prince’s reasons remain unknown, police are investigating into “what effects the bullying might have had on the suicide.”

Few details have been disclosed about Prince’s bullying, but school officials and students at South Hadley suspect bullying to be a cause of Prince’s suicide.  The bullying allegedly began with a dispute over Prince’s relationship with a popular senior football player.  School officials have also confirmed that the face-to-face bullying was accompanied by taunting text messages and postings on Facebook.

Since her death, Prince’s parents have begun urging the school officials and legislators to take action in their daughter’s case and for the prevention of future tragedies.

Following Prince’s death, South Hadley’s Principal Daniel Smith, assured parents that “school personnel immediately intervened . . . and both counseled and provided consequences as the situations required.”  He added, “It is what happened after those incidents were over that is cause for significant concern.’’

To support their bullying prevention efforts, South Hadley High School recently created an Anti-bullying Task Force, which aims to develop strategies for dealing with bullying.

The bullies, who also attended Prince’s school, have not been named. The school’s superintendent has ensured that disciplinary action will be administered, including long-term suspensions or expulsions. The teens are still under continued investigation, though it has yet to be confirmed whether criminal charges will be pursued.

The town’s loss has also stirred concern among legislative and political authorities. “What happened in South Hadley underscores the importance of stopping bullying as rapidly as possible, so it does not spiral out of control,” said Martha Walz, co-chairwoman of the Joint Committee on Education and Boston Democratic Representative.

An anti-bullying bill is currently in its drafting stage and is expected to receive high priority at the next meeting of the Joint Education Committee.

Click here to view a video by CBS News about Phoebe Prince; submitted by on our readers.

Sources:
www.irishcentral.com/news/Tragic-death-of-Phoebe-Prince-hastens-need-for-bullying-legislation-82685182.html

www.irishcentral.com/news/South-Hadley-school-still-slow-to-punish-Phoebe-Prince-bullies-83712127.html

www.news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20100128parents_demand_action_on_bullying/

www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,587340,00.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1262487/Phoebe-Prince-9-US-teenagers-charged-suicide-death-Irish-new-girl.html

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/personal-tech/heinous-web-posts-mar-girls-memorial-site/article1511640/

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  • Rosemina
    Jeffrey, you make lots of good points! I agree that technology, the Internet specifically, gives kids (and even adults) and sense of anonymity and an entirely new medium to send harassing or hateful messages. I also agree that it really comes down to the skills and techniques that are taught to kids to really educate them on the topic.

    As an educator, is this a topic you might broach in the classroom? How would you go about educating your students on cyber bullying?
  • Bullying is certainly rampant among children today, especially with the level of privacy and anonymity that technology "appears" to provide. Kids are a lot more daring when using technology because things can be said and done without immediate consequences. Posting insults on an acquaintance's web page can be done without the poster seeing the immediate affect it has on the target, therefore allowing the poster to deal with negative emotions over a long period of time vs. the immediacy of an actual face to face encounter. Too, it is almost as if the media itself is delivering the message instead of the person who is conjuring up the thought. I guess what I'm trying to convey is that electronic media seemingly removes the "personal" from the discourse, and children fail to see the reality of situations that develop in real time.

    Does this mean technology is bad for our kids? certainly not, however it presents a completely new paradigm for teaching people skills and respect for self and others. We can too easily blame technology for this tragedy, but technology didn't bully Phoebe, her peers did, and they should be held accountable for their actions.

    I'm saddened to hear of Phoebe's death. I hope many lessons will be learned from this incident so her death is not in vain. I hope parents begin to take a greater interest in their children's digital lives and teach good social skills, and encourage a sense of compassion in all their personal relations whether they be face to face, or over digital media.

    As a teacher I try to promote better ethics over electronic media, but I'm just a teacher, my words and advice are useless unless they are supported at home. Often times, and as I see in this article, people are looking to the schools to solve the problem, and yes, as educators we should do something, but we are not solely responsible. Parents, please get educated on these matters, don't take them as just kids being kids. Know what your kids are doing, how they are doing it, hold them accountable for their mistakes, and as always, reward them for their achievements.
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