Comments on: Phoebe Prince "Suicide by Bullying": Teen's Death Angers Town Asking Why Bullies Roam the Halls
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- I seen Phoebe`s mom on a talk show last night with piers morgan. I also was appauled at the fact that one of the bullies was on the view crying and asking to be left alone. Well,well,well, don`t you think that Phoebe wanted to be left alone? I actually could not belive that she (bully) was actually saying that she was tired of being called names and being judged,tired of other kids and adults saying that they hated her. I personally hope that you go through EXACTLY what poor phoebe went through. How dare those bullies put up the comments they did after her death. "done","she got what she deserved" who are the parents of these BRATS? Thats is where the BLAME LIES!!!!!!!!! We as parents are supposed to teach our children not to judge anyone. To treat others as we would want to be treated, But in reality we do the very same thing. We at ages 25, 35,40,45,supposedly "grow up" to keep doing the same thing."we bully" our neighbors because we don`t like the way they keep their yard. We bully our girlfriends girlfriend because we may think that our husbands or boyfriends are thinking about or having an affair with one of them. IT NEEDS TO STOP AND IT NEEDS TO STOP WITH US!!!!>>>>>THE PARENTS!!!!!!!!! How many more of our children are going have to die or kill before we as parents do something about this. restriction? NO! ,Taking away the cell phone? YES! they can`t spread gossip or text . but really? BEAT THEIR ***** !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!UNTIL THEY FREAKING CAN~T STAND UP!!!!!!!!!!some of you are going to be appauled at my saying that.Honestly, a little ass whooping is a HELL of alot better than having your child be the reason that a young boy or girl is hanging inside their bedroom closet,or laying in a bath tub full of blood. Thank You and God Bless!!!!!!
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- To all of those who think that these teens are being charged for her suicide, that's not the case. They are being charged for FEDERAL CRIMES that are in fact ILLEGAL. Such as: statutory rape, violation of civil rights with bodily injury, criminal harrassment, and stalking...yes, stalking. No one knows, or will ever know the exact state of Phoebe Prince's mind, but looking beyond that, what happened to her was horrible and no child should ever have to go through that. The thing that I think is most important at this time is justice. At least these teens that contributed to Phoebe's suicide are still living, even though their lives are not in the best condition, that's a mistake they will have to live with for the rest of their lives, and hopefully, they will realize what a huge impact they had on Phoebe, her family, and her friends.
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- Sociopaths always seek and find those who are vulnerable so that when they hurt them, they really hurt them but good. The SH6 went above and beyond what was "normal behavior" of teens ... however, the school officials went above and beyond the scope of denial, avoidance, and even worst they deflected all responsibility onto Phoebe herself. The school officials knew Phoebe needed protection by means of a Section 504 (based on medical records obtained prior to Sept 2009 shcool year and the November 2009 incident). Not only did the school officials NOT protect Phoebe with a Section 504, they also did not submit her name to the SRO so that Phoebe could be watched over.
The school officials need to be held accountable for their neglience that allowed the bullying to continue and left Phoebe feeling that their was no other option. Horribly appalling and throughly disgusted with them all ... then add idiots Bazelon and Bennett to the mix, who decided it was okay to do a character assissination on a young innocent girl, unbelievably despictable pseudo human beings. - Reply to this comment
- It is amazing how many people commenting on this article seem to think the parents weren't paying enough attention, the girl was mentally defective, the web sites should be shut down, why didn't she go to the police, blah blah. Here's who's responsible for this girl's death:
The classmates who literally drove her to suicide, and reportedly gloated about it afterward.
The parents of those classmates for not only raising complete psychopaths, but not supervising them and not slapping the living **** out of them when this behavior was discovered.
And last, but not least, the school administrators for failing to to get those subhumans the hell out of their school and ensuring a safe environment conducive to learning for the innocent kids. These piece of crap kids may as well have been waving guns around, and they should have been swiftly and forcefully dealt with.
It is high time to prosecute and civilly sue the perpetrators, the perps' parents, and the school staff who were accessories--every single time a kid commits suicide from bullying. And the same goes for kids who engage in school shootings (duh, gee, I had no idea Junior had an arsenal of automatic weapons in his room).
Sadly neither suicides from bullying nor school shootings are new, so there's no excuse for you pathetic parents raising (or more accurately, failing to raise) psychopaths, and you pathetic school administrators who treat psychopathic behavior as if it were as minor as cutting class.
Damn, this world is going to hell in a handbasket. - Reply to this comment
- Forget prosecution, forget the law suits or the firings or all of it. Forget bringing anyone up on charges or jail time. We need to publicly flog these teenagers. Bare back, leather whip, 100 lashes each. And Lot's of witnesses. In fact, you-tube it. That ought to do it. End of bullying. How many teenagers would step out of line if they could be flogged?
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- Yes, Merrill, Phoebe had other options, when she had tried through her parents and the school with little done. She could have bought an automatic weapon off the Internet, and taken it to school, and silenced her tormenters where they couldn't hurt anyone else. Perhaps this is what you mean?
Your comments indicate that teenagers cannot learn responsibility, and should not be responsible for their actions. How else are they going to learn, then to be responsible for their crimes? And bullying is a crime.
The true mental illness is with a society that allows the weak to be preyed upon like animals do in the wilderness. Have we come no further than this? Phoebe didn't know how to handle such abuses--and that isn't mental illness---that is a lack of education and overwhelm of pain and fear. The mental illness is with the students who behave in such a way, and a society (school or otherwise) that allows such animalistic behavior. Merrill, what you propose is wrong. Responsibility and empathy is what being a human is all about. The bullies were laughing and proud what they did. They acted no better than cold-blooded murderers or animals--perhaps worse. They tortured another human being to her death.
Shame on you, and on a society so mentally ill as to allow this to happen, and then blame the victim. - Reply to this comment
- these stupid little pieces of **** have no manners poor girl!
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- Okay, i'm a fifteen year old girl & this pretty much happened to me, not this severe though. & The school's do nothing about it. I was bullied since the beginning of the school year, till now. & it's at school, through texts, myspace, you name it & it's on the list. My parents called the school numerous times & all they do is say "this is warning" & that doesn't work. They don't do anyhting until someone dies. & a fourteen year old is not the one who should have to die. She was probably a great girl & all because of the school & everybody her life is now gone. which isn't right, at all. & i'm sorry for your loss.
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- Yes, this is a tragedy. Yes, 20/20 hindsight gives us all the ability to be experts. In a way we all are, we were at all one time and at that tender age. However wrong the crimes, now matter how terrible the death of Phoebe, juveniles do NOT THINK or behave like adults.
Below is an excerpt from a brief I wrote for a Law Class that pertains to these issues of bullying as well. I know some of this may not be what some people want to hear but this is the direction in which the law will soon be written. Just the facts.
ju?ve?nile (j v -n l , -n l)
adj.
1. Not fully grown or developed; young.
2. Of, relating to, characteristic of, intended for, or appropriate for children or young people: juvenile fashions.
3. Marked by immaturity; childish: juvenile behavior. See Synonyms at young.
n.
1.
a. A young person; a child.
b. A young animal that has not reached sexual maturity.
2. An actor who plays roles of children or young persons.
3. A children's book.
________________________________________
[Latin iuven lis, from iuvenis, young; see yeu- in Indo-European roots.]
As you can see from just reading the definition of a juvenile that you will begin to see that while we are young and are adolescents we are if nothing else immature. Being immature, we cannot reason like an adult. We cannot see or appreciate the consequences of our actions. It is far too easy to be influenced by young and older friends alike in trying to fit in and submitting to peer pressure. Most juveniles are seeking attention and just don?t know who is appropriate for the attention they are seeking.
In 2009 Columbia Legal Services outlined in a detailed report that a juveniles brain while still developing does have a distinct and noticeably different anatomical brain compared to an adult. This reiterates what we have suspected. Juveniles and adolescents do not have the ability to assess risk, assess risky behavior, controlling those impulsive behaviors or reasoning in the way in which an adult would. Based on this new information, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote, ?From a moral standpoint, it would be misguided to equate the failings of a minor with those of an adult, for a greater possibility exists that a minor?s character deficiencies will be reformed.?
Should anyone be interested in the Brief in it's entirety, email me donquiojte@gmail.com - Reply to this comment
- I find the loss of this pretty young girl's life as tragic as everyone else.
However I am struggling to understand the feeding frenzy that has developed around the girls and boys that have been arrested on Phoebe's behalf.
If her peers had been committing crimes all along,then there are alot more people who need to be held responsible for what happened.
The truth is Phoebe killed herself. She chose to do so in one of the most indignant ways there are.
She chose to hang herself.leaveing her lifeless body dangleing in a hall where her younger sibling found her.
Most likely when Phoebe's body was found, her face would have been engorged with blood, her tongue may have been swollen and protruding from her mouth, and there would have been blood marks on her face and in her eyes from broken blood capillaries.
Phoebe Prince did not die from bullying. She died from mental illness. Her mental condition may have been antagonized by her peers, but to make believe those students are responsible for her death is ridiculous.
To make such a statement is the equivilent as saying the Columbine shootings were the fault of peers that bullied the shooter. No one rushed to place those children behind bars and blame them. If Phoebe's peers drove her to kill, then the same has to apply in the other cases.
I don't believe either to be true. I believe that Phoebe was a very unstable young girl. Who desperatley needed help that she was not recieving.
In this instance I'm sure that the bullying produced the grains of salt that tipped the scales. However in my opinion there must have been a multitude of prexisting issues that were already leaning in favor of that side already.
Arresting these children now and putting them on trial is not going to bring justice to Phoebe's self-fulfilling prophecy.
Suicide and suicidal behavior are not normal responses to stress; many people have these risk factors, but are not suicidal.
Phoebe's death does not have to be completely meaningless.
We have a great opprtuinty to bring public awareness to mental illness.
Phoebe was a bright,lovely young girl. Who by all accounts should be with us today.
Phoebe Prince's death was caused by illness. As long as we continue to treat mental illness with such predjadice it will continue to take the lives of people who suffer from it.
If the death of this pretty young girl has affected you in any way, then ackowledge the truth behind the cause of her death.
Learn all you can about mental illness. Suicide results in an estimated 33,000 deaths a year in this country. These deaths are preventable.
It takes public awareness and a better understanding of how to recognize the symptoms. The more we learn about this illness the greater potential we have to save the lives of the people who suffer from it. - Reply to this comment
