Phoebe Prince is not just a victim of bullies, and the new ways you can be bullied, she is also a victim of the schools failure to provide an environment that should be considered safe for kids of all ages to gather. I understand why Phoebe Prince committed suicide. When every single day of your existence you are tortured verbally and mentally, and you have no way to get away, what other option is there? Everyone has been bullied at one time or another. So you know that you can't go to an authority figure to try and get this settled. The repercussions are minor, and insignificant, and you just pissed off your bullies even more. The consequences of reporting your bullies, and getting them in trouble is much worse then trying to deal with the bullying day in and day out.
Phoebe Prince told her mother what was going with these three girls, known as the Mean Girls, and the mother calls the school. According to the school, they took care of the issue. A week later, Phoebe Prince hangs herself after an incident after school. Walking home, the Mean Girls drove by, threw a drink at her, and verbally assaulted her. Calling her an 'Irish whore' and 'Irish slut' and the back breaker, 'you should just kill yourself.' So how exactly did the school take care of this issue? Clearly whatever was said to the Mean Girls was most likely along the lines of 'Stop bullying Phoebe Prince. You have after school detention. Now go out and be all you can be.' What? How about, the mother called the school, TRUSTING the school to watch out for her daughter's well being, to put an end to the bullying, why not call the parents of the Mean Girls and inform them of their kids actions? Just show them the Facebook page. Clearly that did not happen. I'm willing to bet, that when the Mean Girls found out Phoebe Prince killed herself that their first thought was not of remorse, and second guessing what they had done. I'm pretty sure they had to stifle a laugh because of how far they were able to push Phoebe Prince.
Speaking of the parents, maybe the school did call the parents of the Mean Girls. They clearly didn't do anything at all either. The bullying didn't stop, and now a life has ended prematurely, and should be held over their heads. Too many times in today's society parents want to blame everything and anything but themselves for their children's actions and reactions. It was the video games! It's that damn rap music! How about trying to be a PARENT instead of their friend? Stop buying your kids new cars, and giving them cell phones. Make them EARN the car. Just handing your children anything they want is not going to help prepare them for life on their own when things get really tough. And why exactly do teenagers need cell phones? If they're at school, and you need to get a hold of them, call the school. If they want to talk to their friends, give them their own land line at home. If they want to go out with friends, give them your cell phone. There is no reason for teenagers, living at home, to have cell phones. Nothing that could happen during the course of the day is THAT important where they need to have a cell phone with them. Parents need to be more active in their children's lives, and instead of handing them whatever they want, when they want, they need to be shown you are the authority here. What you do will have repercussions. If those parents were contacted about the bullying, they had the power to stop it, and they didn't.
The Mean Girls have been brought up on charges of Violating Civil Rights. What exactly does that mean? Will the Mean Girls carry a black mark on their permanent record from here on out? or is this one of those crimes where they're going to serve community service, be given a fine, and it goes away after some time? What good would that do? The parents will just throw money at a lawyer to get any sentence reduced, pay the fine, and brush the whole thing under a rug. Phoebe Prince is dead because of these three girls. There should be a charge added to the Violating Civil Rights charge...Manslaughter. The definition of manslaughter is the unlawful killing of a human being without malice or premeditation, either express or implied; distinguished from murder, which requires malicious intent. Put that mark on their record. Sure it'll make their life more difficult when applying for jobs and such, but they robbed a young girl of her innocence and her life. They robbed a mother of key moments in her daughter's life, like graduating high school and college, getting married, and even becoming a grandmother. These three girls pushed Phoebe Prince over the edge, and her life ended. Her mother's life is now shattered. These three girls have destroyed two lives, not just one. So make things difficult for them. This is not something that should be swept away after a few years. They should carry the burden of what Phoebe Prince could have become, they should carry the burden knowing that they robbed a mother of her child. No parent should ever out live their children. To have one taken away as a result of such harsh and cruel manner is a monumental tragedy.
The school Superintendent has said there will be no consequences given out to the staff of the school. This is absolutely absurd! There is more to being a teacher then teaching reading, writing, arithmetic, and science. They take care of others people children for almost 8 hours a day, for 5 days a week. They are supposed to help shape the minds of today's youth. What kind of shape are they molding when they sit idly by as kids berate other kids to the point of suicide? Stop hiding in your classroom, and be involved with what these kids are doing in between classes, and after school. Part of the problem here is, once again, the parents of the students. It's discouraged that teachers have a Facebook or MySpace account based on what kids can claim was said to them from the teacher. Granted, there are probably instances where the teacher did something wrong. But what about the times the student dislikes the teacher, and is trying to get them in trouble? Student A is a bully, and has been picking on Student B all semester. Student A picks a fight with Student B and Teacher X steps in and breaks up the fight. Student A has a bruise on his upper arm from Teacher X. Teacher X then gets sued by the parents for being too forceful with their kid. He broke up a fight your kid started, and you're going to sue the teacher? How would you expect that fight to be broken up? Use the Jaws of Life to separate the two? Who knows what would happen if the teacher stands by as one kid pummels the other. But this is something teachers have to worry about. How can they show any form of authority, if when they actually do flex the authoritative muscle, the parents castrate the teacher publicly with a lawsuit, even if their kid is wrong?
The entire faculty should be reprimanded for basically turning a blind eye, and not trying to help Phoebe Prince. The School Superintendent should resign, because a school under his watch performed woefully in protecting one of it's students. The three girls, the Mean Girls, should have to carry around a big black mark on their record so they can be reminded of what they have done, and what they stole from a family. The parents of the bullies should have to suffer some form of consequence for being negligent as to what their own children were doing. Everyone should be held accountable and made an example of in order to ensure these things from ever happening again. Bullying is something that is, unfortunately, a timeless tradition. It will never stop. However, consequences need to be developed, and displayed on a public forum to everyone, to show what could happen if you go too far. Teachers, parents, and students, should all held accountable for the loss of a life. No one should ever have to feel like they have no way out at such a young age.
Phoebe Prince is the 21st century version of Jeremy by Pearl Jam. Jeremy is based upon a small, true story seen in a newspaper. The boy's name was Jeremy Wade Delle. He was 16. He was described as quiet and always acting sad. He stood in the front of his English class, stuck the barrel of a .357 Magnum Revolver in his mouth, and killed himself. It should not take a story like this to evoke changes in the way things are done.
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