South Hadley,MA Phoebe Prince 15 kills self over bullying

[jjenny]

One more comment...again, taken with a grain of salt. Texts will be a big part of this case....

http://www.nowpublic.com/culture/ph...ying-behind-teens-suicide-2563997.html?page=5

Well the post sounds credible. I don't think her father moved to US (yet?) so the girl was here with her mother and some siblings? While the father stayed behind? And it sounds like she were doing well in Ireland.

 

[Paladine]

"Teens ask for help to deal with bullies"

I get the idea that most of our parents and teachers fall in the 40 or 50s and they come from an era where you were kind of told to fight it out and deal with it yourself," Burke said. "It might take until all of us are in administrative roles to know that it doesn't always work out that way and sometimes you need a little bit of help."
"They also said teachers can have a hard time identifying bullies, some of whom can hide behind good grades and participation on sport teams.
"The girls who are really smart and popular can get away with anything," Davidson said. "The teacher thinks they are good students, or they're good kids, they wouldn't do this, or they probably didn't mean it that way, or you took it in the wrong way

."http://www.gazettenet.com/2010/04/05/teens-ask-help-deal-bullies

 

[Paladine]

Well the post sounds credible. I don't think her father moved to US (yet?) so the girl was here with her mother and some siblings? While the father stayed behind? And it sounds like she were doing well in Ireland.

No, he hadn't. The Cullen piece mentions something to the effect of Phoebes Dad recieving her in Ireland in a box...and she was buried in the black dress she was to wear to the dance. That was, in essence, the last line...iirc...

 

[Paladine]

"There is uproar between the Northeastern District Attorney's office and South Hadley school authorities.

School superintendent, Gus Sayer, has said the staff at the school only became aware of the bullying one week before Phoebe's death.

Northeastern District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel said this is a lie."

Not new...but I love the quote, so succinct.
http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Bu...s-Facebook-page-on-day-of-death-89764722.html

 

[Paladine]

A teenager from County Clare, Phoebe Prince, took her life on Thursday, January 14, following harassment and bullying by schoolmates. After her death, the bullies defaced the Facebook page that had been set up in her honor, posting malicious comments and images.

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Tragic-suicide-of-bullied-Irish-girl-in-Boston-82506197.html

 

[Paladine]

I just a read teenager suggesting this movie...I think I'll be watching it with my Daughter. Thought I'd share...
[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odd_Girl_Out[/ame]

 

[Paladine]

Another bloggers reaction to the defacing of the fb page...he/she links it, needless to say, it's deleted, now, though. I find older posts interesting, having come so late to this tragedy, myself. I also find it fascinating to watch the reaction in real time...

"This wasn't just any case of high school girls behaving badly toward one another. Phoebe apparently faced an onslaught of bullying via texts, Facebook messages, and in person at the school. Even after her death, the ****ty little girls left disparaging messages on a Facebook page created in her memory. (See the memorial page here.)"

http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgu...7GFRE_en&tbs=isch:1&ei=oW65S9v3PIaglAff1OmXCg

 

[Paladine]

A comment...

"this is suicide season said:
ok soo i just heard about this story welll i heard about it a couple weeks ago but rele looked into it just a couple days ago and i am very sad yeaa ik everey1 is but rele "

Edited to remove AIM address/name...original at link...
http://www.truecrimereport.com/2010/02/phoebe_prince_suicide_2_studen.php

 

[Paladine]

Bullies "thought Phoebe was an immigrant kid," O'Brien says, "that her parents weren't people who could fight the fight." He's calling for the resignation of school officials, including Sayer, the superintendent, who says he has no plans to leave.

The town school board chairman, Edward Boiselle, says some people have unreasonable expectations of what schools can do to stop such tragedies. "We don't have a magic bullet."

After Phoebe's death, Coloroso returned to the high school and talked with parents and students.
"I was told there was no visible sign these kids had faced consequences for what they'd done," she says.
"Students said, 'These kids (who bullied Phoebe) are still walking around the hallways.'"]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-04-04-bullying_N.htm

 

[Paladine]

"Despite controversy, no challengers for S. Hadley school committee chair"

South Hadley’s controversial school committee chairman is up for re-election today - but has no challengers even as anger over the bullying-related death of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince continues to grip the community.

“What in the world kind of message does that send if all these people are crying that they want new leadership?” asked parent Dawn Berard, a member of the town’s anti-bullying task force. “As a resident we’re kind of forced to write in someone’s name and hope they get elected.”

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/r...y_school_committee_chair/srvc=home&position=7

 

[Paladine]

Kevin Cullen: "Kids pay, adults get away"

Fifteen years ago, Rashna Singh sat down with Sayer after a teacher in Amherst had been verbally abusive to her son.

“Sayer disregarded our heartfelt concerns and defended the teacher and, more infuriatingly, actually went on to praise the teacher,’’ she said. “He was completely dismissive of our complaint. I see a similar response by him in this tragic case of the poor girl who killed herself.’’

Some people in South Hadley were surprised Sayer was hired in 2004 in the first place. Two years earlier, Sayer had to get rid of Amherst Regional High School principal Stephen Myers, whom he had enthusiastically recruited from Denver, after Myers sexually harassed a freshman boy. Sayer said Myers had hid his fondness for boys until the freshman’s mother complained.
“As soon as I found that out, Myers was gone,’’ Sayer said.

But the mother of the boy who was invited into Myers’s hot tub was not satisfied with the way Sayer handled the case.
“Look,’’ Sayer said, “I do the best I can. Sometimes parents aren’t happy. I do the best I can.’’

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/04/04/kids_pay_adults_get_away/?page=2

This man is unbelievable to me. He keeps admitting he's incompetent, imo.

Mr. Sayer! Once again, your best was NOT good enough! IMO

 

[Muffet]

:woohoo: I see we just got our bullying forum!

Thank you, Tricia, Adnoid, and our mod, Daisy7!

 

[Boyz_Mum]

We've all heard rumors that some of the accused wrote nasty comments on Phoebe's memorial page, but that has yet to be confirmed as of right now. Sadly, I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case. As I've mentioned, I've seen a Facebook comment from Austin Renaud's sister saying he LAUGHED when he found out she'd taken her own life!

BBM. That comment is enough to make a person sick and their blood boiling, IMO. I don't even understand how the sister could post something about like this about her brother- I'd be sickened to be related to a person who could laugh about such a horrible incident and too embarrassed to facebook it. (JMO and I've never seen the comment, just saying how I feel about it.)

BeenaBobba and Paladine, thanks for keeping us updated.

 

[Boyz_Mum]

I just a read teenager suggesting this movie...I think I'll be watching it with my Daughter. Thought I'd share...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odd_Girl_Out

I watched this on Lifetime (I haven't read the book it's based on). This is an excellent movie, IMO. (Keep your tissue handy if you watch it, I cried more than once.)

 

[OrdinaryLife]

Adnoid, if I could thank your post a thousand times, I would. Well done, Adnoid. Well done...

 

[stmarysmead]

Adnoid, if I could thank your post a thousand times, I would. Well done, Adnoid. Well done...

Bravo, Adnoid...I agree!

 

[big4dropout]

I know that the conversation has moved away from this point, but I've been busy at work and instead have followed the thread via email, and I was just reading now and caught something I wanted to mention.

The "accomplished" tidbit is getting taken out of context. No one wrote "mission accomplished" on the wall of her memorial page (to my knowledge). In googling the suspects, someone came across one of the suspects MySpace pages, and her mood said "accomplished." For those who aren't familiar, MySpace has a drop-down box where you can select from a dozen or so "moods," and accomplished is one of the moods you can select. I saw it myself several days ago before I was so interested in the case, but I can't remember which girl it was and I haven't been able to find it again. So much comes up when you google now.

Just wanted to clarify that point so that we have correct facts. Even news articles are getting it wrong.

 

[stmarysmead]

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/re...r_in_court_tomorrow/srvc=home&position=recent

None of the accused will appear in court tomorrow.

 

[Paladine]

Thank you, adnoid. What a beautifully written post.

 

[Paladine]

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/re...r_in_court_tomorrow/srvc=home&position=recent

None of the accused will appear in court tomorrow.

They can hide for now but they can't hide forever...