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PuckSniperPensel
PostPosted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 7:07 pm 
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I'm sure you've all heard about this, but just in case you haven't, here's a copy of the most recent story from CNN.com:

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(CNN) -- During the last afternoon of her life, 15-year-old freshman Phoebe Prince was loudly berated in the high school library and she was taunted again as school let out, court documents say.

And, as she walked home in tears, one of the students passing by in a car called Prince names and tossed an empty can at her, according to the 38-page court filing that offers the first detailed account of a high school bullying scandal that has gained the national spotlight.

Prince used her cell phone to send text messages to a friend, saying that she was distraught over the relentless hazing. Her last text message went out at 2:48 p.m. She also received two messages but never opened them, the document states.

By 4:55 p.m., she was dead.

Prince hanged herself in the stairwell of her family's apartment in South Hadley, Massachusetts, on January 14, following weeks of taunting by classmates, authorities say. The day before she died, she told a friend: "School has been close to intolerable lately," the court document shows.

Prince's apparent offense, according to the court records: She had gone out with boys who also dated two of her alleged tormentors.

They called her cruel names, including "whore" and "Irish slut," according to documents filed supporting charges against three 16-year-old girls, who were arraigned and entered not guilty pleas on Thursday.

The alleged confrontations took place at South Hadley High School -- in gym and Latin classes, in the school library, in the cafeteria, in the girls' bathroom, in the hallway and on the streets outside the school. They made her anxious and tearful, classmates and friends told investigators.

Witnesses told police one of the girls "called her out," threatening to beat Prince up, the document states.

A witness is quoted in the document as telling investigators:

"She definitely didn't want to fight with the girls in the school. She just wanted to keep to herself and keep things the way they were. She wanted people to stop picking on her, to stop being bullied. She wanted people to leave her alone. She wanted people to stop spreading rumors and stop the girls from talking about her."

Six of Prince's schoolmates have been charged with felonies in connection with the bullying prosecutors say led to her suicide.

The documents made public on Thursday focus on the alleged actions of the three 16-year-old girls -- Ashley Longe, Flannery Mullins and Sharon Chanon Velazquez. They have been charged as youthful offenders with felonies including violation of civil rights. Two also have been charged with stalking.

Read the case against Longe
Read the case against Mullins
Read the case against Velazquez

Three other students -- Sean Mulveyhill, 17, Kayla Narey, 17, and Austin Renaud, 18 -- have been charged as adults. The two male students, who according to the court document, dated Prince, also are charged with statutory rape and have pleaded not guilty.

"My client wants people to know that he's been charged with a crime, that he's presumed to be innocent and that he's pled not guilty," said Renaud's lawyer, Terrence Dunphy.

Colin Keefe, a lawyer for Velazquez said in a statement: "My client has been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion. I will remind you that we are dealing with a young adult, a child really, who is being swept up in circumstances that are beyond normal experiences."

"The full and true details involving this most unfortunate event have not been made public," Keefe said. "When all the details become known, I am certain that my client will be cleared of these charges."

CNN contacted attorneys for the other four suspects, but they did not immediately respond.

The court document tells the story of the dark side of high school life. Prince entered South Hadley High School on September 1 after moving to Massachusetts from Ireland. Initially, she was relatively popular. She dated Mulveyhill, a senior, but they broke up in December and he went back to his old girlfriend, Narey. Longe was close friends with Mulveyhill and also was friendly with Narey.

In December, Prince went out with Renaud, who had an on-again, off-again relationship with Mullins, according to the documents. Velazquez was Mullin's friend.

The defendants viewed Prince as someone who was "taking away" other girls' boyfriends, witnesses told investigators. As the alleged bullying escalated, Prince told a friend that she was "not a tough girl" and "would not know how to fight," the documents indicate. At one point, she asked friends to surround her for protection as she walked the halls of the high school.

South Hadley Public Schools Superintendent Gus Sayer has defended school administrators' handling of the matter, saying Prince had not told anyone about her situation.

He cited two incidents January 7 that brought the situation to light. The court documents describe at least three occasions in which teachers or administrators either witnessed or were told of the alleged bullying.

In one case, a teacher saw Prince in tears after she was berated by Velazquez and reported it, the document states. Velazquez, who threatened Prince, saying she'd "punch her in the face," was suspended for one day, the court documents said.

Sayer told CNN that Prince "was apparently a very private person, she bore a lot without talking to friends or with parents or with anybody at school."

None of the six students charged remains in school, Sayer said.

CNN's Brian Vitagliano and In Session's Jean Casarez and Beth Karas contributed to this story.


So what do you all think of this?

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YankeeInRaleigh
PostPosted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 7:17 pm 
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EVOLUTION!!!

(holy crap, just kidding, dont shoot me.)


Naw, this is fucked. I dont know that it's really a crime to call people names until they kill themselves, but, we all know there is mad stupid drama in high school, is there anything that can actually be done about it?

My question, is how are we, collectively, going to find a way to have some flametastic war over this?


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Crosscheck
PostPosted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 7:24 pm 
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What's my take?

High school kids are cruel.
High school kids occasionally commit suicide.

This particular high school kid happened to be:
1. Female
2. White
3. Attractive

So guess what? We all get to hear about her on the national news.

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CriminallyVu1gar
PostPosted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 7:27 pm 
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take a look into the teachers that failed as authority figures too.

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backthatSASSup
PostPosted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 7:39 pm 
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I find it incredibly annoying that the lawyer called her client a child. Fucking bullshit. When you're 16 years old, you're plenty aware of your actions and she was intentionally (allegedly, anyway) hurting someone. Any 16 year old girl knows by now that all actions have consequences. If we give 16 year olds a driver's license, they are certainly not a child. I hate that shit so much.

Now pertaining to her race, we hear stories like this all the time regardless of race. Despite that bullying has been going on for a long time, only recently has it been getting national attention and when someone kills themselves because of it, it's a serious problem. I can't believe you would bring up her race like that.


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Crosscheck
PostPosted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 7:50 pm 
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Oh her race, sex and attractiveness have everything to do with why this is a national story.

Surely we can all agree there is bullying in EVERY school.
The latest statistics I can find show there are roughly 4,300 teen suicides a year in the US.

So why, logically speaking, are we discussing this particular incident?

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backthatSASSup
PostPosted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 9:46 pm 
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Did you ever stop and think that the reason this made NATIONAL news is because there are a total of 6 students being charged with FELONIES due in large part to her suicide? Many of these cases never go that far.


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Los9090
PostPosted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 9:52 pm 
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CriminallyVu1gar wrote:
take a look into the teachers that failed as authority figures too.

Thats what pissed me off about this Phoebe Prince case. I know as a teacher you can't get personally involved with students, but you have to have an idea of whats going on with certain cliques and groups.

When I see a kid getting bullied, I'm all over that; stopping the act and seeing what has caused it, and notifying other teachers and counselors. If something seriously hostile happens on school grounds, you get administration involved.

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Last edited by Los9090 on Fri Apr 09, 2010 9:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Los9090
PostPosted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 9:53 pm 
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Crosscheck wrote:
Oh her race, sex and attractiveness have everything to do with why this is a national story.

Surely we can all agree there is bullying in EVERY school.
The latest statistics I can find show there are roughly 4,300 teen suicides a year in the US.

So why, logically speaking, are we discussing this particular incident?

Yeah, but not all of those suicides are related to bullying.

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PuckSniperPensel
PostPosted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 10:59 pm 
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Crosscheck wrote:
Oh her race, sex and attractiveness have everything to do with why this is a national story.

Surely we can all agree there is bullying in EVERY school.
The latest statistics I can find show there are roughly 4,300 teen suicides a year in the US.

So why, logically speaking, are we discussing this particular incident?


Because it's an easy one to shove down our throats, and maybe convince kids in school to think twice before participating in actions like these.

Make an example out of these students with a victim and story that can quickly gain national attention.

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slesh
PostPosted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 11:33 pm 
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Well, I really haven't heard all of the facts, so I can't base a complete opinion. But from what has been released to date, my view may make sense to some, it may piss others off, but here it is, none the less.

First, The parents of those individuals that were a part of the mob mentality to target this young lady should be stripped of all their parental duties, of all of their children. It is their responsibility to raise children that show respect, since that has failed, they have failed as parents. Why let them make the same mistake twice where another child is subjected to clear abusive behavior.

Second, if teachers or administrators did indeed turn a blind eye to some or any of these events without taking action, they should immediately be fired and brought up on criminal neglect charges.

Third, those individuals that were directly involved in tormenting this young lady should be charged as adults with civil rights violations as a felony. The simple reason is it is a public building. Since she could not obviously function in a high stress environment where bodily harm was reportedly threatened, I contend it was a violation of her civil rights. These individuals should serve no less than 3 years for this violation with 5 years of parole afterwards.

Its simple really, some of us are old enough to remember, others, younger SJ's will have no clue what I am talking about here, but the older members will.

Why such a harsh treatment to each of these parties you ask?
Because we pamper and candy ass our youngens to death in this society now a days. Can't smack em in the ass when they need it, can't really do any serious type of punishment for bad behavior at all and the modern day parents are primarily to blame for this.
Whats the punishment? Oh please mommy and daddy, don't take my xbox/playstation and cell phone priviledges away for a week/month. We can't live.

Pure Bullshit, my 17 year old son will tell you. He meets any one of you, its yes ma'am, or yes sir and he speaks pilote and respectful and acts it as well. Oh, I am aware he still acts like an ass clown around his buddies, but he is well aware of the consequences I lay down if I get wind he is remotely stepping out of line.

As I often remind him, I love him, but sometimes love comes through that piece of Hickory in the back shed if necessary, if he doesn't like it, don't cross the line.

Its that simple folks, actions must have consequences and those consequences must be enforced from an early age on. It may not solve all of the worlds youth violence problems, but its a statistical fact it minimizes them. Take a close look at the numbers from older generations on bullying, sure, some didn't get reported, some didn't commit suicide over it as well (thats because us older folks are a tougher breed) but the bottom line is the youth need to be taugh personal accountability and consequences for their actions.

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fly as hale
PostPosted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 12:15 am 
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It's just heartbreaking to know that this poor girl felt that the only way out of all this bullying was to end her own life. I can't imagine how alone she must have felt, and while I know that high school is tough for everyone, I hope these kids who all teamed up and bullyed her get what they deserve.

Bullying really upsets me... I was never really bullied in high school but it was always so upsetting when I saw people getting singled out and taunted. I mean, have a fucking heart.

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ironyisadeadscene
PostPosted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 12:29 am 
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i was bullied in highschool, but it comes with the territory of having both my parents teach in the building. i kept my chin up, a smile on my face, and went about my business. its not that way for everyone, sadly. i guess i just got lucky.

i hope these kids get severe punishment. was it worth it now? i hope they are truly sorry.

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CriminallyVu1gar
PostPosted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 1:03 am 
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I was bullied in high school on two occasions.

The first was in 8th grade technology. The two kids I sat with thought it was amusing to verbally berate me and fuck my shit up. I just moved closer to the teacher, which at least stemmed the tide, even though the guy was too old and oblivious to do anything about it.

Then again in 10th grade gym. I think it came from a kid I was biology lab partners with. I was smart and he was a dumbass and I had no intention of carrying that shit through class by doing his work for him. So he lashed out at me during gym verbally and a few other kids picked it up too. I was a pretty common target, and people relished beating me in anything we did in gym. The problem was I'm very athletic and those moments were few and far between which pissed them off even more. I finally told him to stop being a douchebag and shut the fuck up. Looking back, I should have given him a courtesy boarding into the bleachers. Kid was a hockey player, but had to be about 10 pounds lighter and a few inches shorter. The asshole gym teacher pretty much let any athletes get away with anything.

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acrossthelines
PostPosted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 1:38 am 
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I've been waiting for someone to post this hahaha. I knew it would be posted here if they were eventually charged with anything as soon as I saw the story of her suicide months ago.

It sounds like the poor girl came here from Ireland, began making friends and gaining popularity right off the bat because she was new, pretty, kind, and had an accent, and the girls just could not abide that and began making things up and making her life hell out of jealousy... as usual.

Cases like these are always difficult. Though they clearly did torment her to her death, and went so far as to throw a party celebrating her suicide (will be impossible to fake remorse in court), to charge them for culpability her death sets a legal precedent, if they are found guilty, in that area that might be difficult to undo. Justice should always be served, and those girls knew exactly what they were doing, but in these cases it's dangerous to prosecute for anything because the law in the West is black and white, and in the future... Ehhh. I don't really like that they are being charged with anything. I am fine with the charges in general and think that most bullies could and should be slapped with them, but because none of this would be happening if she had not committed suicide, it seems that this is just the state's way of prosecuting them for murder in a roundabout way; her cause of death was certainly not homicide. I don't like it.

I do feel terrible for everyone involved, though, with the exception of perhaps the girls' parents, who have for the most part stated that their daughters did nothing wrong.

I wonder, though, if Phoebe had taken a different route, had a different personality, and decided to take her tormentors out with her, what opinions of her and how horribly she was treated would be. That is usually the case with school shootings... and the kids are always treated as monsters in death, when really, there is a lot more to it than that, and I tend to sympathize with the majority of kids who commit those crimes (some are just plain psychopaths, soooo I can't exactly sympathize with that). It's also fascinating how swiftly and harshly the tormentors in cases that end purely in suicide are judged, when they were only behaving normally, really, looking especially at celebrity culture.

It's just sad all around. How alone she must have felt. Pure psychological torture that never let up.

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jvaccaro6
PostPosted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 3:49 am 
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backthatSASSup wrote:
Did you ever stop and think that the reason this made NATIONAL news is because there are a total of 6 students being charged with FELONIES due in large part to her suicide? Many of these cases never go that far.


THANK YOU!

I totally agree here. This isn't a race thing, this isn't a sex thing, this is a 6:1 attack. The fact that people rode her so hard, that she ended her life is pathetic. If you want to fight, do it 1 vs 1. Not in a pack mentality. I never belonged to a pack until college, and feel like I am a better person for it. Especially because I was the guy that was friends with everyone in high school. I never made fun of people for being different. I understand I was very fortunate for being raised the way I was. I'm very upper middle class, but understand the struggles of the lower class, and even understand the pressures of the "upper class". Not everyone is the same, but the fact that this girl was attacked every day by these kids is a joke.

Dont think the teachers, principals, and even the parents of these kids aren't responsible. Nobody kills themselves after being poked at once, its the people that are constantly harassed by a pack that kill themselves. It's a fucking joke that it got as far as it did. Where is the discipline in schools? Sure giving detention is a punishment, unless these kids have 3 hours to dick around afterschool before mom and dad start keeping tabs on them anyway.

Where have family values, and respect for other human beings gone in today's youth? Parents...all I'm saying is think about it

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Godzilla1960
PostPosted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 7:25 am 
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Crosscheck wrote:
What's my take?

High school kids are cruel.
High school kids occasionally commit suicide.

This particular high school kid happened to be:
1. Female
2. White
3. Attractive

So guess what? We all get to hear about her on the national news.

This.

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Crosscheck
PostPosted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 10:58 am 
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PuckSniperPensel wrote:
Because it's an easy one to shove down our throats, and maybe convince kids in school to think twice before participating in actions like these.

Make an example out of these students with a victim and story that can quickly gain national attention.

So your argument is the national media has suddenly and collectively grown a conscience and picked this incident to teach us all a lesson?

Sorry, attractive white chicks put eyeballs on screens. Ask Laci Peterson, Chandra Levy, Natalee Holoway, etc. etc. etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_wh ... n_syndrome

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Van_Da_Man
PostPosted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 12:45 pm 
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CriminallyVu1gar wrote:
take a look into the teachers that failed as authority figures too.


This shit starts and stops here. If a teacher can provide shelter for a student under relentless bullying, chances are that kids will start catching on that "hey, lets not fuck with this guy/girl today" and it will gradually die down.

The kids you have to worry about are the ones with no obvious friends, since from observation, they are usually the hardest hit. Not saying that this girl had no friends, and I do not want to make any judgments about her, but I can attribute 3/5ths of this on the school and or teachers for not finding ways to divert these assholes attentions from her.

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PuckSniperPensel
PostPosted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 2:34 pm 
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Crosscheck wrote:
PuckSniperPensel wrote:
Because it's an easy one to shove down our throats, and maybe convince kids in school to think twice before participating in actions like these.

Make an example out of these students with a victim and story that can quickly gain national attention.

So your argument is the national media has suddenly and collectively grown a conscience and picked this incident to teach us all a lesson?

Sorry, attractive white chicks put eyeballs on screens. Ask Laci Peterson, Chandra Levy, Natalee Holoway, etc. etc. etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_wh ... n_syndrome


Nope. I'm saying it's not the worst thing in the world.

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