Bullying Gone Too Far

New York Times authors Erik Eckholm and Katie Zezima document a bullying incident at its harshest state; but instead of hurt feelings, this one brought death.


"Bullying" is a major issue in schools, but historically teachers and parents have looked the other way. Recently, bullying has become so appalling and such a national problem that it is too hard to ignore. The hot topic of bullying in schools is exemplified through the story of Phoebe Prince, a 15-year-old freshman at South Hadley High School. She had just moved from Ireland with her family to west Massachusetts last fall. She only attended the school for a couple of months. Shortly after she arrived, she began dating a popular senior; and that's when it all started.


Two boys and four girls, Phoebe's classmates, began verbally assaulting her in the lunchroom, knocking books out of her hands in the hall, and throwing hard objects like canned drinks at her as she walked home from school. One day after being so berated and humiliated, Phoebe had had enough. She walked straight home from school and hung herself on the family's stair case by 4:30 p.m.


Phoebe's case of adolescent bullying also included disruption of a school assembly to mock her, bodily injury, harassment, stalking, and even statutory rape. What is particularly disturbing about this is that some teachers and other students saw these acts of violence against Phoebe Prince, yet they did nothing to uncover the truth or protect her. Moreover, these events predominantly took place on school premises. One of Phoebe's teachers, Ms. Scheibel, confessed, "The actions of these students were primarily conducted on school grounds during school hours and while school was in session" (par 17). This information makes it easy to see that school is the #1 location for adolescent bullying to occur.

Other parents since Phoebe's case have spoken up about their children's encounters with bullying; another student in Phoebe's high school had been bullied for 3 years, but faculty said they could not really help her. After Phoebe's tragic suicide, the school formally apologized to this student and her family for not taking action sooner. 

Massachusetts House and Senate have recently passed versions of an anti-bullying law, but the term "bullying" is so vague, that they do not want to classify it as a crime.  Massachusetts, and 40+ states along with it, now require bullying training for teachers, as well as time allotted in the classroom to address the issues surrounding violence and bullying. Hopefully no other life, or even quality of life, will be lost before teachers enforce nonviolence and non hate speech in their schools. It makes my stomach churn to know that no one stood up for Phoebe when she was being bullied. And now, for her, it's too late.

shapeimage 2.jpg [Bullied Girl] Nov 20, 2007. Retrieved from shop.essdack.org.
Eckholm, Eric; Zezima, Katie. "6 Teenagers Are Charged After Classmate’s Suicide." The New York Times. 29 March, 2010. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/us/30bully.html.