The story of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince of South Hadley, Mass., who killed herself earlier this year, is terrible.
It is an awful story because it could have been prevented. Something could have been done before this poor teenager felt so distraught that taking her life was an option.
Prince's mother was aware that her daughter had been stalked and harassed for months in person and online by her classmates. We find it hard to believe this mother did not try her hardest to help her daughter. Especially since all of the news reports explain how in addition to consoling her daughter, Prince's mother contacted school officials.
We understand high school teachers are not paid nearly enough for the important task they have, which is to help educate America's youth, but they should have done something. Having all been teenagers once, these educators should have understood the need to eliminate such stressful situations from their campus.
Being around their students and watching them interact with each other for hours five days out of the week puts them in the position to discipline these students. They assign blame and enforce consequences when students don't follow instructions regarding homework or school projects.
Arresting nine teenagers last week sent a message about bullying, but is it the right message? To arrest the teens but not discipline the teachers and school staff that were aware of the problem but did nothing seems counterproductive.
We are not saying that these students should not have been arrested or reprimanded for their actions, but they aren't the only people who should carry the burden of blame.
Parents of children doing the bullying also need to play a roll in it's prevention. Bullying someone for months requires a tremendous amount of anger or disdain. The parents of these kids should have noticed their children tormenting others and stopped it.
A recent theme in public service announcements has been parents asking their kids the tough questions about drugs and alcohol. There are other difficult questions these parents should be quizzing their kids about to get a better understanding of the person they are raising.
No one said being a parent was easy, and the questions that are now being directed at their kids would have been hard for these people. But they chose to be parents. It is just like when choosing to go to college or get married — you have to commit to the decision and the responsibility attached to it.
Perhaps the saddest part of the whole story, though, is the kids who live in South Hadley that Emily Bazelon from Slate has been interviewing while researching the developing story.
Students told her that while the bullying Prince received was vicious and detrimental, it was considered normal. One girl told Bazelon "a lot of it was normal girl drama" and that the reason Prince was affected so strongly by it was because of her background.
South Hadley should really think about this situation and if they want that type of reputation. They should decide if they want people scared to move there because their children treat each other terribly.
The teachers, parents and students should work to fix what is considered normal behavior.
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