Phoebe Prince, only fifteen years old and one of the latest victims of the oldest terror of the schoolyard... the bully. "Chased to her grave by a gang-like clique of her peers", her spirit finally broke on January 14 of this year when she hung herself. This story may be several months old, but it still is as potent in shock-value as the day it broke.Why was this allowed to happen? Why did this girl feel there was no other alternative? How isolated and alone must this girl have felt for her to choose this path? So many questions, and very few answers. The motives for the bullying are not important. The important part is that at some point, this girl had two terrible things happen simultaneously that caused this outcome. If one or the other had been prevented, Phoebe would still be with us today.
The bullying should have been stopped. In this new digital age, "cyberbullying" is a difficult thing to catch. This is unfortunate since in this case, most of the abuse came through text messages in a "three-month campaign of harassment". Again, this kind of thing is hard to catch, but it is not impossible. Where were the parents from either side? The bullies' parents never saw anything? Not a single clue on their students' phones or online?
I also find it hard to believe that Phoebe's parents never noticed anything. Who knows. Maybe she never mentioned it, or hid her pain so well that they weren't the least bit wise. If so, then we mourn for her death even more.
That is the crux of any situation like this. Either the offense is discovered, or the damage is noticed. For Phoebe, it went to a horrible and tragic extreme that could have been prevented. Intervention can work. Bullies aren't going to kiss and make up. They need reprimand and assessment. And the victim's wounds won't just heal after the assailant has been dealt with or moves on to another target. The "powers that be" (parents, administrators, counselors, teachers, and other students to an extent) need to know that silence, ignorance, weak-handed actions, or anything short of swift and decisive action will not do. Victims need to know that they can speak out that that they will be heard.
This cannot be a shocking revelation for this many people. Who can say they weren't bullied at least once? We all have been picked on.
They tease. We run. We cry. We hide.
Sometimes, the abuse was in the dark. Behind the teacher's back. After school in the play ground. A note in a locker.
They chase. They beat. They taunt. They hurt.
Sometimes it was ignored. "Problem child, but the year is almost over anyways." "That is just the way little boys are."
Don't believe the lies. Don't ignore the truth. Don't dumb it down or count it for anything less than what it is. The worst finally happened, and who knows if others didn't take the same actions for the same reasons, or who has come close to being the next tragedy in the morning paper.
