The Tragic Death of Phoebe Prince at 15: We Lose Another one of our Children to Bullying

This tragedy just keeps getting more and more tragic.  A 15 year old girl, a recent immigrant from Ireland, dead.  Bullied to death.  Gone at the age of 15, by her own hand, to put an end to the incessant bullying that it appears she was forced to endure everyday at school.  Reports allege that this harassment had been going on for months. 

How could this happen?  As the story unfolds, the levels of horror deepen.  The greatest tragedy is the loss of Pheobe.  Her family must somehow survive this loss.  Everything else takes a back seat second to her death, but to think that this event had not rocked this community of Northampton, Massachusetts  to the core would be wrong.  There are no winners here.

The families of those charged must be reeling in sadness and shame.  The faculty, the students, everyone is sure to be feeling to blame is some way.  And there is nothing to do but survive this senseless death, and do SOMETHING to be sure it never happens again.  This town of Northampton has a huge problem.  With her suicide death, Pheobe has put the issue of bullying under the spotlight of the world again, and although it seems that several adults had tried to intervene, there was no one there to save Pheobe.

Schools and communities need to adopt and embrace a culture of safety for everyone.  And when that culture is violated, there need to be consequences.  Students need to know what is expected of them and how to deliver.  They also deserve to know what will happen if they make another student feel unsafe or unwelcome.  Student need to know that if they report bullying, then something will be done about it.  They need to know that there anonymity will be protected and that time will be spent investigating allegations.  Teachers and administrators need to know that anti bullying policies will be backed by school boards and trustees, and that saying NO to bullying goes through the ranks of the district administrative  teams and that our leaders do not engage in these types of behaviours.  Our children need to learn a gentler, kinder way to behave with each other and they need to know who to go to for help. 

Finally, we need to ask our student “How safe is our school”, and then we need to take the answers of the students seriously, and take action to make the unsafe zones of the school safe for all.  I challenge all schools: Check your changerooms, your washrooms, your stairwells, your buses and you stairwells. Check your classroom and your cafeterias.  Ask your students about their school and let them see us take action on their behalf.  We simply cannot afford to lose any more of our children.

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billy smith said:

	not right i don't think that the death of that girl is right no one should have to go through bullying that cause them to die
	report abuse vote down vote up

June 08, 2010 9:31am
Votes: +0

Vanessa Hokey said:

	scary things like this are very tradgic and scary. people need to do something about this before things like this happen. It's not fair that people die due to bullying.
	report abuse vote down vote up

June 08, 2010 9:33am
Votes: +0

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