Posted on 01/26/2010 11:55:01 AM PST by Sopater
While police in South Hadley, Mass., investigate whether cyber bullying was to blame for the suicide last week of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince, the teenager who had recently emigrated from Ireland suffered a final indignity – disparaging remarks believed to be posted by classmates to a Facebook page created in her memory.
Prince died on Jan. 14 after a rough freshman year. Friends and school officials told MyFoxBoston.com that Prince had been picked on and taunted since moving to Massachusetts last fall.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Beautiful child. May God rest her soul.
Tatt
“Same as always.. they are kids and don’t yet have the skills of an adult to hide their glee over the death of someone they don’t like.”
Nope. Its because their parents haven’t taught them anything. A 15 year old is plenty old enough to know how to treat others properly. Sure they’ll make mistakes but this kind of behavior is taught by clueless parents.
Unfortunately, we seem to be raising a generation who are so self absorbed they cannot put themselves into the place of someone else. And then we arm them with the ability to spread their psychopathic little selves far and wide via technology. Do parents even pay the least bit of attention to what their kids are doing online or with their cell phones?
“I tend to blame the parents of the kid who’s being bullied. Even more than the bullies themselves.”
ya know I’ve had the same thought with people who get beat up, raped, or murdered. yeah its all their fault.
It’s just a shame that kids these days are ill-equipped to handle stress and teasing.
Yeah, that's right and parents need to "toughen up" their kids these days and make it so that they can take this kind of stuff and not be "weenies" -- and I'm not kidding, the parents really need to do that.
You’re right, but there seems to be a difference. Many more kids seem to have zero regard for other people. They don’t feel any sense of responsibility for what they do. It’s all about them. Certainly not all of them, by any means but a growing number.
>>>What is this world coming to? Are we really raising a generation of monsters?<<<
No more than the world of East Lyme, Conn., from 1964 until 1974, when I was finally free of that hellhole and its cadre of taunting, abusive, cruel fellow students, and, occasionally, teachers and neighbors.
I would bet that my experience as a kid who was bullied and harassed throughout school was not only common everywhere, but it has taken place throughout human history. Kids are basically little primates squabbling about territory and power, and that means someone is on the bottom of the social heirarchy. In my town, in my time, that kid was me. It was a Godawful experience, compounded with an abusive parent at home and a family that put the “dys” into “dysfunctional.”
So here’s what I’ve done. I looked at ways to gain strength of mind and character. I used prayer and meditation and running and weight training. I moved away. When I had my own son, I tried mightly to build in him resilience to deal with life’s crap - and he’ll need it, since he was a premature baby and will go through life shorter than his peers. My efforts have been successful, so far - my son, who has a temperament like my own, is far stronger than I was at his age, has more friends, and far more ability to deal with the garbage occasionally thrown at him.
This girl in Massachusetts needed more resilience. There are evil people everywhere, even (or especially) among high school girls. She needed to have the strength to give her tormenters the middle-finger salute. In that, I mourn for her decision to waste her life. However, the problem lies within her soul, not in those around her.
Kids can’t defend themselves nowadays. If they do, then they are the ones’ to get kicked out. I know I’ve been there and my son has been there. Schools are worthless when it comes to protecting the innocent.
You know, I don’t remember ever being so callous I would respond with glee over someone’s death, and I don’t recall any of my 3 sons acting like this. Of course, there was a time that you knew full well your peers and other people would think you were a terrible person if you voiced those kinds of things, even if you felt them, so you kept your mouth shut. Today anyone with a keyboard can say anything, and some idiot out there will tell them the are smart and wonderful.
I tend to blame the parents of the kid who’s being bullied. Even more than the bullies themselves.
Then you replied ...
ya know I’ve had the same thought with people who get beat up, raped, or murdered. yeah its all their fault.
That's not the point that is being made here...
One unspoken point is that you're not going to make the world around you a pleasant place, like you might want.
Then, secondly, you need to teach your kids how to cope with the meanness, evil and terrible things that are done to people and how to think about it and what to do about it.
That's where the parents come into play there, with their kids.
I can’t imagine how her parents feel.
Moreso than most of the tragic stories posted here, this one makes me very sad.
I echo your simple, thoughtful sentiments completely.
This being Massachusetts, I would imagine that all of the bullies have had extensive instruction in “tolerance.”
If you asked them what “tolerance” means, they would all earnestly inform you that it had to do with not being racist.
“Kids can’t defend themselves nowadays. If they do, then they are the ones’ to get kicked out”
Absolutely correct. I’ve told my kids they are free to defend themselves regardless of the consequences. Of course we homeschool now but the rule stood while they were in public.
Where are the parents?
Know what the hell your kids are doing, reading, viewing at all times.
Be a parent!
Speaking of bullies.
Too many kids today come from one parent families. That right there puts kids at a disadvantage in dealing with bullies.
Even kids from normal families have to face the kids from broken homes. Who naturally are acting out and causing problems at schools.
It is a parent’s job to pull their kid from any and all dangerous environments. And for shame on this poor kid’s parents who didn’t pull the plug on her computer.
I’m not saying a healthy family will avoid all bullying problems, but it’s a start.
Homeschooling is another.
just sayin’....
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