Posted on 03/31/2010 2:44:41 PM PDT by jerry557
The mother of one of the "Mean Girls" charged with bullying 15-year-old Phoebe Prince to death defended her daughter Tuesday, saying she never lifted a hand against the tormented girl but just "called her names."
Angeles Chanon admitted that her daughter, Sharon Chanon Velazquez, 16, had once been suspended from school for verbally abusing Phoebe - but blamed the bullied girl for starting it.
"(Sharon) exchanged a couple of words with her," Chanon told the Boston Herald. "Phoebe was calling her names. They're teenagers. They call names."
Chanon insisted her daughter never "physically assaulted" Phoebe, no matter what the District Attorney says.
"I know she knows better than that. I wouldn't accept that," she said.
Sharon was one of nine Massachusetts teenagers charged Monday with tormenting Phoebe "relentlessly" for three months, until the despairing recent immigrant from a small Ireland village hanged herself Jan. 14.
Sharon was charged with stalking and violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury.
In Massachusetts, public anger was turning from the Mean Girls - so mean they left vicious comments on Phoebe's Facebook memorial page - to the teachers who repeatedly failed to protect Phoebe, but were not charged criminally.
District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel said Phoebe's persecution was "common knowledge" at the school, and even witnessed by teachers, who said nothing.
Her mother had twice asked school officials to help put a stop to her daughter's misery, Schiebel said.
The day she killed herself, a teacher saw kids harassing Phoebe in the school library - but said nothing until after the suffering girl's body was found hanging in her home.
The district attorney called the failure of adults at the school to stop the harassment "troublesome," but not criminal.
"We sought the charges that we feel were most appropriate for these activities," Scheibel said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
But the parents are the ones that raised these bullies and apparently are now defending their actions. Disgusting.
Apple..Tree
^ ^
The parents and school officials should go to jail..and burn in hell!!!
The girls (and boys) may soon learn what real bullying is if they are put in prison. However, parents and school administration should be held culpable as well.
I 100% oppose bullying, and I think verbal abuse is real abuse.
However, I am not sure about charging these young meanies with stalking and abuse of civil rights leading to bodily injury.
This verbal stuff is very difficult to quantify and define.
Stalking? They were required to be at school all day every day. Did the meanies go by the house, drive by her work, whatever?
And abuse of civil rights? What civil rights? Do we have a right to not be insulted?
I do think threats to kill and maim are quantifiable and could be persecuted.
But just generally being nasty to someone?
I would say it’s as much the fault of the schools. The schools should boot out anyone who’s a disrupter. Send them to reform school. Of course, that might require changing the law.
HOME SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!America HOME SCHOOL!!!
Excessive bullying like this is what leads to things like Columbine. When no one does anything, it can reach a boiling point where the bullied kid feels so much despair and depression that they go off the deep end. They either commit suicide or bring a gun to school.
Yet parents and teachers allow this type of stuff to go on. It’s just insane.
This one should be laid on the school they witnessed
it and did NOTHING.
Mom buy a clue bullying is mostly words and your daufghter is nothing to be proud of. I hope she enjoys reform school!
I do agree it should not be allowed to go on. I am just not convinced persecuting the alleged bullies for “stalking” and civil rights violations is very cohesive. It could really turn on people.
I believe the first responsible person is the bullied victim’s parents. We would not tolerate being bullied in our workplaces. Yet many expect our kids to tolerate it daily. Physical bullying as well as verbal. Inexcusable.
I remember once a little girl called Dr. Laura. She was ten or so, and said she was fat. She said she didn’t want to go to school any more because the kids would tease and tease her. I can just imagine. She sounded like a sweet little girl.
Dr. Laura recommended she exercise more and EAT APPLES WITH CINNAMON!!!
I was yelling in the car - TAKE THE KID OUT OF THAT SCHOOL! Would Dr. Laura put up with that at the workplace every day?
Stalking can be online like they did to this poor kid.
Any setting except a school, that is. In that environment apparently a far higher standard of proof is demanded.
see my post to Jerry 557. I am not trying to minimize the evil of bullying. I am just thinking this type is not very quantifiable and could lead to big abuses.
Sure, in a perfect world they are responsible. In today’s public schools teachers are responsible for paying their union dues, and administrators are responsible for placating teachers so that they won’t complain to those unions.
One of the stories I read about this poor child included the fact that she was pelted with cans and bottles from a car containing classmates. So this went way beyond teasing at school. They appeared to deliberately seek her out, whether at school or not. So I’m thinking that’s where the stalking charge might come from.
So Columbine was who's fault, now? It wasn't the shooters' faults?
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