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First — I don’t know the gory details of all that happened, so I probably shouldn’t comment. But, here goes.

Bits and pieces of this story have bubbled to the surface over the past week that raise some questions. As I understand it, (1) Phoebe moved here from Ireland and immediately got involved in a dating relationship with a popular senior. This made other girls in the school jealous. The dating relationship did not last.

(2) The other kids started harrassing Phoebe. Suddenly, she was in a consensual sexual relationship with the 2 boys who have been charged.

(3) Furthermore, there are reports that Phoebe had been bullied in her Irish school before she arrived here.

1, 2, & 3 put together make me wonder if there was a consensual sexual relationship between Phoebe and the first boy. He broke it off and blabbed to his friends. Then they black-mailed Phoebe unless she performed certain acts and they blabbed about that and threatened her. Girls got wind of it and started gossiping on-line and sending viscious notes to Phoebe. Girls can be very nasty when jealosy is part of it.

The school should have stepped in as soon as they knew what was going on, and Phoebe’s parents should have been informed. Phoebe should have been transferred to another school immediately, and they should have taken her to a counselor.

I’d like to know more about the previous bullying in Ireland and the cause. And I’d like someone to recognize that high school is too young for sexual relationships. I hope these boys are not let off the hook for their actions, and I’d like to see the girls punished too, depending on what they did. All of them involved need psychological counseling, as well as their families.

May Phoebe RIP and may God have Mercy on her soul. Such a tragedy! I hope that every parent of every teenager makes an extra effort to train your kids (boys and girls) to keep their pants on and their feet on the floor. It’s not healthy, mentally or physically to do otherwise.

(Ducking the incoming fire.)

Not incoming fire but I will ask a couple questions. I agree with you about the sexual relationships and her parents needing to be informed so they could get her help. But outside of physical violence that could be proved, what can the schools do about she-said/she-said, gossip, jealousy and sleeping around? I can tell you...not much. If there is physical violence on campus, they can address that but they have to know about it. If they see she is despondent or upset, they can try and talk with her about her mental health and contact her parents but she has to want to talk about it.

I don't have a problem with transferring her to a different school but if what you say is true about her other school in Ireland, there's no guarantee that "trouble" won't continue to follow her. I think that it is terrible that she died, but I think you bring up some good points and it would probably be good to hear more about this girl's story.

I stated on another thread, that if this poor girl hadn’t killed herself this wouldn’t be a story. Bits have been coming out, and I have been wary at judging the other teens before the whole story is told. We do know that Phoebe wasn’t actually unpopular, but she was a freshman having sex with various boys. And yes, she incurred the wrath of some older girls. Beyond one soda can throwing incident, we don’t know how far the “harassment” went beyond the girls calling her a slut online and to her face. I think everyone should keep in mind, that most kids who aren’t already troubled, do not commit suicide because of high school drama.