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Jeremy Prince: School to blame for Phoebe’s suicide not teens on trial

Phoebe’s Father believes that had his daughter reached out to her school they would have made things worse

CATHY HAYES,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Monday, August 2, 2010, 7:31 AM

Updated Monday, August 2, 2010, 8:01 AM

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Jeremy Prince believes that Phoebe was placed in the situation that if she told the school about her bullies they would have made her situation worse. This is was drove her to suicide.

In an interview with the Boston Globe Jeremy said that charging the six teens with various crimes which led to Phoebe’s death is only setting an example. However, he pointed out that this drastic action would not have been necessary had the adults of South Hadley High School intervened.

They had been made aware of Phoebe’s vulnerability but, according to Jeremy, Phoebe was left with no options. Sadly Phoebe did not share with her Mother, Anne O’Brien, in Massachusetts or Jeremy, who lives in County Clare how bad the situation had gotten in the days before her suicide.

“Phoebe’s perception, and I think it was the correct one, is that if she had told us, we would have been down at the school ranting and raving, but that the school would not do anything about it and it would actually get worse,” said Jeremy.

Phoebe’s Mother had asked the school to help out with Phoebe as she was new in the country and the school. She was also dating older boys and this had created problems with her within the groups of children in the school.

“The whole culture was wrong at that school. The school turned a blind eye for administrative reasons,” Jeremy told the Globe. “They closed ranks. The adults at the high school responded to this like administrators, not educators. Administrators minimize everything, they want as little hassle as possible. An educator would be setting an example.

“I think the district attorney is setting an example: this behavior will not be tolerated, it is against the law, and the law has consequences. The charges are warranted and should have been brought. That said, I would be opposed to the young people charged in this case being made an example of. There’s a big difference between setting an example and making an example of someone. I don’t want disproportionate punishment.’’

In previous interviews Jeremy has reiterated that he does not believe the teenagers should be sent to prison for bullying however he wants them to apologize for what they did to Phoebe.

He said “I hate the word bullying…What they did to Phoebe was not bullying. Bullying is this word with benign, Victorian overtones. Do you know what the French call bullying? Persecution. It’s spelled the same, and it means the same. It’s easily defined as long-term harassment meant to injure or distress someone. That’s what was done to Phoebe.”

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pat52rk | Aug 03, 2010, 04:38 PM EDT

yes, blame everybody ...

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rorschach | Aug 03, 2010, 12:58 AM EDT

Mr. Prince is far too charitable. America is full of monsters, it's a toxic culture, and his daughter was victimized by both.

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shawnpcochran | Aug 03, 2010, 12:52 AM EDT

What happened to Phoebe is a terrible consequence of modern American society. Many americans no longer raise our children mainly beaus we are constantly working trying to keep up with the Jones. Instead our children have their own computers, and even their own televisions with cable because they are such nice parents. American children lead virtually separate lives from their parents. Many parents want to be their children's friend rather then be their parents. These children live with virtually no consequences and they get out of control. I know this my brother was never disciplined by my parents he was special because he was the child they had in common, who happens to be in jail now. My parents let his behavior get out of control and since they would not discipline him the authorities had to do it for them. I respect Mr Prince he has shown great character in incredibly trying circumstances. But I think he needs to understand that the young offenders are not redeemable without consequences they need to be punished because their parents are not going to do it. The only thing that will make their parents actually consider discipline their children will be the possibility of loosing everything through civil litigation. I hope that Mr. Prince will pursue full criminal and civil litigation, the courts rely on precedence. Mr Prince could make a big difference for American children by establishing this precedence giving them an option to hold administrator, even parents accountable for their actions and their inaction. Please think about that Mr. Prince.

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Chemteach | Aug 02, 2010, 09:29 PM EDT

As my previous posts would bear out, my perspective on this tragedy is very similar to that of Phoebe's father. The headline of this article, in my opinion, is not an accurate reflection of his actual views. He does not maintain that the actual bullies (allegedly the South Hadley Six) had no culpability in his daughter's suicide, but rather, that the moral culpability of the responsible adults at SHHS was greater. Of course, the problem faced by Scheibel is that while the actions of the bullies were felonies in the COM subject to the criminal sanction, the non actions of the staff, teachers, and administration of SHHS were nonfeasance subject to civil rather than criminal adjudication. In my opinion,the South Hadley Six should be prosecuted because their concerted, outrageous actions prior to and after Phoebe's suicide are indicative of sociopathic behavior and should be so to speak nipped in the bud as a lesson to other students with a unfettered drive to denigrate. dehumanize, and abuse. Perhaps the school system itself would be the more proper locus of justice for these individuals, but it proved woefully inept at the task just as it was inept at preventing the tragedy from occuring. The sad fact is that without the DA's indictments, four of the perpetrators would have continued to walk the halls of SHHS searching for other vulnerable prey.The indicted students must realize that their inability to curb their actions before they strayued into the criminal realm aided and abetted by the "depraved indifference" of the morally bankrupt school system will now impact them for the rest of their lives. Almost a tragedy of epic greek proportions.

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KansasUSA | Aug 02, 2010, 05:23 PM EDT

It is my opinion that those charged should be charged but that the fault also lies with the administration that turned a blind eye to what was happening. They are still turning a blind eye after the fact with their efforts to sweep their culpability under the rug. I wonder how the counselor that sent Phoebe back to class feels. Had this person taken 5 minutes to listen to her when she said she was afraid maybe this story would've had a different ending.

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adrienrain | Aug 02, 2010, 12:19 PM EDT

BTW, Jeremy Prince seems bi=rilliant.

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adrienrain | Aug 02, 2010, 12:17 PM EDT

It's always been my observation that such incidents need the silent encouragement of school authorities to become as toxic as this one did. I've seen it again and again.

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