Police interview two girls believed to be involved in Erin Gallagher’s suicide

@jetsnoone, you're still missing the point. I don't want to see prosecutions of young teenagers. I want to see the adults that are in authority stop the bullying. The police should have had a talk with the parents of the bullies, as well as talking to the bullying girls themselves. Bullies need psychological counseling.

Question: Robert Kennedy's wife killed herself a couple of months ago, he gave her a lousy marriage, but I guess we don't prosecute liberal adults the same way you'd like us to prosecute people in their early teens. Suicide is always wrong. God said so but I know some of you are too sophisticated for God's rules.

Jetsnoone. you don`t have to go to Russia to get stuck in prison for saying something politically differant. When grown adults still take their lives after considering all the hurt they will leave behind. It will be very hard to prevent children who are not as mentally developed and will more than likely bypass such considerations. As for your mortal sins, did they not go out with the old practice of electrocuting people suffering from nearly every type of mental illness. Perhaps Erins remains should not have been afforded a proper Catholic funeral and burial in holy ground. Wasn`t that long ago it would have happened. Rest in peace Erin. Thoughts also go to all other victims as a result of this tragedy.

@jetsnoone, the point is that it was relentless harassment that led to suicide. Bullying has gotten much worse over the last 10 yrs or more. Everyone gets teased at one time or another in their life. It's not the same thing.

In America you can say whatever you want as long as you don't threaten somebody...the bullying girls said mean, cruel things but if they didn't threaten Erin then they shouldn't be prosecuted for a crime...In Soviet Union you would be jailed for saying something politically incorrect. With people like you we are heading in that direction. Just teach our kids that NOTHING justifies suicide...surely you can agree with that???

jetsnoone, surely you jest, comparing a 13 year old adolescent to an adult dissenter of Communism? Tell me you are joking. We need to tell our children that suicide is PERMANENT, that there is no going back and that, this too shall pass. It would do absolutely no good to tell our children that suicide is wrong - when did something being wrong ever stop someone in an extreme emotional state? Telling them that suicide is a sin is even more useless since "sin" is such an ephemeral concept that it is difficult for a young person to really comprehend. But more than that, we need to tell our young people that bullying is UNACCEPTABLE and will have consequences. That psychological BULLYING (call it teasing if you want) is in society's eyes no different than a physical assault and will be dealt with the same way. It is NOT the fault of the person being bullied (as you make it seem). ALL of the blame lies on those doing the assault. If you fail to see that then I suspect you are or have been the perpetrator of bullying on more than one occasion yourself and are trying to shift the blame to your victims.

Chipper, ever read about Aleksandr Solzenitzen? A famous Russian writer who verbally criticized Stalin. Referred to the top commie as "the old man with the mustache." Someone ratted him out and he froze his ass off in the gulag for many years. Didn't matter that this guy fought on the front lines for Russian, you see he was guilty of a thought crime....again no child should threaten another, but the teased child must also be told that to commit suicide over the matter is EVEN MORE WRONG.

Why is counseling not available with professionals on a much greater level than it is now,the fact Erin's mother contacted the police a few weeks before should have rang alarm bells,the methods used to intimidate this girl was constant and vile and the young people involved should be ashamed of themselves,it looks like they need help now that retribution has been promised.This is but one case but there must be countless other incidents out there.

jetsnoone, here we go. You don't like something, just label the person delivering the message to something you consider negative. In the heat of US elections, the term "liberal" has almost become as negative as the "N" word among one faction. You need to remember first that not all countries have the same values and definitions, even of Free Speech and that you can't foist your values on other countries. That is how Americans get the moniker "Ugly Americans" put on them. It is nothing but sheer arrogance to assume that another culture should adopt your values. That being said, threats of bodily harm cannot be the only definition of bullying. The old saw "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me" is just a child's rhyme. Words can indeed hurt and psychological abuse and bullying can indeed be fatal or cause irreparable harm to a person. "Teasing" is a mild term for it but what we see in many youth goes way, way beyond mild. It has always been so, but the incidence, severity and impact is may-fold worse today in the state of our societies and in the access afforded via social media.

Searlit: in a free country there must be a balance freedom of speech and harassment which can actually amount to a minor crime. Threatening bodily physical harm is much more serious. The term ""bullying" you liberals use so often is too vague. The big question? Was Erin threatened or teased...big differance.

My sincere condolences go to Erin Gallagher's family and friends. Bullying should be a criminal act... so many people commit suicide after being bullied. Luckily when I was young and girls made fun of me, I would laugh at them. I was super tom-boyish and they would tease me about not dressing feminine. My goal in life has been to break gender barriers and would ask them... "Is it more important to be sexy than to be an intelligent and a caring person?".

@nicgearailt,I agree with you, to a certain extent. You didn't mention anything about the children who are bullying another child. The beautiful girl that felt driven to suicide, may or may not have had issues with emotional illness before the bullying began. On the other hand, the girls that bullied her, in my opinion, have huge emotional illnesses. Yes, everyone counts, we are all intricately connected to each other, whether we are willing to acknowledge the connection or not. My heart goes out to her family, and I was glad to see how much their community supported them. I wish the authorities would've done something to prevent this tragedy.

it appears that her mother was alone ,dealing with these issues for her daughter .i see no mention of a father ...though that does not necessarily prevent suicide.. Suicide is a huge problem in families these days,especially in Ireland..it needs to be discussed more openly ,remove the stigma of depressive illnesses.become familiar with the early signs and symptoms and get treatment.The loss of one child, in a family, to suicide,might be prevented if the thinking about emotional illnesses can be part of the conversation.It takes courage to go forward and educate everyone,at the family level...does anyone agree with this thought ? I subscribe to the idea that every single one among us counts..every single one ,no matter who you are...

Such a sad commentary on the state of our society in Ireland and elsewhere, when young people who have so much to live for are pushed to believe that there is no way out other than suicide. Having been a suicide prevention counselor, we know that suicide in young people is the ultimate cry for help. They do not truly believe that death is the end and their thoughts are that they will exact revenge on those that hurt them and will be around to see that revenge. Illogical thinking, but true in most cases. I can't help but think that the extreme publicity that these cases get tends to add to the problem. A troubled young person reads that and thinks "I am bullied too, just like she was. She sure showed them! Look at the publicity and how bad everyone feels about it! That's what I want as well". I don't know the answer to this. The bullying is a problem that must be dealt with and one of the best ways to spur the action to deal with it is through publicizing things like this, but we do that at the risk of encouraging other young people to take the same course with their lives as Erin did.

Children who attend catechism classes learn early on that killing is against God's law and that includes killing yourself....many Irish parents feel their kids don't need the faith anymore as they are a cool, hip, progressive society. Wrong. Kids need God, Church as much as ever. Erin didn't know right from wrong and made a terrible choice.