Phoebe Prince did not die in vain.

The reaction to her suicide after suffering unrelenting bullying means that such cases will be taken much more seriously in the future.

The 15-year-old native of Ireland, who had recently moved to the U.S., was bullied to death in her South Hadley, Massachusetts, school by a group of "mean girls" who taunted her to the point where she took her own life.

The reaction in Massachusetts, where outraged parents have demanded action, will likely result in a state law and much greater effort to ensure that bullying is given the focus it deserves.

All across the United States, schools can learn from what went wrong for Phoebe Prince and what caused her horrible death.

Speaking as a parent of a young girl, I believe the Phoebe Prince story has made me concentrate more on ensuring that such issues as bullying in school are given the proper prominence in her school.

Put simply for parents out there: It is never too soon to speak to kids these days about bullying and other activities, which now take on a whole new sinister twist with cyber-bullying via texting, social sites such as Facebook and e-mail.

Phoebe's case is especially sad. She had just recently moved from Ireland and her main crime seemed to be that she dated a popular high school football player.

Since she died the outpouring has been incredible, and a deep mark has been left in her local community.

The word needs to go out from there that bullying will not be tolerated and that teachers must intervene when they suspect it is happening. Clearly, there was a deep problem in South Hadley even before Phoebe.

Her death may help ensure that such bullying and such tragic consequences never happen again.