Has justice really been done for Phoebe Prince?

Posted on Friday, April 02, 2010 at 03:13 PM

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The papers are full at the moment of the idea that justice has been done in the matter of Phoebe Prince's suicide. Criminal charges have been brought against nine teenagers, including statutory rape, violation of civil rights with bodily injury, harassment and stalking.

The New York Times report stated, "The charges were an unusually sharp legal response to the problem of adolescent bullying, which is increasingly conducted in cyberspace as well as in the schoolyard and has drawn growing concern from parents, educators and lawmakers."

But one of the shocking pieces of information to emerge from this tragedy is that school teachers and administrators were indeed aware of the bullying and did little or nothing to prevent it. While Prince lived, the crimes were known about, but went unpunished.

Given that some teachers were already aware of the bullying, what would have happened if Prince had reported it to them? Would they have punished the bullies or reported their activities to the police? And if Prince had gone to the police, would they in turn have brought charges, or seen it as a school problem?

It seems that the main reason why these teenagers have been charged is not because they committed crimes of statutory rape and harassment, but because Prince died. See more: Irish in New York

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twilight123456 | Jul 06, 2010, 11:31 AM EDT

i wish that it wasnt too late to give her my storie... when situations cant seem to turn right make then turn left...when i was 1 my dad left, when i was 7 he took my mom to cort over custity... when he lost he wanted nothing to do with me so yes i can see where she felt ababnended...when i was in 6th grade all i wanted was to find love... i was always the good girl who would chace all of the boys. then chad (a really popular guy) asked me out i was so happy! only to find out a week later that he had a really popular girlfriend... after she found out about him cheeting i got called things like slut and bitch... someone started a rumer that i was sleeping with chad and many other guys...i didnt really let my thoughts of failure show on my face untill i started getting notes in my locker saying that who ever wrote it wanted me to go to hell and one note said that they would stab me to death if i ever told that i was getting thretened... and so there i was abanded and no one carred if i lived or died finaly this girl named lauren helped me out a lot... i felt like i could tell her anything in the world... now we see people walk out in holly wood with dogs and become famous... when its people who are makeing a difference like phoebe and lauren who need 5 pages n a big magizine...

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castlesampson | Apr 25, 2010, 01:47 PM EDT

fire them all.they stood by and did nothing

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NiteAngel | Apr 17, 2010, 06:11 PM EDT

There will never be justice for her. While I don't have sympathy for Phoebe committing suicide, because to me that is a selfish way to escape from problems, I do believe the teachers and administrators need to be fire, sued and how ever you do it keep them fromm reapplying for school jobs or anything that has to do with kids. And what horrible people for having a school dance 2 days after her suicide.

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NiteAngel | Apr 17, 2010, 06:07 PM EDT

There will never be justice for her. While I do not agree with what she did...by commiting suicide, which in my book is a selfish way to get out of something, I believe the teachers and administrators need to be fired, sued and have whatever it takes to keep them from reapplying for jobs at schools or anything else that has to do with kids.

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amymrun | Apr 10, 2010, 05:45 PM EDT

Why on earth did they hold a school dance 2 days after Phoebe's death? Outrageous. These administrators have to go.

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Liamkeyes | Apr 09, 2010, 07:53 PM EDT

Whatever it takes. I hope and pray that a legal precedent is set to stop the "Local Jocks" and their fawning girlfriends from running the show. My feeling is that the parents of the indicted are probably in a high degree of denial at the moment.

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the.outsider | Apr 08, 2010, 01:28 PM EDT

Outrageously insufficient.

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dv727dv | Apr 04, 2010, 10:14 AM EDT

If your point is there are "teachers" and "administrators" that need to be charged, fired, and sued or otherwise driven into abject poverty, so be it. If it is somehow the vermin are less culpable, wrong.

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murphy66 | Apr 03, 2010, 06:03 PM EDT

Will she be buried in consecrated ground?

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IrishMark | Apr 02, 2010, 04:26 PM EDT

The WHOLE WORLD is watching you now america, suspend these teachers who thought something was going on and did nothing, fire the ones who knew!Prosecute the principal and school board who held a dance two days after she died and made outrageous claims that Phoebe would`ve killed herself anyway!!! Put these evil brats who hounded Phoebe to her death and beyond in a cell for a long time. Show us you really are tough on all terrorists!!!

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