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Home Page > Blogs > News blogs > Periscope > Phoebe Prince's mother, Anne O'Brien, breaks her silence- Emotional appearance on CNN's Piers Morgan -VIDEO

Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Phoebe Prince's mother, Anne O'Brien, breaks her silence- Emotional appearance on CNN's Piers Morgan -VIDEO

Posted on Wednesday, November 30, 2011 at 10:07 PM

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Phoebe Prince

It was heartbreaking to watch Anne O'Brien, Phoebe Prince's mother give her first TV interview on the CNN show Piers Morgan Tonight.

Dressed in black, she was clearly still deeply grieving for her 15-year-old daughter who was badly bullied and committed suicide in January 2010 after moving to Massachusetts from Ireland and attending school at South Hadley High.

At several points in the interview there were tears in her eyes and a hesitancy in her answers.

She retained a dignified presence but clearly the death of her daughter has changed her life forever.

As she has said about Phoebe “It is impossible to measure the impact of Phoebe’s death upon our lives, “There will be no more reading to Phoebe, no more hearing her lovely soprano voice.

“How do you measure a future that should have been rightfully hers? Phoebe was a beautiful, intelligent, gregarious daughter, with a kind heart, able to show compassion for others.

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She was also painfully honest.

Asked by Piers Morgan if she hoped that Phoebe's death changed anything she said;

"Ideally I'd like it to be that children treat each other in a more civilized fashion but I'm not too hopeful about that."

"I think to say oh yes, everything is going to be different to each other because of Phoebe is naive.

Last May, five former South Hadley High School students – Ashley Longe, Flannery Mullins Sean Mulveyhill, Kyla Narey and Sharon Velazquez – were found guilty of misdemeanor counts in the Prince bullying case.

"It's - that level of aggression towards another human being is just beyond my understanding," she said.

"It was almost planned.

"It is astounding that there never was a stop mechanism..an internal stop mechanism for some of tese kids to say this is going too far.But I also think the culture in the school helped enable that."

However, she said that the new bullying legislation, known as Phoebe's law, which mandates that schools treat the issue far more seriously, will be her daughter's legacy.

She paid a moving tribute to former DA Elizabeth Scheibel who pursued the bullying charges and forced a trial for her role in that and the new Phoebe law.

But she had contempt for school authorities who allowed the bullying to continue.

School Superintendent Gus Sayer was especially responsible.

"It was very painful because you realize as a parent no matter what I did, no matter how many times I called the school, no matter how many people I might have spoken to there, that she didn't stand a chance there."

“The school personnel will never be held accountable,’’ she previously told the Boston Globe . “It’s unfair.’’

She also drew differences between the defendants and their reaction to Phoebe's death.

"All we ever wanted,’’ O’Brien has said is “For these kids to take ownership of what they did, and to show genuine remorse."

Some clearly did, some did not.

They can get on with their lives, but it is clear Anne O'Brien is stuck in a lonely devastating place.

By telling her story last night however, she once again helped children everywhere who are being bullied by coming forward and focusing on an issue that needs to be addressed.

She deserves great credit for her courage.

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READ MORE:
More news articles on Phoebe Prince from IrishCentral

Up to 350 Irish priests were likely accused child abusers

Top Irish carols and hymns to get you in the Christmas spirit - VIDEOS
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McNamara31 | Dec 04, 2011, 05:38 PM EST

RedBranch ..Well said and true. American kids have great difficulty with the "mean girl" aspect of a growing facebook society. Sending this young women from Clare into this environment and her getting no help whatsoever from the school in her behalf is simply tragic.

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IrelandNorth | Dec 02, 2011, 07:28 AM EST

I can't begin to imagine the existential anguish she and her parents must have gone through. Sadly, it's a sign of the times we live in where adolescents have become almost autistic due to exposure to insensitive virtual reality softwear.

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Parents | Dec 02, 2011, 01:49 AM EST

Very sad interview, their loss is just horrible and she is obviously still very emotional but yes good for her bringing it back to the forefront. It is still happening everyday and the schools still say nothing to do with them. I can only imagine their disgust hearing the superintendent saying they knew nothing about it till Jan. She is absolutely right, no matter what she did the girl didn't have a chance. It all happens at school and they allow it and in some cases even encourage it. The staff, the adults from top to bottom set the tone. As we noticed not one was implicated with anything and none lost their jobs, not even for all the lies they told so it goes on and on.

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Searlit | Dec 01, 2011, 04:12 PM EST

I feel so angry again, when I read about what happened to Phoebe Prince. Then I feel a flood of compassion for her Mother.

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merefalow | Dec 01, 2011, 03:29 PM EST

that girl was so lovely,oh the hurt and pain of her mother,was it jealousy,i dont know ,probably,girls can be so jealous and fat beefburgher chompers would have hated a girl like her,what can you expect from a society that has to have metal detectors on the gates,teachers long ago lost authority over young people and the ability to install honour, discipline self respect and all the other disiplines that should turn out a decent well adjusted human being..we reap the whirlwind of stupid blind progressive?human rights gone mad,,the death of COMMON SENSE AND RIGHTOUS DISIPLINE.the teachers let her down,but they have let a generation down and produced, a boorish indisciplined generation,we need to go back to basics and maybe then the useless inafectual teachers who never saw this coming and couldnt have stopped it anyway,might have had the power to take charge and sort those bullying b....... out..her mother will never get over the pain of losing such a treasure,,

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RedBranch | Dec 01, 2011, 12:58 PM EST

Niall O'Dowd, I challenge you to go to Pheobe Prince's Irish home, Fanore Co.Clare. Hardly a village by anyone's standards. Head across the road to the rocky shore where it gets dark around 4pm this time of year, Behind you the blackness of the Burren, in front the vastness of the Atlantic and nothing else. I cannot imagine a place less able to prepare anyone for the rigours of freshman year at high school in the United States. Doubtless those played their part, but in the words of Christy Moore 'It's a long, long way from Clare to here'.

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simplesandy | Dec 01, 2011, 12:41 PM EST

I was always taught..DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD WANT THEM TO DO UNTO YOU. we need more of this.

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simplesandy | Dec 01, 2011, 12:40 PM EST

This is so sad. I don't think people who hurt others know the pain they are going to feel later in life or maybe even after death. I believe we WILL feel the pain we have inflicted on others. My heart goes out to those out there that are going through the same situations. Look at some of these posts and comments on other topics where you can't even voice your opinion with out someone calling you names and putting you down because how you believe is not their way of believing. I wonder how many of them have died and know what it is like after death? No one knows. So when someone voices their opinion that’s all it is. Someone’s beliefs. And NO ONE, AND I MEAN NO ONE will know till they die what the truth is. As for bullying there are no morals being taught in the homes anymore. I feel lets get rid of the teachers and let the home teach the kids. They are more concerned about peers and their tech gadgets anyhow.

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christilcaugh | Dec 01, 2011, 10:26 AM EST

We as a culture in the U.S. have lost the capability to care for those we work with, or go to school. It is so much easier to judge and bully these days. (Though that has actually been the norm for more years than we care to count.)

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cillowen | Dec 01, 2011, 10:05 AM EST

sick is with us and unending - wonder if saudi arabians have reached such a level of it.

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