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Home Page > Blogs > News blogs > Periscope > Who killed Phoebe Prince? School ignored clear warning signs

Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Who killed Phoebe Prince? School ignored clear warning signs

Posted on Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 11:41 PM

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LoveandLight | Oct 21, 2010, 02:54 AM EDT

There has yet again, been a beautiful coverup by the pharmaceutical industry. The CDC has been reporting an increase in teen suicide for years, granted there is little recent information because we all know the media is controlled. But what a perfect scapegoat for the pharmaceutical companies, who even have to disclose in their commercials, that their "medications" increase thoughts of suicide in teens and young adults. Bullying has always been and always will be, the only differnce is the psychotropic drugs which lead teens and young adult to already be predisposed to suicide. The national call to arms against bullying is the perfect scape goat to take the attention away from a billion dollar industry that openly admits to causing individuals who would not otherwise think of it, to commit suicide. We listen to our news channels, and fight against an invisible enemy, but it is always the wrong one.

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Rockkie | Aug 13, 2010, 09:48 AM EDT

Sadly, with all the FDA/government corruption the mental health system is the new Hotel California of the 21st century. You get in but you don't get out. Just like Phoebe. Very bizarre news the other day, the FDA has approved Ecstasy to treat soldiers with PSTD. I guess they want to cash in on them, too, after they have served their country. Very sad.

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Rockkie | Aug 13, 2010, 09:43 AM EDT

I believe we (as this article) are saying that the hadley six are the ONLY people taking a rap for this. The staff is NOT. And that does not seem quite right. As for my "obsession" with Prozac?!?!? I have nothing to gain by being obsessed with Prozac, I don't take it or know people who do, I don't sell it, I didn't invent it. I am just going by what I read about it and other SSRI's in conjuction with bizarre behaviors, murders and suicides.

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Chemteach | Aug 09, 2010, 01:45 PM EDT

Rockkie, What do you mean by "completely absurd". Do you mean that it is not congruent with the facts uncovered? Do you mean that is has no basis in either logic or law? Or is it merely the emotional expression of your distaste for particular lines of argumentation which are not centered on your obcession with Prozac? Asserting that other school personnel are just as inert and inept is not exculpatory in either logic or law. This tragedy happended on their watch and it is their nonfeasance and misfeasance that is in question. The others would be just as culpable had it happened at their school.It's kind of a wakeup call to school personnel to start doing the jobs which they supposedly have the knowledge and experience to do. A "there, but for the grace of God, go I" moment so to speak.

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Chemteach | Aug 09, 2010, 12:57 PM EDT

We do not know the variable or variables which caused Phoebe Prince to commit suicide as that would require knowledge of her actual state of mind at the time of the act. The venture into pharmacopia by some posters is a deflection from the question posed in this article. Did personnel at the school have access to Phoebe's mental health problems (the evidence uncovered so far seems to be yes). Was Phoebe properly identified as an "at risk individual"? (no,by their own testimony) Did those persons act in a reasonable and prudent manner; given their education, expertise, and experience; to effective address the behavior and concerns of Phoebe relative to her harassment at the school? (the answer seems to be a resounding no from the evidence). If the answer to question 1 is true and to the others, false, then the school personnel are guilty of nonfeasance and misfeasance in tort regardless of what was in Phoebe's medicine cabinet. Actually, Bazelon's expose makes the school personnel seem more culpable and that is probably by design as she desires to deflect culpability away from the South Hadley Six. The pharmaceutical information provided in some posts is interesting, but not probative. It would be considered irrelevant testimony in the criminalk trials of the accused as they are not charged with either murder or manslaughter. Nor would it be relevant in civil lawsuits against the school system personnel as "depraved indifference" and negligence would be the basis in tort.

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mkjudge | Aug 05, 2010, 07:26 AM EDT

I'm a Special Ed. Teacher and you would think that both the nurse and couselor would have duct taped Phoebe to themselves until her aunt or mother came to pick her up. Their apathy is scary and wouldn't fly at the school I work in. That poor kid came in asking for help and they blew her off. That must be hard to sleep with at night...

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PRINCESSLAW | Jul 27, 2010, 08:19 AM EDT

The fact is even if you don't hold the bullies responsible that doesn't make the bullying acceptable behavior. Nor does it give a ticket for ignorance by the school officials. Bullying always starts off chain of events. No matter what Phoebe mental state was those bullies are responsible for their actions, and so they should be held accountable. What are we saying even bringing that up her history that you can bully normal people. These bullies are screaming we didn't know. If we knew we wouldn't of. The only true remorse bullies have is getting caught. I was reading in an article dont you think the bullies have had enough punishment? My answer is not nearly enough.. Whatever Phoebe's history these bullies actions led to her death. These bullies held hands with her to her death and haunted they will be.

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Rockkie | Jul 26, 2010, 08:48 AM EDT

@MaryM232, I only it were that easy to hold the parents accountable. The problem with the current state of healthcare (and it's going to get a lot worse with the current legislation) is that you cannot have the expectation that the doctor/counselors are going to have even the first clue about what to do in any situation. I'm sure the mother was doing everything she was told by the doctors. That's probably the whole problem. I.E.) Recently I cut myself on something on my deck and didn't notice it for awhile. Then my whole arm stared turning red from this little tiny cut. I immediately went to the urgent care and got a tetanus shot b/c it's probably been decades since I had one. My expectations were that the doctor would be completely able to fix this situation and I would be fine. That's exactly what happened. This is not so with mental health. In mental health, a treatment seems to always be started BEFORE an actual solid diagnosis is made. Basically, it's the old adage of throwing sh** up against the wall and see what sticks. There is too much profit at stake for the pharma companies to ever admit anything about how bad these psych meds are. I have at least 6 personal stories I can think of just at the monent of people I know whose lives have either almost been ruined or are dead from these drugs.

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AmAncINED | Jul 25, 2010, 01:53 PM EDT

Rockkie, I agree with your position but it doesn't give the school administrators or the bullies a pass. The school personnel is responsible for the welfare of all its students during school hours. The bullies didn't have the right to infringe on Phoebe's right to get an education, free of personal threats and intimidation, regardless of what her mother did or didn't do and whether she was taking Prozac or not. The school's responsiblity was to put a stop to the bullying and to protect Phoebe from torment while she was at school. They didn't do that. That's why school districts have been sued by the parents of victims of bullies. Her family has every right to sue the drug makers, but the school and the bullies should still be held accountable for their actions that led to her suicide. All schools should have a Zero tolerance for bullying.

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MaryM232 | Jul 25, 2010, 11:35 AM EDT

No accountability for Phoebe's mother who knew of her daughter's psychiatric condition and history? Was she putting the effort in, had she informed the school of her daughter's past self mutilation and being hospitalized, and medicated for this condition? Had she sought continued medical attention for her daughter since emigrating to the US, to ensure she continued to get the help she required? Or is this an attempt to curry support for a lawsuit? You can't leap over the mother's responsibility, and point the finger of blame elsewhere all the time. Have to ask this as well, I haven't seen any mention of the bullies in depth in the Irish community. Having friends who lived in South Hadley, I know for a fact that the ring leader, is the daughter of illegal aliens, Sharon Velazquez, her mother Angeles Chanon is making excuses for her daughter, and trying to blame Phoebe for the bullying. Perhaps Mr. O'Dowd can't be bothered to connect the dots, but when you condone illegal aliens as having a right to violate the law, they keep doing so, and don't respect the rights of others. Ms. Velasquez is the one who initiated the bullying against Phoebe, because she was angry about a boy asking Phoebe to a dance, instead of her. She's the one who called Phoebe an "Irish b*tch" and started encouraging others to harass her. The school definitely didn't uphold it's obligations to deal with the bullying that is a fact, but they aren't the one's responsible for Phoebe's long history of mental problems, or responsible for insuring the girl was getting needed medical help, that was her mother's responsibility.

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JoseWales | Jul 25, 2010, 10:13 AM EDT

Maybe I should jump on the bandwagon along with the folks that want to persecute the alleged bullies, the school administrators and nurses, everybody else except the person who actually committed the act... "Burn the witches! Hang them!" Ah... mob action is so cathartic... almost releases as many endorphins as self-mutilation.

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Rockkie | Jul 24, 2010, 08:38 PM EDT

Phoebe's family has retained an attorney and I would look for a suit against the prescribing physician and possibly the pharmaceutical companies once a full observation of the situation is done by their attorney. Not the school or the bullies.

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Rockkie | Jul 24, 2010, 08:33 PM EDT

@AmAncINED, That comment was directed toward McNabb1966. You never stated that my statements were idiocy. They did. As for "NO PROOF in Phoebe's case that Prozac caused her suicide" There is no requirement to prove each individual case once the effects of a certain drug are known and accepted. That would be like expecting the prosecution in each drunk driving fatality to go back and research and PROVE that alcohol impairs driving ability and led to the death. The correlating statistics for the fact that these drugs cause suicide, homicide, criminal behavior and life-long mental illness are overwhelming and only covered up because of financial interests. Last month in Florida, the senate held an investigation into the foster care system after Gabriel Myers, a 7 year old on anti-depressants hung himself. They found that 55% of kids in foster care were on psych meds, even without the proper authorization. 33% of inmates in Florida prisons were previous foster kids. The same situation exists in TX thanks to the TMAP (Texas Medication Algorithim Project) legislation, a plan hatched between government and pharmaceutical industries to be used on those receiving public assistance with first line treatment for anything always being drugs. These huge statistical correlations greatly surpass even the 10% correlation between smoking and lung cancer, but yet we're sure smoking causes lung cancer, but not that these drugs cause problems. Something is very amiss here.

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AGuedes | Jul 24, 2010, 07:49 PM EDT

If Phoebe had a story of cutting herself, why did she choose to hang herself ? How can we be certain she didn't simply experienced the fainting game ?

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AmAncINED | Jul 24, 2010, 01:16 PM EDT

Rockkie, I never said you were an idiot. I just said there was NO PROOF in Phoebe's case that Prozac caused her suicide. I agree that Prozac is a powerful drug that can affect certain people in a negative way and I agree that it's a possibility that it may have contributed to her death. We'll probably never know. I'd say that it's likely there were a combination of factors that contributed to her suicide. We CAN PROVE that the bullies caused an already troubled girl enormous pain. The school administrators did nothing to stop the bullies and it was their responsiblity to do so. Prozac or not, that doesn't give the people involved a pass for their despicable actions. They all should be held accountable for their part in Phoebe's suicide.

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