The bullying story is heart-wrenching and tragic. The blame part is where things get messy. While I certainly believe in personal responsibility and that the kids who tormented the girl were horrible, what absolutely no one is considering is the environment. The only other place where you see this kind of behavior take place is in prison and that is because in both situations you have a captive population who are powerless and bullied by warden/principal and correction officers/administrators-teachers (and to a large degree parents as well). The power dynamics that unfolds among the student population is due to their powerless nature and their need to create some kind of environment where they can have power. While I have no love for bullies, the school created the monsters it now seeks to punish and thereby deny culpability. While people are also upset with people at the school for turning a blind eye, they miss the point since schools create this situation in the first place.
A 'watershed' case in school bullying?By Rick Hampson, USA TODAY
SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. — At first, it seemed like a morality play: school officials stand by as an innocent high school freshman, new in town, is harassed into suicide by a pack of older teens.
A week after criminal charges were filed, the case of Phoebe Prince seems more cloudy and complicated, much like the insidious national problem that may have helped kill her: school bullying.
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