Nine charged with irish teenagers death

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Will people cop on. Bullying goes on in every school and that will never change. We don't know if this girl would have killed herself anyway. Thousands of kids and adults go through bullying every day but we dont see thousands of bullying related suicide. I really dont see the kids in this school as murderers.

When our elected leaders do nothing to condemn or prevent threats of violence and hate speech, in effect, they implicitly condone the behavior. The hate speech revved up very soon after the election of America's first black president and it hasn't slowed. The lack of respect, the hate speech, and the vitriol is the equivalent of adult bullying.

15 year old Phoebe Prince was tormented for months by 9 other students at her high school in Massachusetts. The victim's mother repeatedly asked school officials to intervene but the school failed to protect the girl. She was harassed verbally and through social networking site, Facebook, and sent hate text messages.

The culture of bullying isn't limited to school children, it has become a national pastime. During the 2008 Presidential campaign, crowds attending Sarah Palin rallies shouted, "Kill him" over and over again referring to President Obama. Neither Palin or any other GOP leaders condemned the vile shouts of their followers.

Tea party activists carry signs depicting the American president as the devil, the anti-Christ, Hitler and worse. They carry guns to rallies and their paranoiac fear of the government has turned into hate and aggression.

The hate speech and vitriol isn't limited to the Tea Party sect. Texas congressman Randy Neugebauer shouted "baby killer" at anti-abortionist, Bart Stupak because he signed the health care reform bill after being assured that no federal funds would be used to pay for abortion.

Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann (MN), along with other GOP colleagues egged on Tea-party protestors outside the White House as they shouted racial slurs and other hate speech at Democratic colleagues entering the White House to vote on health care reform.

It's become part of the collective knowledge of the U.S. that the entire GOP electorate has made the decision to vote no to every single piece of legislation the Democratic led Congress and or President Obama proposes. But the GOP has gone further than simple obstruction, they have resorted to vitriolic fear-mongering. They created a fear in the nation's elderly by saying health care reform would create death camps for old people during town hall meetings last summer.

Hate speech has become the norm in today's political climate. Militias and hate groups have experienced explosive growth since the election of the first black U.S. president. The SPLC has documented an "astonishing 244% increase in the number of antigovernment Patriot groups in 2009." The people associated with the Patriot movement peaked in the 1990s with the Oklahoma City bombing and died down in the early 2000s. But they are back and they are angry. One Christian militia group in Michigan was arrested just yesterday when the FBI discovered the group planned to kill a group of policemen. The group wanted to kill the policemen for Jesus because in their ideology, policemen represent the government.

GOP Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has urged her constituents to stockpile weapons. Minority leader John Boehner declared that the health care reform bill would cause instant Armageddon (it didn't).

At town hall meetings around the country set up to discuss health care reform, anecdotes had a common theme. A majority of the audience would be bused in from out of state to "gin up" (to borrow a favorite Sarah Palin phrase) the GOP's relentless determination to obstruct not just health care reform but any and everything the Democrats in office proposed. The few local people attending town hall meetings were often represented by chronically and seriously sick individuals along with health care professionals. In town after town, the large crowd of bused in supporters shouted at people toting oxygen tanks with tales of losing jobs and health insurance to "sit down and shut up."

This adult bullying by tea party sects, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Michele Bachmann and other GOP officials, is protected by the First Amendment. The First Amendment gives every American the right to use hate speech. But if leaders of the GOP who have seemingly aligned themselves with the Tea party and whose own elected colleagues have participated in the violent rhetoric and oral bullying continue to ignore such antics, by their silence, they condone the behavior of people who attend their rallies as well as the colleagues who urge them on.

The behavior of the GOP since President Obama was elected has been obstructionist and petty at best. But GOP leaders have condoned shouts by their colleagues of, "You lie" as well as tea party sects who portray the president of the United States as the anti-Christ while media mongrels like Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck urge their followers to prepare for war on Democrats and the President of the U.S. By their silence, Republican leaders agree with the sentiments of the vitriolic among their numbers.

Is it any real surprise then, that children are emulating the current culture of bullying without recourse? Nine students bullied Massachusetts student Phoebe Prince, aged 15, for months through verbal insults, text messages and on the internet. Sound familiar? It should. The nine girls who relentlessly bullied Phoebe may simply be emulating the current political culture of hate and bullying. School officials were aware of the bullying and didn't intervene even though the girl's mother repeatedly asked school officials for help for her tormented daughter.

Fuhrer wrote: »

So,


Charged with murder in the first degree?

THE possibility of legal charges against staff in a US school where an Irish girl was bullied before she committed suicide has not been ruled out, prosecutors told the Irish Independent last night.
THE possibility of legal charges against staff in a US school where an Irish girl was bullied before she committed suicide has not been ruled out, prosecutors told the Irish Independent last night.
The disclosure came as a district attorney charged nine students -- including seven girls -- with offences including civil rights violations, statutory rape, stalking and inflicting bodily injury to Phoebe Prince.

Prosecutors claim some staff at the Massachusetts school attended by Phoebe (15), who grew up in Fanore, Co Clare, knew of the bullying -- which took place in person and on social networking sites -- but did nothing to stop the students involved.

Phoebe hanged herself in her family's apartment on January 14 after a final, horrific day of bullying and abuse waged by a gang of so-called 'mean girls', jealous over her brief dating of a school footballer.

They had labelled her an "Irish slut" and the high school footballer had himself turned on the teenager and joined in the campaign of abuse which encompassed threats and insults on the Facebook website and an allegation of rape.

The suicide, said prosecutor Elizabeth Scheibel, was the culmination "of this nearly three-month campaign of verbally assaultive behaviour and threats of physical harm.

"The investigation revealed relentless activity directed toward Phoebe, designed to humiliate her and to make it impossible for her to remain at school," she said. "The bullying, for her, became intolerable."

Insults and threats followed the pretty 15-year-old almost from her first day at South Hadley High School, targeting the Irish immigrant in the halls, library, in vicious mobile phone text messages and she was even pelted with drinks as she walked home from school.

Family

Phoebe was born in England and moved to Ireland when she was two with her parents, Anne O'Brien Prince and Jeremy Prince. The family, with sisters Lauren, Tessa and Bridget and brother Simon, moved to the US last year.

When asked if teaching staff could still face charges over the case, a spokesperson for Ms Scheibel told the Irish Independent last night: "We do not know what the future will hold. Nothing can be ruled out at this stage," she said.

In another twist to a case that has horrified America and ignited a debate on teenage bullying, the mother of a student charged in the case admitted her daughter had verbally clashed with Phoebe.

None of the nine teenagers face arrest, the spokesperson said. Instead they will be summonsed to court in the coming weeks for a trial date.

Management at South Hadley High School denied it knew of the abuse until Phoebe died but it has since emerged that her mother had discussed the bullying with at least two members of staff.

Last night an anti-bullying consultant, Barbara Coloroso, said she consulted with parents and administrators months before Phoebe's death but the school didn't follow the advice she gave it.

"Contrary to previously published reports, Phoebe's harassment was common knowledge to most of the student body," said Ms Scheibel.

Sean Mulveyhill (17) and Austin Renaud (18) are accused of statutory rape, while Mulveyhill also faces charges of violation of civil rights, harassment and disturbance of a school assembly.

Kayla Narey (17) was charged with violation of civil rights, criminal harassment and disturbance of a school assembly.

Ashley Longe (16) faces charges of violation of civil rights as a youthful offender.

Flannery Mullins (16) and Sharon Chanon Velazquez (16) were charged with violation of civil rights and stalking as a youthful offender. Three female juveniles, who were not named but are all from South Hadley, are also being charged.

Statutory rape charges can result in penalties of up to life in prison, while conviction on a violation of civil rights charge could result in a 10-year jail sentence.

Some of the bullying and abuse is alleged to have happened in front of teachers. The school's own website contains no reference to Phoebe's death and there is no online mem-orial for the Irish teenager.

Ashlee Dunn (16) told the 'New York Times' she had heard stories spread about Phoebe in the hallways. "She was new and she was from a different country and she didn't really know the school very well. I think that's probably one reason why they chose Phoebe."

Phoebe's family has since moved away from the area.

The mother of Sharon Chanon Velazquez claimed yesterday her daughter had never hit Phoebe.

Confrontations

"She exchanged a couple of words with her," said Angeles Chanon. She refused to say what her daughter said in the confrontations with Phoebe. "My daughter never fought with her or said, 'Go harm yourself', or 'I hate you'."

Ms Chanon said her daughter had informed her about the dispute. "Phoebe was calling her names. They're teenagers. They call names," she told the 'Boston Herald' newspaper.

"It's very unfortunate to know what happened to that girl. I can hardly imagine what that family is going through," the mother said.

Another student who is not facing charges, Sergio Loubriel (14), said he regretted never telling Phoebe he had a crush on her. "I wish I could have stopped it," he said.

Fighting Irish wrote: »

OK, i'm dead against bullying, i'm also dead against suicide, i'm also a huge fan of survival of the fittest