(CNN) -- Nine Massachusetts teenagers have been charged with involvement in a monthslong campaign of bullying that led to the January suicide of a 15-year-old girl, a prosecutor said.

Phoebe Prince's body was found hanging in the stairway leading to her family's second-floor apartment in South Hadley, Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth D. Scheibel told reporters Monday in the western Massachusetts town of Northampton.

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You know, you don't really hear about suicides from bullying in previous generations. The next logical step, in my honest opinion, is to believe that this was a mixture of this generation of teenage girls being more vindictive and cunty than ever along with the teenage girls' ability to make the smallest, slightest situation seem like the end of the world. I believe this because only a mixture of both of these dangerous mind-sets could result in a suicide.

What say you, Bloop?

Also, this is golden. The education system well at work, protecting the safety of their students, am I right or am I right?

Earlier that day, Phoebe had been harassed as she studied in the library at South Hadley High School, apparently in the presence of a faculty member and several students, none of whom reported it until after the girl's death, Scheibel said.

I'm not sure you can blame this one the education system, though the lack of response to a child being bullied by THESE PARTICULAR faculty members is terribly negligible. There should definitely be some kind of investigation in this matter, at this particular school, with those particular adults and students.

*on not one

Dang. Suicide wasn't the only way to go. She could have pushed back.

Well, obviously. The point is that she clearly couldn't see a way to push back. To her, her life had become so painful that it wasn't worth living. Not that I'm agreeing it's the right way to deal with the problem (of course it isn't)... but the pain was real to her and I think the real question is what could have done to prevent things getting to the point where she saw suicide as her only way out.

true...her parents, friends, or teachers could have helped. But none the less, it's a sad situation.

@ Anon Source:


"Also, this is golden. The education system well at work, protecting the safety of their students, am I right or am I right?

Earlier that day, Phoebe had been harassed as she studied in the library at South Hadley High School, apparently in the presence of a faculty member and several students, none of whom reported it until after the girl's death, Scheibel said."

I work for the school board and I know that schools have a zero tolerance for bullying. You absolutely cannot blame it on the school system. I can understand why the other students didn't report it, but that faculty member should have stopped it then and there and called security. We have a responsibility to keep our students safe. To sit there and watch and not say one word about it was negligence on their part and they should be reprimanded for not following proper procedures.

I know you work for the school board. I've known you all four years I attended Stranahan, and there was no "zero tolerance" policy there either. That term gets thrown around and used to let administrators suspend students they don't like. I've seen this happen first-hand, administrators picking and choosing whom to apply this policy on. I've seen people thrown out of school for smoking cigarettes across the street, off-campus before the bell rang for school, but people getting a single day of CAP for fighting.

Actually, those kids could have been fined. There is a law you can't smoke within 100 feet of a school (weirdest law in the freaking world). But that is neither here nor there. That term is school board policy regardless if a school uses it properly or loosely, like Stranahan. Piper uses it very loosely as well these days. Not like when I was a student there. They did not tolerate anything back then and there were less fights. Okay there was one year we had riots during lunch for an entire month but after that it was pretty much a tight ship. The real problem is, Chris, they are giving any idiot with a degree the Principal position these days. The principal at Lauderhill Middle, where I used to work, is certifiable. She once approached me to let me know that from now on the doors will be locked until 5 pm, when our classes start, because some kids ran inside after school the day before and knocked over some chairs. She said she was "concerned we would get taken hostage". Piper's principal is barely ever on campus and when she is she creates a hostile environment for the employees, which make them less inclined to follow her guidelines. It's a freaking mess out there. And it sure isn't helping the anti-bullying campaign.

So in closing, I should have said I know that schools are SUPPOSED to have a zero tolerance for bullying.

I'm sure the students were at least 100 away from the school's fences. Those students made sure they were as far away from sight as possible, until administrators would pull up in their cars and tell these kids they were suspended before the bell even rang for school. It was absolutely nuts. There were even kids who were suspended who were 18 at the time -- perfectly legal to be smoking on their off time.

And yes, I think we've come to an agreement. Ms. Owens (Stranahan principal) is an old, incompetent bitch. Students and teachers alike hate this lady. The administrators that she didn't have transfered or fired also hate her, but they're expecting some random, arbitrary termination/transfer any day now.

I know our law is that you can't smoke on school property. So no one ever got in trouble for smoking across the street. But police would ticket kids who threw their butts down on the ground for littering.

I am going to have to agree with the not being able to handle something, and feeling like it's the end of the world.

I was bullied all through school, for everything down to how much i blinked my eye lids, and really, it sucks, but you just push on and grow up, and they grow up and things work out.

Yeah, like I said...too many pansy kids. I was shocked that when I went to BCT at Fort Knox last year...when we got to the hand to hand part...of 58 guys in my group...almost 35 of them had NEVER been in a fight or had any kind of experience with that. You should have seen the look on their faces the first time they got hit in the face. A few of them actually cried. Which meant we just ridiculed them even harder.

A few of them actually cried. Which meant we just ridiculed them even harder.

Some bullies never grow up apparently. :P Is this the example you set your kids... that it's OK to ridicule someone for crying?

First off, I am NOT a bully. Secondly...It's COMBAT Training in the United States Military. You're training to go to war. The LAST thing I, or anyone else, for that matter, wanted was some guy that couldn't even handle a punch to the face backing us up in a life of death situation.

And let me clarify something here. It's perfectly FINE to go your whole life and never have a physical confrontation. But do NOT join the MILITARY and then expect to be molly coddled like some pansy.

If you want to vilify me, feel free. I don't care.

I understand that you need to be able to handle physical behavior if you are in the army. I am not questioning that. What I am questioning is the RIDICULING of those who don't handle it well. Perhaps it means they're in the wrong career, and need to review that decision, perhaps it means they need to toughen up. And it probably means someone needs to talk to them about the matter. But to RIDICULE them for demonstarting human emotion. That is cruel and childish. I expect better of grown ups.

CJ, I've never been in a fight. Ever. I don't see the point. Why is that so bad? Does that mean -I- (you know, a friend of yours) deserve to be ridiculed?

I was picked on so much while in school and no one did a damn thing about it. It made me stronger, made me be able to deal with life, but I had no friends. Even then, I turned the other cheek and decided I wasn't going to start a fight 1) because I knew I wouldn't win since I didn't know how and 2) because nothing is solved that way.

I don't want my kids to think that it is okay to join in on 'the fun' and fight with someone. What does it prove? It makes you as low and as childish as the bully.

And CJ, you know I was military. My point being... if you've never been punched dead in the face, you are going to tear up. It is going to happen. You'll get over it, but it doesn't mean you're weak. It just means it hurts.

I'm glad to hear this being said by someone who HAS military experience. I don't see why it should be OK to behave like an animal just because you're in the military.

But Kiki this is not true to all situations; you have to take in account the child's upbringing, emotional state, and home life. How insensitive to tell a child that "there situation is not a big deal," when really to them after a life long struggle with being tortured it CAN have an affect on some teenagers.

I highly recommend the book, "Nineteen Minutes" for those who are not well educated on school bullies.

I absolutely agree and was about to say the same thing. Some kids cope with bullying better than others. I do think bullied kids ultimately end up stronger, but I do not think this is an excuse for just ignoring the problem or assuming that the kid is weak if they CAN'T handle it. Their coping ability depends on a number of factors (other friends, family, teachers, their own self confidence), and bullying should NEVER be ignored.

Agreed and well said!

Agree w/ Red and QueenButterfly here.

I think it's a mixture of the things you said, and, thirdly, that there is simply more reporting - we are more open about suicide now than they were in the previous generation, and there is much more freedom of information.

Kids are definitely softer these days. Kids tend to be more spoilt, and parents don't want to be too harsh on their children (like how they were raised) so they molly-coddle them instead, giving them a somewhat false sense of entitlement. The chewy centre middle bit is what we should be aiming for.

Also, nowadays it's probably 'easier' to bully. What with mobile phones and texting, and social networking sites, it can feel like there is bullying everywhere the victim turns, and even when the victim gets home from school, and jumps on the computer, or checks their phone, the bullying continues.

The main problem in cases like these, I think, is a severe lack of communication - between teachers and bulliers, teachers and victim, teachers and other teachers, teachers and the principal, teachers and the police, parents and victim.

I believe it starts and end with the parents. It is their job to instill that sense of pride in their child. If they do that job, it will NEVER be in question. I was bullied, my kids have been bullied...it's a teenage ritual almost. It's like hazing in College.

If you think it's bad in high school, then join the military...or a fraternity...or even an major corporation. It's just life. Either deal with it or get off the ride.