Nothing Says "Welcome to America!" Like A Good Bullied Suicide

Yesterday, the Boston Metro's headline, "Will Justice Be Served?",  covered a headshot of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince. Phoebe moved with her family to Massachusetts last August from Ireland to be closer to relatives. Over the past five months of attending her new school, South Hadley, Phoebe had been harassed, threatened, and tortured by fellow students, all of this apparently following her dating a guy on the football team. Typical. High School drama gone too far. In January, 2010, Phoebe's little sister found Phoebe in a closet. She had hung herself. Now, charges of violation of civil rights are being brought on the teens that caused all of this bullshit, resulting in expulsion and perhaps jail time. Good. But this isn't all the justice that needs to be served. The faculty of South Hadley had been aware of the bullying against Phoebe and there were many complaints to the administration from Phoebe's mom. Clearly, there was some failure on the part of the teachers and present authority. Associated Press reports that the school administration will be carefully watched because of their lackadaisical efforts of prevention, while teenagers, minors... children... take all the blame. Let's be a little more aware of our responsibility. This story is honestly resulting in jail time for kids and a slap on the wrist for adults.