What Really Happened to Phoebe Prince?

(NOTE:  This is an excellent piece by Emily Bazelon of Slate.  The fact that Phoebe Prince apparently had serious emotional issues is not a surprise.  That’s common with suicides.  Most of us familiar with the facts of the Megan Meier case know that Megan also had serious issues.  In both cases, the use of the criminal justice system is questionable.  However, neither case excuses bullying behavior by peers or the failure of school authorities to properly address it.  I’m not commenting on the role of the school authorities in the Prince case, given the ongoing investigation and discovery.  But these cases remind us that some students are more vulnerable to bullying and cyberbullying than others.  Their vulnerability does not excuse the bullying behavior. Quite the contrary.  It raises the responsibility bar for students and school officials alike.  -Mike)

One week last October, Bill Evans, the assistant principal of South Hadley High School in Massachusetts, chose two students to read public service announcements over the loudspeaker as part of the school’s participation in National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week. In selecting kids to read the PSAs, Evans thought about who would be a spokesperson that other kids would believe was speaking sincerely. He chose Sean Mulveyhill, a senior and star of the football team. “He was a natural selection—the kind of kid who would seek out someone having difficulty just to help him,” Evans says.

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