If there was no physical assault, there is no reason to drag these other kids through a criminal trial. Let the school handle bullying until it becomes an assault. That's NOT defending criminal activity, no matter how you might like it to be. That's defending young, dumb kids from suffering a permanent record based on a teenage mistake.
The FACT is...we don;t know what these 9 kids actually DID to deserve these criminal charges. period. We don;t know what they did, we don;'t know what this poor girl was suffering through besides bullying...we don;t know ANYTHING!!
I've said it in almost every post I;'ve made. BULLYING SHOULD BE PUNISHED!!! But bullying is not always a crime, and it doesn't always need to end up in criminal prosecution. Period.
There is simply not NEAR enough information in the articles to determine if these other kids are actually guilty of any crime, and here you and others sit screaming for their blood. I find that ridiculous.
But...we ARE arguing semantics. You say all bullying is abuse. I say it it is not.
Well...when your responses clearly show that you either did not read what was written or you did not comprehend what was written, it is more of an observation of fact than an insult,. But again...if you are so sensitive that me telling you to actually read what I wrote is considered "offensive and insulting", than I completely understand why you think all bullying is criminal. You're...too...sensitive.
Now I'm harassing you by replying to your posts that are specifically directed to me? You really do have a warped sense of harrassment and the legal use of the term "abuse".
You're absolutely right, it is not up to me. And it is not up to me to walk on eggshells in an effort to protect your sensibilities, either.
Than...it shouldn't offend you that I called you "too sensitive". If you think it is such a wonderful thing to wear your heart on your sleeve, and expose yourself to heartache because someone eslse is less sensitive, that's your choice. But don't expect me to walk around trying to protect you from your own sensitivities. That's not my job.
It's not what I think...it's what it is. I think it's great that you get to live in a place where everything is always roses and everyone is always "super sweet". That's wonderful. But that's not "the real world". The real world is a harsh, mean, and dangerous place...with or without bullies.
At what point is being mean different than being a bully?
It is true we will never know exactly what there kids did to her, but here is some of the things they did
Since last fall
Prince suffered months of nearly constant stalking and harassment, the Associated Press reports.
The boston globe reports that
"They followed Phoebe around, calling her a slut. When they wanted to be more specific, they called her an Irish slut. The name-calling, the stalking, the intimidation was relentless."
" Phoebe was walking home from school when one of the Mean Girls drove by in a car. An insult and an energy drink can came flying out the car window in Phoebe’s direction."
"Instead, they went on Facebook and mocked her in death."
"From information known to investigators thus far, it appears that Phoebe's death on January 14th followed a tortuous day for her, in which she was subjected to verbal harassment and threatened physical abuse,'' Scheibel said.
Fox news
"The investigation revealed relentless activities directed toward Phoebe to make it impossible for her to stay at school. The bullying for her was intolerable," Scheibel said. (scheibel is the district attorney)
If you don't think they were harassing her then I guess that is your call to make, but I think that is harassment and harassment is criminal. No assault has to take place in order for a crime to have taken place. I agree it would have been GREAT is last fall when this started the school had stepped in and the parents had stepped in and they had together put a stop to this before it became a crime, but they didn't, and things escalated and these kids did harass her and that is against the law.
Bullying is Abuse and abuse and harassment are crimes. Just because you said it isn't a crime that doesn't make it so. I have already provided supporting evidence that says bullying is abuse. I say the sky is purple but that does not make it so.
Really screaming for their blood? Just because I do think that people who behave in a criminal manner should face criminal charges? It is up to a jury to decide if they are guilty or not and I am totally aware of innocent until proven guilty. I am not claiming they are guilty. But it is not outrageous for me to say that if they did break the law like they are charged with doing, then they do deserve to have criminal charges brought against them. That is not screaming for their blood.
You may be arguing semantics, but I am not. I said bullying was abuse and I provided a source, you said it is not and you backed that statement up with nothing. I have read the definition of bullying and the American Psychological associations writing about it and the Wikipedia page on it, and I have gone through a lot of bullying related training in my teaching classes, I have a clear understanding of the difference between a one time insult and a persistent targeted attack on another person. You are welcome to try to find someone to argue semantics with you but I decline to do so.
I did not say you were harassing me, in fact to quote you "If you had read what I wrote..." you would see that what I said was "Questioning a persons ability to read, because you are in a debate with them is mean and it is a insulting,. No I do not think that makes you a criminal, while I did bring it to your attention because I do think it is wrong, I have never asked you to stop it and in terms of how you treat me this is a very isolated occurrence. Now if you were to continue to harass me and insult me day in and day out, then that might be a different story" - SO unless you plan to insult me every day I imagine you are in the clear. SO to be clear I did not say you were harassing me, I said you were rude.
As for me being sensitive, you are way wrong if you think being sensitive means that people have to walk on eggshells around me, you are way wrong if you think it means I wear my heart on my sleeve and am easily offended. You are also completely wrong if you think being sensitive is a choice. Being sensitive has NEVER caused me heartache. I do not expect people to accommodate me and walk on eggshells as to not offend me. But I do expect people to behave politely not because I am sensitive but becasue all people deserve to be treated with respect. And good manners and politeness should be important to everyone even people who are not sensitive!
I live in the same real world that you do. I have bills to pay and places to go and things to do, all of that. The difference is not that I am somehow sheltered or that somehow my life is easier or less difficult, the reason that my "world" is lovely is because part of the way I live my life is to always be on the look out for the loveliness and to not dwell on the less lovely. Another reason that my life is always so rosy is because I work REAL hard to make sure it is. You reap what you sow, and I work hard to make sure I sow positive energy, polite behavior, and kindness. And in return that is how people treat me. Sure a man could walk in my wide open front door right now and hurt me but that doesn't mean that life is not lovely just because there is some danger in the world or just because bad things happen sometimes (well actually my family is armed so only if he was lucky could he make it over the threshold of my door, but that is a different story). In my lifetime I have been abused, I have an alcoholic father, and mentally unwell mother, I have been robbed and beaten by a stranger (now I carry pepper spray and once I finish my class I will be a proud new CC permit holder) and I have lost two homes due to natural disasters. This in addition to all the normal life stuff like how last year my husband lost his job. So don't you dare tell me that I don't what it's like to live in the real world. I think that having gone through these things still being able to feel like life is lovely is not a sign of weakness on my part but a sign of strength.
Mean - hateful: characterized by malice; "a hateful thing to do"; "in a mean mood"
Bullying - Deliberate action or behaviour directed towards another person which may take many forms and can often occur over a long period of time. Bullying is the use of any action that has the intent of causing pain and distress to the victim and can be either emotional, physical, racist, sexual, homophobic or verbal.
Abuse - mistreat: treat badly or maltreatment: cruel or inhumane treatment
harassment - the act of tormenting by continued persistent attacks and criticism
All the above definitions are taken from google
You're right. Depression and mental anguish IS a result of being bullied. Suicide is not a direct result of being bullied. If it were, we wouldn't have the population troubles we are experiencing globally, because half the kids that go to school would commit suicide before graduation.
Happy, healthy, well-adjusted children with a solid support system do not take their own life because they are being bullied. They get angry, depressed, sad, cry, and throw tantrums. And the people around them recognize these signs of trouble, and do everything they can to help that child deal with their issues.
Sure, there are people that are so unbalanced that the simple act of bullying, without criminal activity, can lead them to suicide. Heck, some people are so sensitive that they have taken their own life over the loss of a boy/girlfriend. But this is not "normal".
There are usually underlying causes, besides the "reason given", that accumulate and build up within an individual, until they feel they can't take anymore. It is rarely a single act or situation that causes a normal teen to take their own life. It might happen, but it is NOT the normal thing...
http://www.apa.org/about/gr/issues/cyf/bullying-briefing.aspx
Well since you apparently know more than the American Psychological Association maybe you can share with us where you got your information that in "normal" kids bullying doesn't cause suicide ever?
And while we are at it what exactly is a 'Normal" kid? I have meet a lot of kids in my life and not a single one has ever been "normal"
