The Crow's Nest

Teenager Phoebe Prince, who committed suicide as a result of cyberbullying.


A top story making headlines and enraging people across the nation involves the tragic and heart-wrenching death of Phoebe Prince. Sadly, on January 14th, Phoebe’s twelve year-old sister found her dead body hanging from a stairwell in their home in Massachusetts. Fifteen year-old Phoebe Prince’s suicide was the direct result of the despicable and merciless act of cyberbullying, for which her name has become synonymous. These cyber attacks, stemming from envy and hatred, need to be prevented and stopped all together. However, what hope exists when we live in a world with such unimaginable cruelty; when vicious human beings thrive in anonymity as they torture innocent people? Unfortunately, cyberbullying is only the beginning of a long winding road, with broken souls and tragedy waiting to swallow its victims at the end.

What has been termed “cyberbullying” is becoming more and more notorious with the public, particularly parents, who were once oblivious to its dangers. Some adolescents have manipulated the initial intention of technology, and have created a world-wide web of harassment and humiliation (no pun intended). According to a New York Times article, titled “More Teens Victimized by Cyber Bullies,” between nine and thirty-four percent of adolescents are victims of “electronic aggression.” Cell phones may be used in the act through text messaging, but the Internet is the real culprit, as the bullies are sending threatening emails/instant messages, sending private photographs or videos, and designing websites to mock their victims. The i-Safe America Research Team says, “The tradition of home as a refuge from bullies on the school playground is over. The Internet is the new playground, and there are no off hours,” meaning that the torment is never ending when teens are constantly on popular websites often affiliated with cyberbullying, such as MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and the most recently-made FormSpring. FormSpring is actually becoming a major concern where cyberbullying is involved, because this website allows users to ask each other questions under anonymous names. This ability angers and hurts many, including juniors Christopher Scott (who called cyber bullies “wannabe tough guys”) and Kevin Rosario, who exclaimed, “Only the weak hide behind their computers to torment others, who they feel are inferior!”

You may not think that this goes on around you, but I discovered that a fellow Port Richmond student has been subjected to cyberbullying numerous times on both FormSpring and MySpace. In confidentiality, she explained to me that another girl was sending her messages saying things like “you’re ugly” and “you need to kill yourself.” “It was really bad. I was starting to believe everything she said in the messages,” claimed the Port junior. “Cyberbullying can really hurt a person’s self-esteem.” So much for “sticks and stones.” The worst part about this dilemma is that it does not always just end in hurt feelings. The annual suicide rate of American teenagers ages 15-19 is 7 per 100,000. Other statistics say that 14.5% of high school students have considered committing suicide and 6.9% have attempted it more than once, according to Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. In other words, Phoebe Prince was not alone in her act. She is joined by many others who were viciously backed into a corner with nowhere to go but out of this world…

In Prince's case, the bullying went far beyond the manipulation of electronics. She was verbally and physically abused by her attackers, who were recently indicted on several charges. This beautiful young lady came to the United States from Ireland, taking residence in Massachusetts, where she attended South Hadley High school. Witnesses and Phoebe's friends claim that she was often referred to as a "slut" and an "Irish whore" because she dated one of the star football players, and received a lot of positive attention from boys. One week prior to her death, she was "shoved into lockers, and encouraged to kill herself on Facebook," according to People magazine, and finally on the day of her death, as she walked home with tearful eyes, her attackers taunted her and threw empty cans at her. Phoebe Prince told a friend "school has been close to intolerable lately." Should that have been a sign to take action? Was it not enough for her to complain to school officials, who did not take sufficient action? Can you simply imagine the unbearable pain she had to be going through to go home and create a lethal noose out of new Christmas scarf? The nine students who have been charged with violation of civil rights, stalking, and even statutory rape have all pleaded not guilty, but I believe it is fair to say that whether guilty or not, they could not receive enough jail time to compensate for the heartbreak they have caused Phoebe's family. Ironically, not ten miles from where Phoebe once lived, eleven year-old Carl Joseph committed suicide due to the “daily taunts of being gay” according to glsen.org. He would have turned twelve on April 17, if he had not hanged himself with an extension cord in his home. In other recent related incidents, seventeen year-old Alexis Pilkington committed suicide, for which her friends blame “insulting comments posted on FormSpring.” Thirteen year-old Megan Meier committed suicide after being drastically abused on MySpace, and Ryan Patrick Halligan killed himself after being sent “disturbing” instant messages, in which the attacker was sexually harassing him. The night of his death he told a friend “tonight is the night you are going to read about in the papers.” PRHS junior Lauren Kulpowsky explained, “The internet playground (more like a jungle) is extremely frightening, as is the corrupted hearts and minds of people so young.” I agree with her, but how is an escalating problem like this supposed to be stopped?

PRHS junior Ishmael King says it can’t: “There’s really no way to prevent it. When you have things like Facebook out there, anybody can go online and do anything.” However, PRHS guidance counselor Mrs. Delaney disagrees: “I think the mistake that a lot of kids make is that they feel they have to respond to every text message and email. They need to let somebody know when it [cyberbullying] is starting.” According to stopcyberbullying.org, there are plenty of ways to prevent online harassment, and informing somebody is one of these ways. Unfortunately, in a poll conducted by wiredsafety.org, only 15% of parents even know what cyberbullying is. However, children need to place more trust in their parents, so they can inform their parents about the problem and take action. Considering the severity of the situation, parents can either take it into their own hands or contact local law enforcement, for more serious action. Parents also should consider monitoring their children’s online activity. When schools get involved, it becomes complicated because they are often accused violating a student’s freedom of speech. However, schools can teach their students about the dangers of the internet and the proper behavior for online activity. The victims themselves can also be very effective in preventing cyberbullying. Prevention techniques include deleting suspicious emails/messages, not giving out personal information like passwords, addresses, etc.

Phoebe Prince’s death has become a national crisis and has had a tremendous impact on the public’s perception of cyberbullying. It is being brought into the spotlight as an issue that needs to be dealt with immediately and with force. Not all cyberbullying cases result in death, and hopefully less will end up like this as its notoriety increases. For all who have felt the effects of Phoebe’s death, all those whose lives were cut short, and for all those whose lives have been affected by this cyber abuse, just remember there is hope where there is faith. We must take action in order to put a stop to the treacherous world of cyberbullying, and appropriate steps must be taken.