Posted on 03/30/2010 1:15:16 PM PDT by Vermont Lt
NORTHAMPTON – Six young people have been indicted on charges ranging from statutory rape to criminal harassment in the death of 15-year-old Phoebe N. Prince, who hanged herself in January after months of intense bullying at South Hadley High School.
(Excerpt) Read more at masslive.com ...
They would if that had been my daughter, just not by the judge and jury.
“The whole statutory rape thing, while true (she was under the age of consent) was not forced.”
That’s why it’s called statutory rape.
They would if that had been my daughter, just not by the judge and jury.
They will have nightmares if they lose their jobs and pensions. However, it sounds like that will not happen. I have believed for a long time that sending children to public schools is a form of child abuse.
FYI - all four of my children vote conservative - my 10 year old granddaughter can debate with adults on what is wrong with liberalism - she has on several occasions impressively.
You have a point. This should have been handled long before it led to a death. The faculty at this school was criminally negligent. However, nothing will be done to them. Don’t want to get in a fight with the teacher’s union, don’t you know.
I can’t see any good coming out of getting these kids involved in the criminal “justice” system. It’s not going to make them grow a conscience. It will probably make them worse people than they already are.
My nephews, in their twenties, from Brazil do a much better job arguing in favor of personal liberty than their American peers.
Sadly, that’s true for far too many American children.
What you seem to be saying is that good parents can mitigate the damage done to children in public schools. Undoubtedly, that is true. However, why not avoid the damage to begin with. Congrats on the new gks. Twins?
I actually heard a talking so called psychiatrist say that there were probably underlying psychiatric issues with the girl.
And of course, all those animals that bulled here were all sane????????
The school is about to be sued. Big time.
Amazingly, bullies usually pick on those with problems. Just like wolves picking off the weakest elk. Is that somehow supposed to make their actions better?
Where did you read about the lawsuit?
Excellent points.
It will probably seem cold, but I still have to ask where her parent was in all of this? And yes, statutory rape usually involves consensual activity where the “minor” is not legally able to give consent, age is different from state to state. The reports have been that she dated upperclassmen, depending on the state they have different laws regarding how far apart in age constitutes statutory rape.
Having raised two teenagers, I’ve made it my business to know all of their business. There is still a double standard, girls who sleep around, are called sluts by other girls. It can get quite ugly, but someone who is acting out sexually and then kills themselves is probably having some emotional difficulties beyond the norm. If this poor child had not taken her own life, I doubt this would be a story.
There is probably some truth to what the psychiatrist is saying. One fact doesn’t excuse or wipe out the behavior of the other students. The poor treatment combined with the significant move and separation from her father may have also contributed. As a former military brat, I can tell you that some moves were harder than others and sometimes fitting in to a new school was difficult.
Heard that the school was lawyering up.
I am aware of the origins of the whole statutory rape charge. I appreciate that a girl that young, according to the law, cannot consent. There need not be any force involved. I get that.
However, my point is how horrible is it that a fifteen year old girl is having sex with multiple partners?
And, if the boys were 17 at the time of the sex, the statutory rape charge is going to be hard to convict on. The age difference and consensual nature of the relationships are going to be a tough sell for the prosecution.
There has got to be a lot more going in here than meets the eye.
I wonder why no one approached the parents of the other kids.
While I understand why they might have felt this was a school issue, as a parent I just dont get abdicating my responsibility to protect my kids to a school counselor. My God, that is insane.
As I said to my wife the other day, the cost of the lawsuit has got to be less than the cost of the funeral. Just one visit to the kids to scare them would have changed a lot, in my opinion.
I guess this will depend upon how the law is written where this happened.
I dropped the dime on a parent for hitting their child repeatedly. The kid was a friend of my kids. I found out through a text message on my daughter’s phone. I told her that either I was going over the the parents, or the cops were. There was no choice about SOMEONE checking it out.
Your head would spin at how fast MA DYS (Department of Youth Services) was at the house.
Of course, everyone denied it...but I know for a fact it hasn’t happened since. And the parent and the kid are getting the help they need.
I have a hard time believing anyone dropped a dime to the proper authorities on this one.
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