Monday, April 5th 2010
Source: Voices Kansas City
South Hadley is 90 miles west of Boston and is known to have good schools. Phoebe Prince moved there from Ireland with her mother and sisters last year. She was 15 and pretty and eager to live the American teenage experience.
At first, it must have seemed thrilling. Phoebe entered South Hadley High as a freshman and landed some dates with a popular senior football player. Students were fascinated by her Irish lilt.
But her flirtation with the athlete provoked the wrath of a clique of girls. They convinced the boy to turn on her. Phoebe dated another boy, and ran into trouble with other girls.
Before long, the new girl found herself being slammed into lockers and having books knocked out of her arms. She was harassed on social networking sites and threatened in text messages.
On Jan. 14, students taunted Phoebe in school. They goaded her from a car as she walked home alone; one of the girls heaved a soda can at her.
Phoebe walked on home and hanged herself in a closet.
Just being a teenager can be very stressful. There is so much going on and so many changes happening all at once! Some causes of teen stress are: school work load, poor self image, problems with friends, peer pressure, not fitting in, parents divorcing, death of a loved one, moving or changing schools, taking on too many activities at once, problems at home, and feeling lonely.
R.I.P Phoebe Prince So many will be missing you.
