Stop The Bullying

I cannot get the suicide of Phoebe Prince out of my mind. But for the grace of God, this could be any child. In January, the 15-year-old South Hadley High School student, the victim of intense bullying from "classmates," hanged herself. The case is receiving nationwide attention this week, because Mass. District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel indicted nine South Hadley High School students for their alleged part in this sad story.

Meanwhile, school administrators and the district's school superintendent, Gus A. Sayer, are coming under heavy criticism for their handling of the case. Sayer, who cut short a California vacation to return to the Commonwealth, is defending teachers and administrators involved in the story. That's understandable. An entire school administration, under his watch, has been placed on trial in this case.

Connecticut has taken steps to stop bullying, passing laws to address the problem. That doesn't mean bullying doesn't occur. According to The Governor's Prevention Partnership, almost one in three Connecticut high school students "report having been the target of bullying in the past 12 months."

Next week, with numerous school administrators in the audience, and all day seminar on the topic will be held in Farmington. Although Connecticut may be in the vanguard on this issue, a nationwide discussion must follow. And it deserves to be examined from all sides, including cyberbullying. Numerous questions need to be asked. What are the parents roll in all of this? What's the difference between normal adolescent behavior and bullying? And can we tackle this problem with current resources? Because, let's face it, as a state and nation, we are financially tapped out.

Some officials will use this sobering topic to demand more taxpayers' money. But a caller to my radio program yesterday, a "Suzanne in Bristol," said she and other parents stepped forward to offer an innovative program to address bullying 10 years ago, without using taxpayers' money. It will require this sort of creative thinking to underwrite a safe environment for our children. The teenage demographic is filled with innate obstacles. And we spend billions on education. But students should not feel threatened, when attending school.

Passing the buck on the South Hadley case - and that is what officials seem to be doing in that town - is unacceptable. A national discourse needs to start now. We owe it to the memory of Phoebe Prince.