Thursday, October 13, 2011

Remembering Phoebe Prince

Two summers ago, I worked full time at a title company as a recording clerk, getting paid $10 an hour to basically sit at a desk and play on the computer for eight hours a day, partaking in various activities including online shopping and Facebooking friends (tough life, I know). Part of my daily, morning routine (aside from getting a tall cup of coffee to help alleviate the tiredness I felt from starting the day at 8 A.M.) included killing some time exploring MSN.com for various articles featured on the homepage. Most of the time, the articles talked about the top 10 best cars of the summer, or covered the progress of the BP oil spill clean up. However, I came across a story one day that immediately consumed my interest and tore at my heart. The story was about a 15-year-old girl named Phoebe Prince, a high school student who recently moved to America from Ireland, who was a victim of intense cyberbullying that ultimately led her to commit suicide.

According to an article from mydailynews.com, Phoebe had been pushed over the edge when nine girls from her high school viciously harassed her online through Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. The girls, who soon became known as the "Mean Girls," left comments and posted statuses on Facebook calling Phoebe an "Irish slut" and a "whore" for all of the cyber world to see. The hostility between Phoebe and the "Mean Girls" started when Phoebe started dating a senior boy on the football team, sparking jealousy among the other girls. Soon, the cyber abuse escalated into offline torture. The "Mean Girls" began threatening Phoebe during school, and even threw a Red Bull can at her as she was walking by. The following video from abcnews.com provides more information about Phoebe's story and the charges faced by the nine teens who harassed her.

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Phoebe's story, though hard to read and sickening to think about, is one of thousands. As seen in her story, cyberbullying is not something to be taken lightly and can have detrimental effects on the person being bullied. Social networking sites like Facebook, allow users to post whatever they want, which creates a perfect environment for cyberbullying. Without the Internet and social networking sites like Facebook, it may have been harder for the "Mean Girls" to attack Phoebe like they did. Stories like Phoebe's spark concern for the safety of Internet users, especially younger, more vulnerable users. Since her daughter's death, Phoebe's mother has been fighting to increase safety not only in schools, but in the online world as well. Hopefully through her efforts combined with the efforts of others, cyberbullying can be eliminated and people can feel safer and more secure while online.

Sources:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/phoebe-princes-mother-speaks-daughters-bullies/story?id=13528312
http://www.truecrimereport.com/2010/01/phoebe_prince_15_commits_suici.php
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1 comment:

  1. BlakelyOctober 17, 2011 at 3:21 PM

    I think this was a great post about a really important issue that has been growing in our digital culture. From my own limited experience, it has been clear how easy it is for cyber bullying to occur and how frequently it really does. This makes me think of how important our online influence really is and how closely our digital persona reflects our self-image. Because people tend to put their 'best' self forward online, it seems to me that cyber bullying has become an extremely damaging occurrence, as you showed in your post.

    This was a really informative and clear post about a trend that absolutely needs to be stopped. The video helped reflect the tone of your message very well.

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