Phoebe Prince Facebook: What Can Be Done To Stop Cyberbullying?

by Jon Azpiri | March 30, 2010 at 01:52 pm
4688 views | 6 Recommendations | 4 comments

The Phoebe Prince Facebook Story Has Brought Attention To the Topic of Cyberbullying. Unfortunately, the Phoebe Prince Story Is Not Unique. Some Are Trying To Find a Solution

Parents across the US have been horrified by the details of the Phoebe Prince Facebook Bullying case. Nine teenagers have been charged in the death of Phoebe Prince. The teenager, who was born in Ireland, committed suicide after being bullied online and in person by several of her classmates at South Hadley High School.

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Much of the bullying took place on Phoebe Prince's Facebook page. Classmates posted nasty messages to Prince via the social networking site.

Alexis Pilkington: Another Phoebe Prince?

Unfortunately, The Phoebe Prince Facebook story is not an isolated incident.

On March 21, New York teen Alexis Pilkington committed suicide. Several reports stated that the death of Alexis Pilkington may have stemmed from cyberbullying.  The popular teen, who played soccer at West Islip, was the victim of vicious comments on various social networking sites. The comments continued after her death.

There have other examples of post-mortem bullying online. In February, Facebook pages set up for two recently murdered children--Trinity Bates and Elliott Fletcher--were bombarded with obscenities and pornography.

Such stories are grabbing the attention of parents and lawmakers who are thinking of ways to prevent future Phoebe Prince Facebook stories.

What Can Be Done About Cyberbullying?

Shortly after the death of Phoebe Prince, the Massachusetts House passed a bill to curb cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is not exclusive to the US. Other countries are looking for ways to stop cyberbullying.

In Australia, one school suspended students for posting derogatory Facebook comments aimed at a teacher.

In February, an Italian judge found three Google executives guilty over a bullying video posted that was posted the site. The court found that Google violated the privacy of an autistic boy who was taunted in the video.

Many wonder if going after Google is not the right approach. Others think that the real focus should be on bullying children and their parents.

One unusual solution has popped up in South Korea, a country that has been plagued by cyberbullying. Several South Korean celebrities committed suicide due to cyberbullying

One professor has asked students around the country to create a more positive atmosphere on the Internet by writing positive remarks on message boards and other forums and write positive, cheerful comments on websites.

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Infamy

Phoebe Prince's parents should sue each & every parent of those bullyies. They should just sue them for everything they have for everything they had.

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mommydear

These teens should not be allowed to return to ANY school setting. They should not be allowed to graduate. I hope they wind up getting a GED in prison. I believe any person accused of a felony should not be allowed back in school even if awaiting conviction. What's going on in MA? In a case I'm familiar with, a student who was on probation for viciously beating another student in MA moved to NC and enrolled in the school where I once taught. When he was in high school here he and another boy beat an innocent boy nearly to death in a case of MISTAKEN identity. The boy who was beaten sustained permanent brain injuries lying comatose for months. I am told he still can't walk.  Do you think probation officials in NC warned teachers? No. That would be a violation of the monster's civil rights.  Some people are born criminally insane.

0
reyes

i dont tolerate bulling at all and sum people say popular people bullie alot but popular doesn't mean being mean. it means knowing everybody being nice and having alota friends these immature girls with no life "OBVIOUSLY" to interfere with sum one else life and to torture them is horrible i have NEVER bullied anybody no willl i ever i stick up for people doing that takes strength n courage .the girls and guys  who bullied Phoebe Prince arent one bit good looking if hate bulling if i lived in Massachusetts i would have defiantly stood up for her most say violence is never the answer but if i would have seen that i would have took off ! those little girls are pathetic and i hope and pray the family gets justice because that's not write you have got to be a sick individual to put sum one else down that is never OK   .these little girls if they said she should get her ass kicked i hope they get theirs kicked everyday in juvie and uno what there prolly like still in there own little sick world thinking watevea .suicide isant ok buh mayb she didnt no what else to do she should have let it get to her buh you can only take so much untill you snap sum people like me snap some people break down n  we all have different ways of dealing with things i jus wish i could help people like that !

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Phoebe Prince  fan

i just wanna whoop all thoose girls who thot they were hard to pick on sumone !R.I.P Phoebe Princemay you rest in peace and may your soul be free in paradise 

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Rhonda J Mangus
First Flagged at 2:00 PM, Mar 30, 2010 by Rhonda J Mangus
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