Reflecting on fairness in 'a wierd situation'

Area students perplexed by charges in Phoebe Prince case

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

Area high school students interviewed Wednesday said they are bewildered that criminal charges were filed against nine teenagers from South Hadley High School in connection with the bullying of Phoebe Prince, who committed suicide in January. They said the charges seem extreme for behavior they say takes place in schools across the country every day.

"If anyone should be charged for anything, it should be the teachers at that school for criminal negligence, because they apparently knew what was going on and didn't do anything to stop the bullying," said junior Ian Steinberg, while walking home from Northampton High School in the rain Tuesday afternoon.

Angus Fisher, an NHS senior, said news of the criminal charges became a topic of discussion among students all day Tuesday. He said he believes the extent of the bullying was being "blown way out of proportion."

"It is a weird situation and there is just a lot of stuff that is not being said about it," said Fisher.

NHS junior Liam Flemming said it seemed the charges were filed against students to protect teachers and parents who should have done more to intervene.

"They're doing it just to make it look like they didn't do anything wrong, and although I think the kids there should take personal responsibility for what they did, I think more of the fault should fall on the parents and administration," said Flemming.

Lucca Reiter, also a junior, questioned the statutory rape charges filed against two students so long after the alleged crimes occurred.

"I agree that they should have been charged with statutory rape, but the fact that they are only being charged now because of the suicide instead of when it was happening isn't fair," Reiter said.

Northampton senior Anna Lello-Smith said she read about the charges in the newspaper Tuesday morning, and wondered whether Prince had problems apart from the bullying.

"I think that there probably were other ongoing issues that made her commit suicide," Lello-Smith said. "I don't think it is OK that these students did what they did, but I don't think they should end up being charged for murder or anything."

In Amherst, Amherst High School student Zack Maldonado expressed shock at the news of the extent of the bullying.

"It sounded like what was happening at South Hadley was way worse than what happens in Amherst in terms of bullying," Maldonado said.

And, he said, parents of the students responsible should also face criminal charges.

Meanwhile, Liz Resnick, a Northampton senior, said students she spoke with seemed worried that teenagers charged as criminals for high school bullying will face a lifetime of obstacles.

"Everyone is thinking, 'well I'm sure they didn't intend for that to happen,'" Resnick said. "A lot of people feel like it is unfair because it completely ruins nine people's lives when they made some mistakes while they were that young."

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.