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Nine Charged in Bullying of Massachusetts Teen Who Killed Herself

Presumably there will be witnesses, testimony, and evidence.
The DA would not have brought the charges if he didn't think there was some chance of pulling a case together.

Yea but from a bunch of kids.I just think as people who are reading this story we shouldnt go off at these kids before we actually know the facts.
 
I can't help but think if this girl had had an older brother at the school, this never would've happened.

I have to wonder about that myself. Someone who could have been in her corner and looked out for her might have helped.

First and foremost, I never said they were stellar citizens and I have not defended their actions in the least. I would appreciate it if you would kindly respond to what I have actually said rather than the dishonest spin you put on it in your own mind.

Crucifying the cheerleaders isn't going to change that.

So she dated a boy and some girls decided to be catty...they scribbled her face out of some photos, knocked some books out of her hands, and threw some things. What kinds of things? Spitballs, paper balls...what?

In other words, people who are around kids all day long and witness the behavior of kids all day long saw a bunch of kids acting like...typical kids? They saw no need to intervene (which can actually intensify the bullying later) because nothing was out of place enough to warrant intervention.​

That sounds like a defense to me. You are mitigating their behavior and claiming the resultant charges as "crucifying" them. In calling them "cheerleaders" you are also implying they lack the ability to menace, thus further diminishing their culpability in her death.

So I have addressed what you've said as you couched it in this language that further conveys your argument.


Likewise with your indulgence of total hysteria. :shrug:

OK, their little nickname was the title of a movie. A kids movie about what? Some bullying. It's an integral part of growing up...learning to handle teasing and bullying.

Well, try it one more time and we'll let a mod decide. You may dissect my arguments, but you will not derail this discussion into the realm of idiotic ad homs.

The validity of those charges is central to this discussion, no? I don't understand the hyper-emotional hysteria.

You have not quoted a rule that I have broken.

I'm not derailing the thread as we are discussing your reply. And from that reply, I gather that you feel it's the dead girl's problem she's dead. The kids were just kids and bear no criminal responsibility.

That is what I have addressed, pasting quotes from the DA as to why that opinion is wrong and took exception, as noted above, to the language you couched it in.


I need to attend to my family. I'll be back later.
 
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That sounds like a defense to me. You are mitigating their behavior and claiming the resultant charges as "crucifying" them. In calling them "cheerleaders" you are also implying they lack the ability to menace, thus further diminishing their culpability in her death.

Yep. To her, they were life-sized.
Even a gang of first grade bullies can be menacing, to another first-grader.
If you think any human being, of any age, couldn't be killed by a gang of their same-age peers, you're under some illusions about how sturdy human beings are.
 
Once again, 'typical kids' don't spit on people, knock books out of their hands, assault them, follow them home harassing them, etc and so forth. According to my daughter, this type of behavior doesn't occur at her High School.

Spitting on someone is assault and battery, FYI. It's a crime.
 
I have absolutely no pity for the teens involved in this and hope they get punished to the fullest extent of the law. Perhaps it's based on my own personal experience with bullying growing up, but I get extremely angry and passionate about bullying cases like these. It's sad that this kind of stuff continues to happen, and while it may be a part of human nature I think that it has definitely gotten worse over the years. I don't think we should be trying to justify this type of behavior by saying "Oh well, this kind of stuff happens all the time. Teens will be teens." The point is that it shouldn't be happening at all, period.

One would think that after horrific school shootings like Columbine that people would learn to be decent to one another, even if it is out of fear. You never know who can snap. You never know what people are capable of doing when pushed. While these teens may seem callous about it now, I sincerely hope that this haunts them for the rest of their pathetic excuses for lives.
 
Once again, 'typical kids' don't spit on people, knock books out of their hands, assault them, follow them home harassing them, etc and so forth. According to my daughter, this type of behavior doesn't occur at her High School.

Spitting on someone is assault and battery, FYI. It's a crime.

Typical kids don't also go hang themselves in closets either. Just sayin'.
 
Typical kids don't also go hang themselves in closets either. Just sayin'.

You really just ooze compassion with every post... :doh
 
My level of compassion is irrelevant to this discussion.

OK, well, you are the one who stated that this type of bullying is typical kid stuff. No it's not. And I never claimed that suicide was typical, so your response was the irrelevant one. No one here has claimed that suicide is normal, but you stated that bullying was.
 
OK, well, you are the one who stated that this type of bullying is typical kid stuff.

Which still, in no way, makes my compassion an issue here.

No it's not. And I never claimed that suicide was typical, so your response was the irrelevant one. No one here has claimed that suicide is normal, but you stated that bullying was.

Because it is pretty normal. I think many of you have lost touch with what high school was really like.

I said before, these girls were classic bitches. But they are certainly not atypical.

Nearly 30% of kids are involved in bullying as a target or as a bully.

That's also most likely an under reported phenomenon for obvious reasons. 30% is about 1 in 3. That's pretty common.
 
Typical kids don't also go hang themselves in closets either. Just sayin'.

I think being raped repeatedly would illicit that kind of reaction. Getting beaten up by groups of people is physical assault, whether or not you want to downplay it. When a bully beats you up, it's assault. That is what the law calls it, so that's what it is. Kids in my schools growing up who got into serious fights where there were bodily injuries that required medical attention were charged with assault.

I realize you are trying to make a distinction between the usual pecking order at schools, run of the mill adolescent insecurities, and skirmishes that happen regularly, but I think this was at a different level, especially when rape is involved.

Suicide happens when pain and suffering exceed coping mechanisms. Approaching an authority for help with bullies is hard enough, but rape adds a whole other dimension to it, including survivor's guilt.

The teenagers who raped her should be charged as adults and thrown away the rot. The rest of them deserve nothing less than an expulsion for being accessories to this. The suicidal girl may have had mental problems in the end, but those who went to such extremes to torment her and had exacted enjoyment from it should also be evaluated.
 
I think being raped repeatedly would illicit that kind of reaction. Getting beaten up by groups of people is physical assault, whether or not you want to downplay it. When a bully beats you up, it's assault. That is what the law calls it, so that's what it is. Kids in my schools growing up who got into serious fights where there were bodily injuries that required medical attention were charged with assault.

I realize you are trying to make a distinction between the usual pecking order at schools, run of the mill adolescent insecurities, and skirmishes that happen regularly, but I think this was at a different level, especially when rape is involved.

Suicide happens when pain and suffering exceed coping mechanisms. Approaching an authority for help with bullies is hard enough, but rape adds a whole other dimension to it, including survivor's guilt.

The teenagers who raped her should be charged as adults and thrown away the rot. The rest of them deserve nothing less than an expulsion for being accessories to this. The suicidal girl may have had mental problems in the end, but those who went to such extremes to torment her and had exacted enjoyment from it should also be evaluated.

Being a foreigner in a strange land where she did not entirely understand the customs or social order could not have helped any.
Someone said earlier in the thread that victims of bullying have "something about them", some vulnerability that invites abuse.
Something as minor as this- being a foreigner, having an accent- could be enough to draw the attention of bullies.
 
I think being raped repeatedly would illicit that kind of reaction.

If that actually happened, you would have a point.

Getting beaten up by groups of people is physical assault, whether or not you want to downplay it. When a bully beats you up, it's assault. That is what the law calls it, so that's what it is. Kids in my schools growing up who got into serious fights where there were bodily injuries that required medical attention were charged with assault.

Never seen anything of the sort. Kids get into scraps all the time and its all fun and games...till someone loses an eye, of course. Although I agree, if medical attention is required, then there should be greater repercussions for the aggressor.

I realize you are trying to make a distinction between the usual pecking order at schools, run of the mill adolescent insecurities, and skirmishes that happen regularly, but I think this was at a different level, especially when rape is involved.

Statutory rape. You know what that means? Willing participants and one was three years or more older than the younger. You guys keep implying some gross violence or intrusion and that's not what was being stated at all.

Suicide happens when pain and suffering exceed coping mechanisms. Approaching an authority for help with bullies is hard enough, but rape adds a whole other dimension to it, including survivor's guilt.

Statutory rape. Operative word is that it was statutory.

The teenagers who raped her should be charged as adults and thrown away the rot. The rest of them deserve nothing less than an expulsion for being accessories to this.

I will agree with expulsion. They deserve nothing less as does any bully who gets caught bullying. But a prosecution in the criminal court system is a huge waste of potential, resources, and reason.

The suicidal girl may have had mental problems in the end, but those who went to such extremes to torment her and had exacted enjoyment from it should also be evaluated.

No doubt. They should be put through some kind of rigorous evaluation that lets them know that what they did is not acceptable. I am not defending their actions but I am condemning laying this girl's suicide at their feet for what sounds like something that happens to thousands of kids every day and they manage to cope with it.
 
Which still, in no way, makes my compassion an issue here.



Because it is pretty normal. I think many of you have lost touch with what high school was really like.

I said before, these girls were classic bitches. But they are certainly not atypical.

Nearly 30% of kids are involved in bullying as a target or as a bully.

That's also most likely an under reported phenomenon for obvious reasons. 30% is about 1 in 3. That's pretty common.

The girls were atypical. The bullying described was leagues beyond usual female cattiness. As to your lack of empathy for the victim here, I'll assume it's because you have never been on that side of the fence.
 
The girls were atypical. The bullying described was leagues beyond usual female cattiness. As to your lack of empathy for the victim here, I'll assume it's because you have never been on that side of the fence.

You would assume wrong. ;)

I was a pretty nerdy kid in high school. Plus I was gay. I know, first hand, how cruel your peers can be in high school. And, since we all grew up, some of those same bastards are my best friends today.

Going and hanging yourself in a closet because of teasing is the atypical scenario here.
 
You would assume wrong. ;)

I was a pretty nerdy kid in high school. Plus I was gay. I know, first hand, how cruel your peers can be in high school. And, since we all grew up, some of those same bastards are my best friends today.

Going and hanging yourself in a closet because of teasing is the atypical scenario here.

So, you have Ronald Reagan syndrome then... ;)
 
Yep. To her, they were life-sized.
Even a gang of first grade bullies can be menacing, to another first-grader.
If you think any human being, of any age, couldn't be killed by a gang of their same-age peers, you're under some illusions about how sturdy human beings are.


Well said.

Months of being harassed at school, online and the day of her death, on her way home from school, can take and apparently did take its toll. Cheerleaders may seem and probably are harmless to adults, but they were her peers, a different matter altogether.
 
I am not sure what you mean by that. I'm not being snarky...I really just don't get it. Sometimes I am a bit slow.:lol:

Oh, please. Don't be coy. :roll:

You know perfectly well what "Ronald Reagan Syndrome" is: senile dementia caused by overuse of hairspray.
 
Oh, please. Don't be coy. :roll:

You know perfectly well what "Ronald Reagan Syndrome" is: senile dementia caused by overuse of hairspray.

That may well explain why I don't get it then. :2razz:
 
I am not sure what you mean by that. I'm not being snarky...I really just don't get it. Sometimes I am a bit slow.:lol:

I mean, like Reagan, who came from poverty, you 'pulled yourself up by your bootstraps' and don't have much patience for those who can't do the same.
 
I mean, like Reagan, who came from poverty, you 'pulled yourself up by your bootstraps' and don't have much patience for those who can't do the same.

Why does everyone keep making this about me and not the issue at hand?
 
Why does everyone keep making this about me and not the issue at hand?
Probably because you appeared to be 'blaming the victim' in some of your posts. People tend to sympathize with the weak usually, and they don't like it when others appear to lack empathy.
 
Probably because you appeared to be 'blaming the victim' in some of your posts. People tend to sympathize with the weak usually, and they don't like it when others appear to lack empathy.

I didn't "blame the victim". I just think the so-called victim did leaps and bounds more harm to herself than what others were doing to her. I don't think that kind of disturbed answer to her problems should be laid at the feet of these other kids.

That aside, the inability to argue the topic and not me shows considerable weakness in your resolve to defend your position. I know, it's pretty hard to defend.
 
I didn't "blame the victim". I just think the so-called victim did leaps and bounds more harm to herself than what others were doing to her. I don't think that kind of disturbed answer to her problems should be laid at the feet of these other kids.

That aside, the inability to argue the topic and not me shows considerable weakness in your resolve to defend your position. I know, it's pretty hard to defend.

I already defended my position adequately, IMO. You seem to be the lone hold out here, so I guess the jury is hung...
 
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