There is no "making her". It just is.
As for the criminal charge, like I said earlier, doing something like that tends to aggravate the situation, not alleviate it, but it was definitely an option for her to follow.
What? The actions of others are beyond your control. The only thing you can do is to give off positive energy and hope some of it can stick (i.e. attempt to influence their actions), but if they still don't change their ways then there's nothing you can do about it.
My point was that it was not in her control, and so she should not let it affect her.
What specifically were they doing that made it "worse" than "normal bullying"?
We will most likely not reach an agreement on this, because I fully believe that these teenagers deserve the charges they have against them. But I will respond to this post.
If it is occurring, and no one is doing anything about it, then yes, she is being made to endure it, because she has to be at school.
If she does not know that she can do anything about the bullying like press charges, then she can't do those things. She had just came to this country from Ireland, how is she supposed to know that she can actually get these students in trouble, especially up to pressing charges, without someone telling her that it is an option? Most students who have been here their whole lives probably don't realize this would be an option to excessive bullying.
So how is it different if it were adults that were harassing her like the students were doing? Neither case is within her control, and neither should require that she would just have to endure the abuse and/or ignore it.
When I was in high school, normal bullying generally took place at school, with the possible exception of teasing at bus stops or on the bus or if the others happened to run into the person alone or in a group of others who were being bullied at the mall or other local hang out. And it was generally 1 or 2 bullies. And the bullies didn't go out of their way to find you everyday, or almost every day, for 3 months straight. Nine or more students being involved is excessive. And they were stalking her at school, according to the reports. To me, it sounds like there was at least one, if not a group of them, waiting for her at most, if not all, of her classes or at her locker just to torment her.
Hopefully, these teenagers will be found guilty for some, if not all, of their charges, and face punishments that are appropriate. If that happens, then maybe other students, parents, and school administrators will realize that bullying that goes this far should not be tolerated. And maybe we can work to get programs set up that make students see all the consequences of bullying, including the consequences to the one being bullied and what could happen to those who are doing the bullying. My hope would be that it will also help to convince other student who witness bullying to stand up for their classmates, even if the one/ones doing the bullying are their "friends".