What galls me the most is the assertion by the Administration of SHHS and supported by the District Superintendant that the school system had insufficient time (7 days is admitted)to decisively intervene after two incidents of Phoebe’s harassment (apparently occuring on the same day and involving two different perps)were reported to the Principal to prevent this tragedy from happening. Utter hogwash! What they really meant was that they didn’t consider it a significant or a high priority item,

Proceeding from a fallacious institutional mindset that enables and tolerates bullying (its just kids being kids); inadequately investigating these two incidents of harassment by the Vice Principal (only perps interviewed, no parents called, no effort to determine the motivation, extent, or duration of the harassment; imposing very lenient penalties due to fear of the culprit’s parents and a focus solely on the civil rights of the accused); and a damning assumption that it would all just go away doomed Phoebe Prince to her lonely death. It could have been prevented within a couple of days had it been properly investigated and signifant discipline imposed. Yes, the South Hadley School System bears a heavy load of responsibility for this tragedy and their efforts at blaming the victim, attacking the whistle blowers, the media, and the DA, and rationalizing away their actions will never make it go away.