ordinary people do fucked up things when fucked up things become ordinary...
Has anyone seen the news story involving the High School girl in Mass who was bullied so much that she committed suicide? The public is outraged, and the people who bullied her are being brought up on felony charges. Pretty serious, right? That's what I thought...then I heard the details.
A not-so-long story short- Phoebe Prince had recently moved to the US from Ireland. She was a pretty girl, and soon she was seeing the star football player in her high school. The players ex-girlfriend and her friends began to torment Phoebe at school. They would call her an "Irish Whore" and constantly berate her. They would drive by her as she was walking home and hurl both insults and bottles at her. The would send rude texts and Facebook messages. Prince couldn't take it, and killed herself. And...that's about it.
Now that is awful, don't get me wrong. But what the fuck? I saw WAY worse stuff directed at kids when I was in High School. There is all this outrage over this, but it happens at every high school, every day, and often much worse. This girl was pretty and smart. What about the fat girl or nerd guy? I wasn't really bullied much in HS- I was more the anonymous type who no one cared about either way. But I remember others- ugly kids, poor kids. They would get destroyed EVERY day. Food thrown at them at lunch, insults thrown at them every day in the hall. Always picked last in gym. Shunned when partners were picked in class. Always sat alone in the library or lunch. Fucked with and often physically assaulted on the walk home or on the bus, when the teachers weren't there to intervene. Fucking awful shit. And they did not kill themselves, and their tormentors were never punished.
So I guess my question is- why is this case so special? People are acting like this is something new, whereas this is actually a pretty light weight version of normal HS life. There is a reason movies like Mean Girls and Heathers were made. High School can be hellish for some people. Sad but true, and nothing new.
A not-so-long story short- Phoebe Prince had recently moved to the US from Ireland. She was a pretty girl, and soon she was seeing the star football player in her high school. The players ex-girlfriend and her friends began to torment Phoebe at school. They would call her an "Irish Whore" and constantly berate her. They would drive by her as she was walking home and hurl both insults and bottles at her. The would send rude texts and Facebook messages. Prince couldn't take it, and killed herself. And...that's about it.
Now that is awful, don't get me wrong. But what the fuck? I saw WAY worse stuff directed at kids when I was in High School. There is all this outrage over this, but it happens at every high school, every day, and often much worse. This girl was pretty and smart. What about the fat girl or nerd guy? I wasn't really bullied much in HS- I was more the anonymous type who no one cared about either way. But I remember others- ugly kids, poor kids. They would get destroyed EVERY day. Food thrown at them at lunch, insults thrown at them every day in the hall. Always picked last in gym. Shunned when partners were picked in class. Always sat alone in the library or lunch. Fucked with and often physically assaulted on the walk home or on the bus, when the teachers weren't there to intervene. Fucking awful shit. And they did not kill themselves, and their tormentors were never punished.
So I guess my question is- why is this case so special? People are acting like this is something new, whereas this is actually a pretty light weight version of normal HS life. There is a reason movies like Mean Girls and Heathers were made. High School can be hellish for some people. Sad but true, and nothing new.