@ebrown p,
Quote:Hawkeye... I think you have leapt to judgement without understanding the facts of the case. This involved threats of violence backed with physical attacks which included striking her and throwing drink bottles at her. These actions are illegal for adults. An adult would have had legal means to stop the abuse and punish her attackers. This is combined with the fact that a 15 year old kid is trapped in school-- there aren't very many options available for a kid being abused. The schools has a responsibility to provide a safe environment. Her attackers are old enough to be culpable. Violent threats are illegal. Physical violence is illegal. I hope they are punished firmly (but fairly).
The other fact of the case that I think you're forgetting Hawkeye is that this girl had moved into this environment from another country only six months before she killed herself.
She didn't have an established or familiar group of friends who she could turn to to help support her or help her feel better about her situation in or out of school.
She was in a strange place surrounded by hostile or uninterested strangers. Even the people who were supposed to be there to help her apparently showed no interest in helping her.
And yet you can ask, 'Why didn't she have the tools or confidence to overcome this 'mob' - only nine people were charged - extrapolate that to think about how many actually threw stones -either verbally or literally and physically - every single day of the last six months of this poor girl's life.
Get a clue.
There are some people on this earth who make it their mission to make other peoples' lives on this earth a living hell. Each and every day. And those people, because actually THEY'RE the weak ones - band together and find their strength in numbers.
If I had a child who'd been involved in something like this in any small way - I'd find it hard to ever speak to my kid again-forget about prison.
Sorry - I know that's not a motherly thing to say - but it's the truth. I can't abide mean people.
If this had happened to my daughter - you probably would have ended up imprisoning me for my response to these people. And think about what you'd do to these people if they did this to your child- honestly- stop acting like this girl is some sort of abstraction.
But yeah - maybe it's cultural - because my two kids came to England at the ages of twelve and sixteen and the kids here were nothing but kind to them and pretty much embraced them like they were two American rock stars.
There is something sick and sad about this. And the people who were involved need more than a slap on the wrist.
And the teachers who ignored her situation should never be allowed to forget that- when the next 'different' kid walks through the door of their school.
Maybe you should think about your ability to objectify this girl as a 'case'- and her response an example of 'weakness'.
This is a person these people made it their mission to destroy.
I pray she's found some sort of peace.