Denial in Hadley, they could have done something

As more details emerge in the suicide death of a Hadley school student, one thing is for sure, school officials knew, parents knew and no one did much to help stop the painful bulling that caused Phoebe Prince to take her own life.

As prosecutors now have charged 9 teenagers with various crimes, including statutory rape, parents are outraged over what they feel is a complete breakdown of responsibility amongst school officials. Stopping short of charging any adults in this case is the real travesty. The school even expelled some of the core group of bullies as far back when the first complaints were reported.

While legal experts expect these cases to be very hard to prosecute, in civil court, the hurdles are less and I hope each and every parent and school official involved is taken to the cleaners. All those who knew and did nothing at the school should be terminated and run out of town. And the parents of those who plead ignorance and knowingly let their children do harm to others at school should be made to take parenting classes and charged as accessories.

It is beyond sad to see how parents have defended their childrens role in all this. Even more outrageous is the lack of responsibility the school is accepting.