It got so bad that even on Facebook Phoebe Prince was able to discover no peace. A group of teens from South Hadley High School in South Hadley, MA called the “Mean Girls of South Hadley” bullied Phoebe Prince, a 15 year old, until she hung herself. Although the teens are being charged for it, it will never replace the real life. Not only did the mean girls harm her physical life, they also ruined her online life. Even after death, the Phoebe Prince Facebook page was defiled by the venom of the Mean Girls of South Hadley, reports Fox News. The Mean girls could have gathered quite a bit of information that they were to use to terrorize Phoebe Prince, which includes but isn’t limited to her sensitive nature and malleable sense of self according to Dr. Keith Albow.
Facebook, Phoebe Prince, and predators
Dr. Ablow suggests that anyone who is a bully often can quickly identify what the weaknesses are in their prey, as they did with Phoebe Prince Facebook. Bullies such as this are driven by a have to bring others down, so they develop quickly the ability to find their openings with efficiency.
Being a teenager is difficult for anyone, but for a girl like Phoebe Prince, who was both pretty and unsure of her place in the world, it is particularly difficult. While millions would give anything to be good looking, the reality as Dr. Ablow has observed is that if a teens lack confidence, being attractive can make them targets, rather than popular. Many bullies will look to tear down anyone who they think won’t have defenses to mount resistance.
Hating was the Mean Girls’ drug, suggests Dr. Ablow
He suggested to Fox “Dehumanizing her had to are intoxicating”. Otherwise, what would be the point of the whole thing? Gathering information from the Phoebe Prince Facebook was a means to an end – in this case, a high, says Ablow. It is easy to see how harmful personal information can be given to the wrong person considering how widespread Facebook and other social media is today. Not only can identity theft issues pop up and destroy credit, but as in the case of the Phoebe Prince Facebook, it can destroy the psyche.
It a bully control possible?
Dr. Ablow suggests that “In a controlled population like a school system, it is possible, from early grades, to instill in young people a psychiatrist’s view of those who perpetrate violence toward others—as broken, instead of brazen; gripped by emotional disorder, rather than in control.” Once bullies are no longer idealized as James Dean-esque rebels, then perhaps the needed cultural shift can occur. Detention and suspensions are ineffective tools, Dr. Ablow feels – better methods for dealing with discipline in schools are needed. What is needed is concern, not scorn. Total removal and home schooling until a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist can assure a school the bully is no longer a threat to themselves or others. Parents or caregivers should be stepping up.
