After being cyberbullied for several weeks, 15-year-old Phoebe Prince ended her life on Jan. 4, leaving the bullies to blame.

Having just moved from Ireland to Massachusetts, Prince was bullied not only in person, but also through text messages and Facebook. The two main bullies were severely punished.

Although Superintendent Gus Sayer did not directly say the two students were expelled from South Hadley High School, he did say that the students would not be returning. On the night of Feb. 23, 400 administrators, teachers and students from the school gathered to discuss and prevent cyber bullying.

 “I think there should have been more than expulsion [for the cyber bullies]. Maybe they should have gone to Juvenile Hall. They killed someone.” -Monique Kurz, 10

“There is such a fine line between what is happening through technology and what is happening within the school, but I think any form of bullying is awful.”
-Lancer’s Landing volunteer Lisa Rismiller 

  “If cyber bullying is occurring outside of school and doesn’t come back we [the administration] have no grants to get involved unless the kids are disrupting the school environment, especially with fights. After a fight when we talk to the kids, often times the problems started with messages on Facebook or through texting.”
-Assistant Principal Dr. Kirti Mehrotra

“It is justified for the school to have gotten involved. Expulsion is all they could do. The only thing more extreme is if they would have gotten the police involved.” 
-Grant Bartow, 11

 “I think the school should have gotten involved sooner because it’s the school’s job to make students feel safe regardless of where or how the bullying occurs.”
-Amanda Prescott, 11