Phoebe Prince couldn’t even find peace on Facebook. 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. The teens have been brought up on charges, but that doesn’t bring back a life. The Mean Girls made a point of destroying her online life also as her physical life. Even after death, the Phoebe Prince Facebook page nevertheless had comments from the Mean Girls of South Hadley all over it, reports Fox News. According to Dr. Keith Ablow, the Mean Girls could have gathered an excellent deal of information with which to terrorize Phoebe Prince, including but not limited to her sensitive nature and malleable sense of self.
Phoebe Prince, Facebook and predators
As Dr. Ablow suggests, people who fit the typical profile of a bully can quickly detect a weakness in their prey, as they did with the Phoebe Prince Facebook. Such bullies are driven by a need to tear down others, so they quickly acquire the ability to find their openings with bitter efficiency.
Teenage years are hard for everyone, but for Phoebe Prince who was pretty and unsure in life, it is more difficult. Although millions would prefer to be beautiful, if teenagers have no confidence then they will become targets for being attractive rather than being popular, as Dr. Ablow observed. Bullies will watch for people who they think have no defenses to mount resistance.
Hating was the Mean Girls’ drug, suggests Dr. Ablow
He told Fox, “Dehumanizing her had to have been intoxicating”. Otherwise, what would be the point of the whole thing? Gleaning information from the Phoebe Prince Facebook was a means to an end – in this case, a high, says Ablow. Considering how widespread social media like Facebook are today, it’s easy to see how dangerous sensitive personal information could be in the wrong hands. Not only can identity theft issues arise and destroy credit, but as in the case of the Phoebe Prince Facebook, it can destroy the psyche.
Is it possible to control a bully?
Dr. Ablow states 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, rather than brazen; gripped by emotional disorder, rather instead than in control.” Once bullies are no longer idealized as James Dean-esque rebels, then perhaps the needed cultural shift can occur. More effective methods than Detention and suspension should be used in schools since they’re ineffective Dr. Ablow feels. Concern is needed, not scorn. Home schooling and total removal until a licensed psychiatrist or psychologist can assure the school how the bullying will no longer occur to themselves or others. Caregivers or parents have to step up.
