I think what bothers me more about this Op-Ed piece now that I’ve had some time to digest it a bit is that this is really the first I’ve heard about this being specifically a “mean girl” problem. Maybe I’ve been out of the loop, but most of the discussion of bullying issues that has occurred in the wake of the Phoebe Prince tragedy hasn’t been terribly gender specific, and there are two boys charged in the Prince case as well. Someone tell me if I’m missing something obvious here, but my own take on this is that it’s a “mean kids” matter, and while gender certainly adds its own weird spin to everything, the heart of the matter is young people growing up in an environment that allows (and perhaps even encourages) them to tear each other to pieces.

And that’s what needs to change.

If the South Hadley case is any example, without this DA we would never have even heard about it. I think there are thousands more we don’t hear about. Watching this school wiggle and twist their way out of any responsibility with the students watching and listening – they are learning something there. I have seen this many times before, What made the difference here – someone else cared enough to shine a spotlight in the dark corners. It was taken out of their hands for all the right reasons. I find it very funny that their response was to reign in the parents with a Task force on the subject and the same people who could not or would not do anything for months in this case are suddenly now in charge. Usually when you blow it that badly you are not in charge of anything. You are gone….

So the parents come for answers and the school admin have no problem dictating to them just what the rules are – not talking about it and moving forward, then burry them in flow charts and generate tons of meaningless paper. Absolve themselves of all responsibility – they are only a reflection of the community. The word community is used 100 or more times, the word school – once – driving home the fact that the admin. has no fault in this – it’s a community problem. Every workplace could state exactly the same – but they have rules to protect the adults working there. The school obviously didn’t or certainly made absolutely no effort to enforce them. So the cover up continues – they are answering to no one. They are now the experts taking full control of the situation when they couldn’t control a handful of nasty students who were breaking the law. Something seriously wrong with this picture. They also profess that kids learn nothing at school but academics – Wrong. They spend more time there than anywhere else and yes they learn a lot from these role models – everyday. My son was 6 yrs old when the headline written in Red across the front page of our newspaper read “Principal lies” – which she did. The kids were all very confused. Yes they learn a lot within a school and I am not talking about academics. Most students at this South Hadley know the truth and they have watched this unfold with total disgust….but if you want to continue at that school or you have younger brothers or sisters – you are afraid to say anything. That is how it works.