This morning the Today Show had a segment on Phoebe Prince, the 15 year old girl who committed suicide after being bullied by a group of girls and boys at her high school. The segment was based on the Grand Jury report released recently surrounding the charges against six individuals. In the report it was stated that Phoebe had a history of mental health issues, including one previous suicide attempt and was taking anti-psychotic and anti-depressant medication. The implication surrounding the segment was that this information somehow mitigates the damage caused to Phoebe's mental state by the bullying - leading to her suicide.
I would argue the opposite. Bullies typically target victims that they see as weak and/or socially isolated. I think it's safe to say that bullying has a negative affect on the mental health of victims, and will most certainly exacerbate mental health issues already in existence. Individuals struggling with mental health issues and suicidal tendencies have fewer tools to deal with the emotional and psychological torment caused by bullying. It makes sense that children and individuals with pre-existing mental health conditions would resort to suicide.
Also stated in the report was that school officials were aware of Phoebe's mental health issues and the bullying that she was suffering, as well as other conflicts that she had with various students. Still, they took no preventative or disciplinary steps to protect her.
The bottom line is that bullying is NEVER okay - and if that bullying leads to the death or self-injury of the victim, the blame still lies with the perpetrator, not the victim. The school should have taken more forceful disciplinary steps to protect Phoebe, especially in light of the fact that they had knowledge of her frail mental health. The Today Show never raised the question - Well if the school knew that Phoebe had mental health issues, why didn't they intervene on her behalf sooner? And what relevance does this information have on the fact that she was bullied on the day of her suicide and on a regular basis previously? I think that it can be assumed that a person who takes their own life has mental health issues, whether diagnosed prior to the suicide.
The Today Show set a very bad precedent this morning by taking the blame away from the bullies and putting it on Phoebe, who may have had mental health issues, but should have been protected by the adults and professionals around her. Shame!
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