Phoebe Prince's Story

Her principal called her smart and charming. And a boy had just invited 15-year-old Irish immigrant Phoebe Prince to the winter cotillion, the height of the social season at South Hadley High School in Massachusetts. But then police received a call.
It came from one of Phoebe's sisters. When cops arrived, they found that the freshman student had hung herself. Two days before the big dance.

Though they're not releasing any details, police say she was a victim of cyber-bullying from girls at the school who had an unspecified beef with her over who she was dating.

This wasn't just any case of high school girls behaving badly toward one another. Phoebe apparently faced an onslaught of bullying via texts, Facebook messages, and in person at the school. Even after her death, the shitty little girls left disparaging messages on a Facebook page created in her memory. (See the memorial page here.)

"Apparently the young woman had been subjected to taunting from her classmates, mostly through the Facebook and text messages, but also in person on at least a couple of occasions,'' school superintendent Gus Sayer told the Boston Globe.

Two students have already been suspended, and more could be on their way to discipline.

It was an especially tragic ending for the Prince family. Anne O'Brien Prince and Jeremy Prince had moved from County Clare to Massachusetts with their five kids last year. In Phoebe's death notice, they said they moved in part so "Phoebe could experience America.''

America, it seems, did not give her a very kind welcome.

UPDATE: It seems Phoebe had the misfortune of running afoul of the popular girls at South Hadley High. You know them from your own high school: They were the pretty girls who played sports, were in cheerleading, and used their good looks to date all the name-brand jocks.
Phoebe Prince wasn't one of them. She was a freshman, had just arrived from Ireland. No way she was cool enough. She also had the misfortune of briefly dating a senior football player. The popular girls thought she didn't know her place.
So they stalked her and called her a slut -- to her face, over the phone, on Facebook.
She was walking home the day she died when one of the vile little girls drove past. She chucked an energy drink at Phoebe and threw more insults the Irish girl's way. Phoebe promptly walked into her house and hanged herself in a closet.
Even after her death, the popular girls wouldn't let up. They were like some vicious little caricatures of evil from a Lifetime movie.
According to a great column by Kevin Cullen in the Boston Globe, a student at South Hadley told a TV reporter that bullying was a common problem at South Hadley High. After the TV crew left, one of the popular girls came up and punched the student in the head for talking on camera.
UPDATE II: South Hadley officials faced a blistering attack last night for their failure to do anything about chronic bullying.
Parents recounted numerous incidents of kids being hounded and harassed, sometimes over multiple-year periods. One man told of how his son was punched in the stomach for befriending another bullied kid. A mom spoke of how her son was punched and had his face written on with magic marker.
Other parents talked about how they were beat up in school in the '90s. And most seemed to think administrators turned a blind eye to it all. Father Larry Bay said his daughter was bullied last year, but the school did nothing to stop it.

Hope Witsell's Story

Hope Witsell was just beginning the journey from child to teen. The middle-school student had a tight-knit group of friends, the requisite poster of “Twilight” heartthrob Robert Pattinson and big plans to become a landscaper when she grew up.

But one impetuous move robbed Hope of her childhood, and eventually, her life. The 13-year-old Florida girl sent a topless photo of herself to a boy in hope of gaining his attention. Instead, she got the attention of her school, as well as the high school nearby.
The incessant bullying by classmates that followed when the photo spread put an emotional weight upon Hope that she ultimately could not bear.
Hope Witsell hanged herself in her bedroom 11 weeks ago.
Her death is only the second known case of a suicide linked to bullying after “sexting” — the practice of transmitting sexual messages or images electronically. In March, 18-year-old Jesse Logan killed herself in the face of a barrage of taunts when an ex-boyfriend forwarded explicit photos of her following their split.
Hope Witsell’s grieving mother, Donna Witsell, is now coming forward to offer a cautionary story in hope of sparing others the loss she endures. Appearing on TODAY Wednesday with attorney Parry Aftab, a leading Internet safety expert, Witsell told Meredith Vieira how her daughter’s life, once so promising, unraveled after one mistake. Video: ‘Sexting’ leads teen to suicide
The Witsells, from the small rural suburb of Sundance, Fla., are a churchgoing family. Donna admitted to Vieira she knew little to nothing about “sexting” before her daughter’s drama, but she and her husband, Charlie, tried to teach Hope and Donna’s three children from previous relationships right from wrong in the cyberworld.
“As far as training them on the Internet and what to look at and what not to look at, yeah, we talked about it,” Witsell told Vieira.
But Hope got involved in a dangerous, all-too-typical teen game. In June, at the end of her seventh-grade year at Beth Shields Middle School, she sent a picture of her exposed breasts to a boy she liked. It’s an act that is becoming more and more commonplace among teens (a poll recently showed some 20 percent of teens admitting they’ve sent nude pictures of themselves over cell phones).
But a third party intercepted the photo while using the boy’s cell phone, and soon, not only had many of the school's students gawked at the picture, but students at the local high school and even neighboring schools were ogling it.
While Hope’s photo spread, her friends rallied around her in the midst of incessant taunting and vulgar remarks thrown Hope’s way. Friends told the St. Petersburg Times, which originally chronicled Hope’s story, that they literally surrounded Hope as she walked the hallways while other students shouted “whore” and “slut” at her.
“The hallways were not fun at that time — she’d walk into class and somebody would say, ‘Oh, here comes the slut,’ ” Hope’s friend, Lane James, told the newspaper.

Clearly, the taunts were getting to Hope. In a journal entry discovered after her death, Hope wrote, “Tons of people talk about me behind my back and I hate it because they call me a whore! And I can’t be a whore. I’m too inexperienced. So secretly, TONS of people hate me.”
Shortly after the school year ended, school officials caught wind of the hubbub surrounding Hope’s cell phone photo. They contacted the Witsells and told them Hope would be suspended for the first week of the next school year.
Donna Witsell told Vieira that she and her husband practiced tough love on Hope, grounding her for the summer and suspending her cell phone and computer privileges.
Choking up with tears, Witsell told Vieira, “She received her punishment for a mistake she’d made. You set rules and boundaries in the household ... You punish them and then you let it go. You love them. You continue to talk with them, you continue to try to keep that line of communication open, but most of all you continue to love them. You don’t shame them.”
Still, Hope had a very trying summer. A student adviser for the local Future Farmers of America chapter, Hope was allowed by her parents to attend the FFA convention in Orlando. But in a display of just how prevalent teen pressure is when it comes to “sexting,” Hope gave in to incessant badgering from a group of boys staying across from Hope and her friend in a hotel room to provide them with a picture of her breasts.
Mounting pressure
The downward spiral of Hope’s life was unstoppable. When she returned to school this fall after serving her suspension, the school informed her she could no longer serve as a student adviser to the FFA. She finally admitted to her parents the abuse she was taking.

On Sept. 11, Hope met with school counselors, who noticed cuts on Hope’s leg they believed to be self-inflicted. They had her sign a “no-harm contract,” in which she promised to talk to an adult if she felt the urge to hurt herself. But, attorney Aftab told TODAY, the school didn’t inform Hope’s parents of the contract. “In this case, the school blew it,” Aftab said. “They  never told the parents how at risk she was.”

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The following day, Hope wrote in her journal: “I’m done for sure now. I can feel it in my stomach. I’m going to try and strangle myself. I hope it works.”
Donna Witsell went to Hope’s bedroom to give her a kiss goodnight. She was met with the most horrifying scene any parent could face.
“It was as if she was standing right there in front of me,” Witsell told NBC News. “Her head was hanging down. I said, ‘Hope, what are you doing?’ And then I realized there was a scarf around her neck.”
Hope had knotted one end of a pink scarf around the canopy of her bed and the other around her neck. She was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Attorney Aftab is at the forefront of highlighting the very real dangers of “sexting” among the teen set. And even though Hope was incredibly young for sexual behavior, a Harris Poll shows up to 9 percent of 13-year-old girls admit they have sent nude pictures of themselves on cell phones.
Aftab, who held Donna Witsell’s hand throughout the trying TODAY interview, told Vieira it’s often upstanding children growing up in good homes who have the biggest propensity to feel guilt over their sexual actions, and most feel the stings of the bullying that comes afterward.
“Good kids are the ones this is happening to; Jesse was a great kid, and now we have Hope,” she said. “Good kids; they’re the ones who are committing suicide when a picture like this gets out.”

Eric Mohat's Story

Eric Mohat, 17, was harassed so mercilessly in high school that when one bully said publicly in class, "Why don't you go home and shoot yourself, no one will miss you," he did.
Now his parents, William and Janis Mohat of Mentor, Ohio, have filed a lawsuit in federal court, saying that their son endured name-calling, teasing, constant pushing and shoving and hitting in front of school officials who should have protected him.
The lawsuit -- filed March 27, alleges that the quiet but likable boy, who was involved in theater and music, was called "gay," "fag," "queer" and "homo" and often in front of his teachers. Most of the harassment took place in math class and the teacher -- an athletic coach -- was accused of failing to protect the boy.
"When you lose a child like this it destroys you in ways you can't even describe," Eric Mohat's father told ABCNews.com.
The parents aren't seeking any compensation; rather, they are asking that Mentor High School recognize their son's death as a "bullicide" and put in place what they believe is a badly needed anti-bullying program.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, names school administrators Jacqueline A. Hoynes and Joseph Spiccia, as well as math teacher Thomas M. Horvath. None would comment on the allegations.

Harrison Chase Brown's Story

On September 25, 2010, Harrison Chase Brown committed suicide in Rand, Colorado.  Harrison Brown was a sophomore at Poudre High School.  Friends have told media that Harrison Brown was bullied and that precipitated his taking his own life.   No other information has been made publicly available. 

Caleb Nolt's Story

Caleb - Age 14

Caleb Nolt was a 14-year-old freshman at North Side High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana, who passed on September 20, 2010.  Caleb enjoyed spending time with his girlfriend and attending church with her.  He and his twin brother, according to the obituary, would talk late into the night.  But Caleb was bullied at school for his manner of dress.
The Facebook tribute page to Caleb speaks volumes as some realize how they shunned him, and others offer testimony as to how much they enjoyed being with him.
Caleb Nolt’s had friends, and those friends have been placing video tributes on the internet.  I share two below.
The first is from Dylan Schrock.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BWZoiJCOMI
Dylan chose to have a music background piece, ”Bodies” – by Drowning Pool.  Listen to the words, watch the whole way through.  Caleb is clearly missed.
The second piece was prepared by his friend Lauren
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovvkg-4xPIA&feature=related
– clearly Caleb was loved and is missed by so many.

Felix Sacco's Story

SAUGUS - Investigators reported Wednesday that a 17-year-old male Saugus High School student "apparently jumped" from the Lynn Fells overpass into the southbound lane of Route 1 shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday.

The victim, Felix Sacco, was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he later died of his injuries.

By all accounts, Sacco was a quiet, shy kid who liked to play guitar.

That's who people were remembering Wednesday after, according to Massachusetts State Police, the Saugus High School senior died from injuries sustained when he jumped from the Lynn Fells Route 1 overpass near Kelly's Roast Beef.

A single white rose tucked into the chain link fence that runs along the north side of the overpass was all that marked the approximate spot where Sacco might have last stood.

Another white rose was tucked into the mail box at the family's house, which remained dark. Neighbors said the family had not been home all day.

Alexis Fafard, a classmate of Sacco's, was still reeling from the news Wednesday night.

"I'm just really shocked, I wasn't expecting that at all," she said. "I liked Felix. He may have been quiet, but he was a fun kid."

Fafard said she was in the high school band with Sacco, who played a bass guitar and did so with gusto.

"He was pretty laid back and was really into playing his guitar," she said. "It's really a loss to everyone." Rumors of a student's death had quickly spread around Saugus High Wednesday afternoon, but Fafard said she didn't find out the main details, or that it was Sacco, until she returned home from school and received a recorded phone message from the school's principal.

"No one had announced it at school, but we heard someone had gotten into an accident," she said.

Police and emergency crews had originally thought the same when they arrived shortly after 9 a.m. on a report that there was an "ejection from a vehicle."

Saugus Fire Chief James Blanchard said those who answered the call expected a car accident, but only found the 17-year-old in the southbound middle lane.

"The injuries were severe," said Blanchard. "We got there quite quickly, but there was no one there to say what had happened."

Dave Procopio, spokesman for the State Police, said a preliminary investigation indicates the 17-year-old committed suicide, but no final conclusions have been made.

Blanchard said many Route 1 overpasses have high fences to deter jumpers, but the one at the scene does not.

Kelly's manager Keri Rebidue said a witness to the incident said the teen landed in front of a truck that managed to stop on the highway.

The witness told Rebidue that the teen was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital with a head injury.

One teen-aged boy paced the sidewalk in front of the Sacco home. He was visibly upset, but declined to talk.

Drama teacher Nancy Lemoine had Sacco in her film class, but said she was only just starting to really get to know him through his essays.

"He was in the guitar club," she said. "He was just a nice, quiet, shy boy."

A number of students reportedly took the news hard and High School Principal Joseph Diorio said in a phone message to all parents that counseling would be available to students and staff in the guidance office.

The incident is under investigation by Troop A of the Massachusetts State Police, the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, the Essex County State Police Detective Unit and the office of Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett.

Raymond Chase's Story

Raymond Chase, a student at Johnson & Wales in Providence, R.I., died by hanging himself in his dorm room this past Wednesday.

Campus Pride reports on the death of Chase, which follows the suicide of Tyler Clementi of Rutgers University this week and the recent reported suicides of teenagers Asher Brown, Billy Lucas, and Seth Walsh.

“The loss of Raymond this week is the second college LGBT-related suicide in a week and the fifth teenage LGBT suicide in three weeks,” said Campus Pride founder and executive director Shane Windmeyer. “The suicide of this openly gay young man is for reasons currently unknown; however, the recent pattern of LGBT youth suicides is cause for grave concern. Campus Pride demands national action be taken to address youth bullying, harassment and the need for safety and inclusion for LGBT youth at colleges and universities across the country. We must not let these tragic deaths go unnoticed. Together we must act decisively to curb anti-LGBT bias incidents, harassment and acts of violence.”

According to PerezHilton.com, which reported an email school officials sent to Johnson & Wales students Thursday, Chase was a 19-year-old old sophomore from Monticello, N.Y., studying culinary arts.