Suicide of Phoebe Prince
The suicide of Phoebe Prince, on January 14, 2010, led to the criminal prosecution of six teenagers for charges including civil rights violations, as well as to the enactment of stricter anti-bullying legislation by the Massachusetts state legislature.
Prince had moved from Ireland to South Hadley, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Her suicide, after suffering months of bullying from school classmates, brought international attention to the problem of bullying in US schools. In March 2010, a state anti-bullying task force was set up as a result of her death. The Massachusetts legislation was signed into law on May 3, 2010.
The trial for those accused in the case occurred in 2011. Sentences of probation and community service were handed down after guilty pleas on May 5, 2011.
Background
Phoebe Nora Mary Prince was born on 24 November 1994 in Bedford, England, United Kingdom,, and moved to the seaside community of Fanore in County Clare, Ireland, when she was two. Prince attended Villiers Secondary School, a private school in County Limerick. She emigrated to the U.S. in the autumn of 2009 with her mother and four siblings. Her mother lived in Boston for a few years. Her father, a British national, remained in nearby Lisdoonvarna. Prince was attending South Hadley High School at the time of her death at age 15, on January 14, 2010.
