By Emily BazelonPosted Tuesday, March 30, 2010, at 6:48 PM ET
Read the rest of Emily Bazelon's series on cyberbullying.
Phoebe Nora Mary Prince, 15, committed suicide on Jan. 14The criminal charges filed against nine students Monday in connection with the bullying of the 15-year-old high school student Phoebe Prince, who killed herself in January, took the town of South Hadley, Mass., by surprise. Six teenagers were charged with felonies and saw their names and photos on the evening news. Three more were charged as juveniles. That's a price for bullying that kids almost never pay. These charges will reverberate in this small town for a long time to come. For many people who live here, the charges challenge a fundamental conception of South Hadley as a nice, ordinary, middle-class small town. As such, some residents were willing to work with school administrators to prevent further bullying in the future but were also ready to move on without assigning blame for Phoebe's death. To others, who have criticized the high school's handling of the case, the tough prosecutorial stance toward these bullies is unexpected vindication. They think the town isn't ready to just move on. Now it won't. Read more at http://www.slate.com/id/2249307/pagenum/all/#p2.
