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The suicide of Phoebe Prince, on January 14, 2010, led to the criminal prosecution of six teenagers, 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 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.

Bullying incidents and suicide
Having recently moved to the U.S. from Ireland, Prince was taunted and bullied for several months by students at South Hadley High School. Her aunt allegedly warned school officials in August 2009, prior to Prince's enrollment at the school, to watch after Prince, as she was susceptible to bullying. Attempts to speak out the bullying of Phoebe resulted in further against bullying of those involved

On January 14, 2010, after a day of harassment and taunting, followed by a final incident in which a student threw a can at her from a passing car as she walked home from school, Prince committed suicide by hanging herself in the stairwell leading to the second floor of the family apartment. Her parents chose to have Prince buried in Ireland.

Several teenagers from South Hadley High School were charged with offences and placed on probation or given community service.

Initial reactions
A meeting held at the school to discuss the problem of bullying within the school brought parents who stated that bullying of their children had been completely ignored by the school administration. Massachusetts state lawmakers sped up efforts to pass anti-bullying legislation as a result of this incident,   and the measure was signed into law on May 3, 2010. Inspired by the Massachusetts bill, similar legislation was introduced in New York State. In July 2010, the South Hadley school committee adopted a more comprehensive anti-bullying policy.

The six accused were subjected to bullying and death threats following Prince's death, and her father expressed concern regarding the treatment of the accused who had yet to face trial.<ref name="Doc" /

Comments by District Attorney
In her statement, D.A. Scheibel directly contradicted earlier claims by school Superintendent Gus Sayer that school officials had been unaware of the bullying at the school: "Contrary to previously published reports, Phoebe’s harassment was common knowledge to most of the South Hadley High School student body. The investigation has revealed that certain faculty, staff and administrators of the high school also were alerted to the harassment of Phoebe Prince before her death. Prior to Phoebe’s death, her mother spoke with at least two school staff members about the harassment Phoebe had reported to her.

Some bystanders, including at least four students and two faculty members, intervened while the harassment was occurring or reported it to administrators. A lack of understanding of harassment associated with teen dating relationships seems to have been prevalent at South Hadley High School. That, in turn, brought an inconsistent interpretation in enforcement in the school’s code of conduct when incidents were observed and reported.

In reviewing this investigation, we’ve considered whether or not the actions or omissions to act by faculty, staff and administrators of the South Hadley public schools individually, or collectively, amounted to criminal behavior. In our opinion, it did not. Nevertheless, the actions or inactions of some adults at the school are troublesome."

Scheibel indicated that the investigation was ongoing and that further charges against South Hadley students were likely. She urged schools to adopt anti-bullying awareness and training programs for staff and students and expressed the wishes of the Prince family to refrain from vigilantism and to seek justice only through the criminal justice system. "Now is not the time for retributions or reprisals," Scheibel said.

School's reaction
Two days after the District Attorney's news conference, school superintendent Gus Sayer again denied that school administrators had ignored the bullying of Phoebe Prince. South Hadley school officials released a statement that "we have taken disciplinary action with an additional small group of students and they have been removed from the high school."

Settlememnt with the town of South Hadley
Phoebe Prince's mother, Anne O'Brien, settled with the town of South Hadley in October 2010. She agreed not to sue or reveal details of the settlement for $225,000. Her brother stated that she agreed to settle in order to find some peace and put the tragedy behind her.

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Aftermath
It is estimated that there are 267 cases of suicides caused or contributed to by bullying in the US. This incident has become one of the most widely publicised cases, attracting the attention of Senators, Congressmen and even the President.

State anti-bullying task force
The state of Massachusetts has set up a a state anti-bullying task force, lead by Jane Doe and due to report back with recommendation by July 2014. A spokesman for the force declined to comment on the incident.

New York State legislation
New York State has passed 5 new laws which they claim will reduce bullying in schools.

School's anti bullying policies
The school said that it had taken advice from the US Bullying Council changed its anti-bullying policy to in accordance with their recommendations. They said that they were confident that an incident like this could not occur again.

Reactions to prosecutions
The US Bullying Council sad that they considered that the prosecution of students at the school was unhelpful and described the sentences as draconian. They went on to say that the prosecutions would do nothing to prevent further suicides and were, on fact, more likely to increase bullying incidents on schools.

The Association of Mothers of Bullied Children said that the prosecutions were justified and welcome and that the sentences were too lenient and would do nothing to prevent further incidents like this.

Presidential involvement
After a 3 month campaign, Joe Soap managed to bring this suicide to the attention of the President. President Obama said that he understood the complex social lives lived by modern teenagers and agreed that everything possible should be don to protect them from harm.

Changes to US laws
As a direct result of this incident laws were passed in 27 US stated creating specific offences of bullying. Legislation in a further 14 states was also affected.