Nine months removed from the
Phoebe Prince tragedy, South Hadley
High has started a new school year full
of changes implemented with the goal
of keeping students safe. The town had
multiple aspersions cast upon it, with
media publications portraying the
school as a breeding ground for bullies.
For a number of months, South Hadley
was front page news around the country.
“Media attention has definitely subsided,”
said Vice Principal Bill Evans.
“There is still stuff being written, but
we don’t have the cameras outside the
school anymore or reporters at all of the
town’s meetings. This year has been
much quieter.”
The high school’s administrators are
working to prevent another incident
from ever happening again.
“Our biggest improvement is reporting
bullying when it is witnessed,” said
Principal Dan Smith. “We as a school
can’t improve anything if people won’t
stand up and say something.”
The developments at SHHS spurred a
movement in the Massachusetts State
Legislature. Concerned citizens proposed
a state law aimed at preventing
cyber bullying and harassment in the
state’s public schools. The suggested
crackdown on student bullying inspired
a similar proposal in the state of New
York, which would also prevent online
torment by students with penalties
against those who bully on the World
WideWeb.
As for the high school, various regulations
are being put into place to stop
bullying all together. Among them are
additional student conduct guidelines
and a “bullying report form,” in which
students can anonymously report any
kind of abuse, whether physical or
emotional. These forms are reviewed
by the administration, and actions then
will be taken to reprimand the bullies
in question.
“I think everybody is more aware of
bullying, and students now know to
reach out to parents and other adults to
get help,” said Vice Principal Ted Mc-
Carthy. “The school needs to be a safe
place for students, and the steps of the
investigation process [pertaining to bullying
incidents] are more formalized
and transparent.”
These actions do not necessarily suggest
that bullying is a current problem
at SHHS. “I haven’t personally dealt
with any issues of bullying this year,”
said English Teacher Tina Daponde.
“Students are much more aware of
being nicer to one another.”
Students and staff said they are still
recovering from the loss of Phoebe
Prince, but acknowledge that the high
school seems on the right track to increased
civility and a greater sense of
community.
Peter Lambert
Editor-in-Chief
(Staff writers Nick Robert,Wes Calhoun,
and Sam Pouliot contributed to
this report)
