Teen bully convicted

Drawing: Sun Ah

Read this CBS news report to learn about the trial of the three teenage girls who continuously harassed and threatened Dawn-Marie who never asked for adult help while being bullied.

 

B.C. girl convicted in school bullying tragedy

 

Update:  Watch this video to learn more about the consequences of this tragic bullying event and how people felt about the court case.

Send your comments.

• How do you feel about the conviction of one of the girls who bullied Dawn-Marie?
• Do you think teenage bullies should be tried in a courtroom? Why, or why not?
  
• What can schools do to encourage students to speak to an adult when they are being bullied?
  

Comments

[Sun Ah Lim]

Sometimes adults don’t take bullying serious enough. They don’t intervene because they think bullying is just part of growing up and say bullies are just students who lack self-esteem.

But we cannot say this any more when we hear suicide caused by bullying. Bullying is a crime because bullied children may be seriously affected by it. They lose self-confidence and feel hopeless. Most victims don’t feel they can do anything to defend themselves.

However, there are ways to stop bullying. Intervention is the most important way. According to playground observation research, intervention by adults or peers often helps stop bullying. Adults need to try to protect adolescents from bullying and harassment.

[Demba]

The story about Mary Wesley, who hanged herself because she was bullied, is very sad and embarrassing. In my opinion, she could have avoided all that by acting in a different way. She should have been a little bit more outgoing and talked to somebody about her problem. If she had talked to somebody she would have felt relieved and chances are she would not have commited a suicide. Also I think authorities are going to be stricter than ever after that tragedy. As Ray Corrado said, this case is a "wake-up call" for authorities to try harder to stop school bullying.

[Eunjin Kim]

The victim's mother felt guilty and miserable because she couldn't do anything about the bullying of her daughter even though she didn't know about it. I think that Dawn Marie was afraid of the two girls' revenge if she told anyone about being bullied. Maybe she thought if her mother was concerned about her, she would became a victim, too.

[Mi Hye Ahn]

When I was a middle school student, I witnessed a situation like this, but it was different because the victim was handicapped, As a result, she didn't realize people were bullying her. The bullies tormented her everyday, hitting her, spitting in her face, and kicking her. They just enjoyed bullying her and they didn't feel guilty about it. She couldn't even tell the teacher. That situation continued for eight months.

When I think of that situation now, I realize how terrible it was. It was trampling upon the individuality of a person and ignoring the identity of that person. Even though the bullies did not intend to kill her, it was a clearly a crime.

I would like to have seen that bullying behavior monitored by the court system as it happened in the bullying incident in Canada. It was not just a school problem. It was much more serious.

[Lim Ju Hee]

First of all, I’d like to express condolence about Dawn-Marie. People say that it is no use crying over spilt milk. What is done can not be undone. So we should check for this kind of a tragedy in advance. For example, a school should regularly have a discussion time about bullying, then convince students that it is a serious problem. At home, families should be concerned about their children and realize that could happen to their family.

[Yong Jin Lee]

I was really surprised she decided to commit suicide because she thought it was the only way to escape from bullies. I do not know how much she was suffered; however, she shouldn't have decided to die. She had lots of things that she could do to escape from bullies besides commiting suicide. She could have tried to tell her parents, teachers, friends, or even police. Maybe she was too afraid of what would happen to her next, but, she had to do it if she really wanted to escape from bullies. Bullies pick the victim who is weak or afraid of them. And most of victims are not that brave to tell others what is going on.

What was she thinking? What else can be more fearful than death to humans? Before I decided to die because of bullying, I would try to everything such as asking for help from other people, fighting against the bully, or trying to kill the bully. Even in the Bible, suicide is the worst thing a human can do and it is never forgiven by God. I am not religious person, but I agree. Again, I do not know how much she suffered from the bullies, but she should not have committed suicide.

[Sujeong Hong]

Nowadays, bullying is the most serious problem in school life. Most people try to find solutions by judging students after bullying incidents. However, who are sufferers, and who are offenders? I think that because the students who we judge are not mature yet, a bully incident includes not only students but also adults.

I don’t think the victim is only Dawn-Marie. To sum up, after several days of intense bullying at school, she received a phone from the girls who were bullying her. They accused her of spreading a false rumor and threatened her life. She believed the stories and committed suicide.

The adults near the students should think their guilty. First, the teacher should have carefully looked after his students. Second, Dawn-Marie’s parents should have had the time talking with their daughter and made her say anything to them. If she had talked her parents about the phone, they could have stopped her from committing suicide. Finally, parents of bullies should have noticed their children’s problems.

I am sure that family life affects children's actions. The important thing is not judging students after bullying but protecting all students. I think it is the most important
responsibility of adults.

[Sung Hwi Chung]

I read many kind of bullying stories in the media. Many victims do not tell about their problems to parent and teachers. They just figure out that problem by themselves. In the worst situations, they believe death is their only escape.

Dawn Marie Wesley's case is an example of the worst case of bullying. Three girls bullied her, but she didn’t even tell her parents. Finally, she killed herself. She was not mean girl, but bullies harassed her. It was the bullies fault, but suicide was not a good solution. I think she did not have courage to beat bullies.

Judge Jill Rounthwaite said victims did not have the courage to tell the bully to stop or go away. She suggested they needed to. I agree with her. Victims have to talk about their problems with adults near them. That is key of anti bullying.

[Seo, inji]

This case shows that bullying is the type of behavior that’s going to be monitored potentially by the court system. I also agree this judgment 100 percent because this is a crime. However, it can’t be solved by punishing just one person. Now, bullying is not one person’s problem, but a social problem since these day bullying is widespread no matter where. It is now very hard to solve for oneself. Hence society, school, and parents all should endeavor to solve it.

As this case shows most of the victims do not talk about their problem. I think they feel scared about the bully’s retaliation and think other people can’t help them, but now this decision can encourage victims and warn bullies. In Korea, there was also a similar decision. A Korean court judged that bullies, bully’s parents, and schools all have a responsibility for victims. I hope that this effort helps to decrease bullying.

[Lee, Eun Hyun]

When I read this article, I thought once again bullying is the same as murder. Maybe the three girls didn't think their behavior was so serious, but their behavior finally gave the victim death.

Those three girls are very young to go to jail, but certainly they are guilty. I think the law system of bullying is not complete (good) yet. These days bullying is a very serious and widespread thing, so governments must make the solution or law of bullying more detailed.

School also have a responsibility to stop bullying. Most of bullying occurs in school, but no body wants to intervene. Even teachers don't intervene, they know bullying occurs in their school and know it's a terrible thing, but they just ignore it.

When I was in Korea I watched a TV program about bullying, and I heard one teacher's interview who worked in a school where bullying occurred. The man said he also knew some students were bullying others, but he just ignored that, because he thought if he intervened, the situation would became more serious., and if fortunately that bullying was over, after a while more bullying would occur. So he said it's useless to intervene in bullying.

I disagree. I think bullying is similar to environment pollution (E.P.). These days E.P is serious and widespread, the same as bullying. Many people try to protect environment and there are many commercial about E.P. Let's think, Even though many people try to protect environment, E.P still exists and still remains a big problem.

According to that teacher's opinion we needn't try to protect environment, but the reason, people protect environment is they know and hope E.P will gradually solve the problem. Bullying is same thing. So I think if every person thinks about, is concerned about, and intervenes in bullying, it will be better and better, and finally it will be solved completely. I hope this dream will come true.

[Mi Hye Ahn]

The prosecutors conceded that the girls may not have intended to kill, but they said the accused had intended to terrorize the victim, which is itself a criminal act. The Crown also argued that society can no longer accept this type of behaviour.

When I was a middle school student, I witnessed a situation like this, but it was different because the victim was handicapped. As a result, she didn't realize people were bullying her. Bullies bothered her everyday, hitting her, spitting in her face, and kicking her. They just enjoyed bullying her and didn't feel guilty. She couldn't even tell the teacher. That situation continued for eight monthes. They tormented her constantly.

When I think of it now, that situation was very terrible. It was trampling upon the individuality of a person and ignoring the identity of that person. Even though the bullies did not intend to kill, it was clearly a crime.

In the end, as in this article, I would like to have seen that bullying behavior monitored by the court system. It was not just a school problem; it was a much more serious problem.

[Anne Davis]

Sung Hwi Chung,

You are showing good thinking on this post! I think you have hit upon a most important aspect of combatting bullying. You talk about courage. It takes courage for victims to tell someone about their problem. It also takes courage for by-standers to report bullying or to do something about it themselves. I read a quote once about courage that said "Courage is the ladder on which all other virtues mount." Claire Boothe Luce is the author of that quote. I think it fits well here. I think more people showing courage would help combat bullying. Do you have some thoughts on how people other than those being bullied could show courage?

[Sung Hwi Chung]

Anne Davis,
Witnesses and by standers have to help victims. However, many people do not want to be concerned about bullying situations because normally bullies are very violent and strong people. Therefore, people who witness the bullying situation are scared of bullies, but they have to show their courage. Witnesses have to think they are the only key to solving the problem. Then they have to realize that if they became victims, nobody would help them. They would feels really horrible. Witnesses have to think about this before they ignore victims.

[Yan]

This is a terrible incident. It is a murder, and they are the murderers who bullied Dawn-Marie. I agree with the poor girl's Mom and support taking one of the bullies to court. We should teach children that most times they will have a chance to correct their mistakes.

However, they should pay for what they did and sometimes they don't have a chance to come back to normal life because of terrible and serious results and incidents. In this case, I believe what happened can help all children, teachers, and parents understand how terrible and serious bullying is.

[Jessica]

I think that if bullying is tolerated then the bullies get away with it. Then they feel that they are in power and start doing much worse things like what happened to those girls.

[Kristen Queen]

I was shocked to hear the news of Dawn. I moved shortly after hearing what had happened, and I remember seeing DJ, I think the day before what had happened. I just can't believe this would happen. I know that bullying in Mission was a big thing, there were lots of bullies.

She was a very wonderful girl. And those girls deserve way more than they got. They should have got some jail time for what they did cause this kind of stuff will keep happening if they don't start doing something about this. Anyways, she will be missed and I hope this kind of thing doesn,t happen again.

KrIsTeN QuEeN!

[Lee]

I think what happened is terrible! The schools need to teach kids what can happen if you bully with real stories not just made up ones!

[Amanda]

I was bullied when I was younger, and I'm still paying for it. my self-esteem could not be lower, and I tried to kill myself several times. I just wanted it to stop... my life is a bit better now, because I'm in college and I have friends who don't abuse me verbally or physically. The wounds have healed, but my soul will remain scarred with the pain of my childhood. Bullying has to stop.

[Ally.G]

Bullying? hm...what that means to me. Bullying has not affected my life. Sure I have felt left out before, but not as so much bullying. After reading these comments, I now know how badly it can effect people and want to do more to stop it.

I'm working on an assignment about bullying and effects it has on people. I have already learnt so much. Young girls going to jail may be necessary, but they still have so much to learn. They probably already regret it like crazy. If they don't, I'm sure they soon will.

Bullying will never be stopped, but we can definitely reduce the amount of people targeted.

I have definitely changed my values, attitudes and beliefs towards bullying, especially when it comes down to people willing to kill themselves over it. The key I believe is to talk to someone about it, and they can and will help you.
Regards, Ally.G

It's not to bad here in Aussie, but I'm sure it will be if nothing's done!

[Nate]

Bullying is a crime. When someone attacks you physically, that is a crime punishable by a prison sentence. But the mind can also be damaged by constant verbal attack or public humiliation, and when this happens victims minds can lead to dark places.

Bullying can not only lead to suicides, but also violence of the worst kind, such as high school shootings and revenge attacks.

Bullying is an act that I believe shoud be punishable by prison sentances depending on the age and circumstances

[Angie]

I really feel for her. Parents don't always understand what it's like and overreact by taking your computer away or embarrassing you in front of the whole school. I can see why she didn't say anything. There should be a law or something to prevent things like this from happening.

[Myriam]

The teenagers responsible for the girl committing suicide need to be tried and convicted as adults. They need to pay. Bullying is very dangerous and school personnel ignore the problem. We need to take a stand and educate people about the danger of bullying and also the penalties and consequences for a bully.

[Kaila]

Bullying can be stopped. We just choose not to. Sure there are places that try to help, but when you hear about a kid or teenager committing suicide because of it you see how serious it actually is. When we call a peer a name or embarrass our peers, those scars run deep. There's only so much people can take.

[Megan]

Child bullies should be prosecuted under the law if what they are doing is classified as assault and battery. They should be convicted and sentenced to do time in juvenile detention.

Think about it. If an adult were to do the same thing to a child, they would go to jail for a very long time. Yet because someone is 12 or 13 years old, they get off scot free?

Bullying needs to be seen for what is really is: CHILD ABUSE. Doesn't matter if the perpetrator is an adult or a kid. Abuse is abuse.

[Megan]

There should also be strict penalties for teachers and other adults who ignore bullying and don't even report it.