In Florida last week, two girls aged fourteen and twelve were arrested for bulling a third girl to the point she committed suicide. The specific charges are third-degree stalking. It seems the dead girl was an ex-girlfriend of the fourteen-year-old's current boyfriend and for some reason that incensed her, although there are probably more details that haven't come to light. The sheriff in this case was incensed about the older girl's lack of remorse and her parents' denial of any wrongdoing.

I'm really ambivalent about this case. Definitely these girls need to be punished for what they did, but I'm not certain arrest and jail time is it. They're twelve and fourteen. This isn't like they personally pulled a trigger and killed someone. They bullied a person, which is what I expect twelve and fourteen year olds to do. Intellectually they understand bullying is wrong, but we all know we've done really stupid shit at that age.

It's still a very, very serious matter, more so than just an expulsion. But then I believe the parents should be taken to account. When a young child does something terrible, usually the parents are punished in their stead (as is the same with pets). It was obvious this was an issue for quite some time if the girl's been cutting herself, been sent to a psychiatric hospital, and was eventually removed from the school altogether. I know these girls are at the age when parents start stepping back, but by this point they should've been involved, and yet they refuse to believe any of this happened, saying their daughter's Facebook account has been hacked. Yeah, as if any hacker would give a fuck about this.

What led to the arrest is what truly amazes me. Bullying has always happened and will continue to happen, but this case shows how the digital age has changed the game. How often have these problems gone unnoticed in the hallways? But now with Facebook the bullies are left with the digital footprint, a digital footprint that anyone can see.