Bullying

The Setting:
The public school where this incident took place is located in a suburb bordering upon a major city. Families living in the neighborhood surrounding the school range from working classto affluent, and a small percentage of students are bused to the school from the city as part of a long-standing desegregation program.
The Story:
The following description of the incident is basedon interviews with the students and teachers involved.
In December of seventh grade in a public school, Sue and Rhonda considered each other best friends. They belonged to a popular group of girls,including Jill, Patty, *Tina and others. All of these girls had known one another for most of elementary school, except for Tina, who had just moved to the school.
One day, Sue wrote a note to Rhondasaying that she thought their friend, Jill, was, "stupid to break up with her boyfriend." Also In the note, Sue asked Rhonda to keep the note private because she had not yet told Jill herself thatshe felt that way about her break-up. Nevertheless, Rhonda told Jill what Sue had written anyway. When Jill found out about Sue’s note, she confronted Sue after school, and they argued in front ofmany peers. School staff heard the argument and broke it up.
Although the argument was brief, the fight snowballed resulting in many students joining together against Sue. Rhonda and Tina sided withJill, and they influenced other girls to do the same.
For the rest of seventh grade and almost all of eighth grade, these girls excluded Sue from her former group of friends, teased and put her down,avoided and ignored her, spread rumors about her, wrote hurtful letters and made prank telephone calls to her home. Other students, including some boys who were not originally involved, joined in.Most students, if they did not participate directly, kept Sue at a distance and did not stand up for her. Lorna, a girl who had not been a member of this popular group when the ostracism began, was one...