Top Six Ways To Kill Piper: Middle School Girls Make Instructional Cartoon About How To Kill Classmate (VIDEO)

A Pierce County mother says she's horrified by a cartoon video - posted online - that showed several ways to kill her sixth grade daughter. The cartoon was made off school grounds by some of her daughter's classmates, girls aged 11 and 12. Titled "Top Six Ways to Kill Piper," it includes depictions of girls shooting her, making her commit suicide, poisoning her and even pushing her off a cliff.

Beth Smith tells KING5-TV the cartoon was set to a Hannah Montana song called "True Friend" and posted on YouTube. Her daughter Piper attends Elk Plain School of Choice in Spanaway, Wash., as do the girls who made the video. The little girl says it hurt her feelings. Because of privacy rules, the Bethel School District says it can't say how the girls were disciplined. But district spokeswoman Krista Carlson tells KING the students involved "have expressed their remorse about this incident." A report was also filed with the sheriff's department.


WATCH:

Embedded video from CNN Video

Comments

[Crankenstein]

Piper is cute and probably got the attention of a boy that one of the other girls likes. I'm sure there's a little clique that went too far in this case, but it isn't a lot different than drawing pictures and writing that you hate somebody in your diary. Girls have been doing it for ages.

[ProudlyConservative42]

I'm sure the legally owned guns in the houses of these girls are to blame somehow...

[vesaversa1]

The republicans have supported and voted for guns in public school colleges and now our national parks making it more easy for childrens to carry guns.

[M4dwoman]

If a school can legally strip search a girl for an ibuprofen, then surely they can expel or suspend students who threaten another child with death, even if it was just in good fun. The best message that could be sent to the bullies and their victim would be for this school of choice to uninvite these students for next year. They can go somewhere else.

[loki]

you know, all these girls are doing is following the GOP / Bush preemptive doctrine.
Do unto others, if you think there might be some slim chance at some time in the distant future, that they might do something slightly irritating to you.

Just doing what our Ivy greed, C average President Bush did.

[loki]

Go watch the cartoons your kids are watching. I never believed that until after I had my kids.
They really do pick up things off tv. Not that they would act out on them, but they do pretend to do these things in play. At least mine, I think- hopefully, know better than to think this is proper behavior for anyone in real life. Its fantasy.. Then again, I watched my youngest one become depended on others by watching Dora the Explorer. Dora always ask someone else to do things for her, and they do. So for a long time my youngest daughter would emulate that in her real life, and even specifically say that is how Dora does it. So I saw first hand how damaging programs like that can be if the Parents dont take control and teach the kids the difference between fantasy on tv, and real life. In the end, its the parents responsibility to try to make the child well adjusted. Dora taught me that.

[Flavor]

loki, you are right because my brother and I use to imitate the 3stooges, my brother would pretend he was curly and you know what he did a good curly joe, now that I think about it.

[Fotios]

This isn't exposing a problem with YouTube and the internet. This is actually an example of why YouTube and the internet are a good thing. This incident exposed some very dangerous feelings and thoughts that these girls had that may have evolved into something real, violent and life-threatening over time. This also exposed that our culture and especially the people around these girls are too accepting of guns, violence and intolerance.

Without a public outlet like YouTube, these feelings might have manifested in actual violence. Now these teachers and parents are forced to address an issue without something bad happening first.

[skantea]

Calm down folks, this is just the same school yard crap we all went through only with a technological twist.

If the kids were serious they would have just jumped her during recess.

This might even have been a safer outlet for some of them.

[CEDobson]

Skantea: I have to disagree. What is happening with kids today is there is a boldness that comes with the cloak of invisibility, i.e., social networking online. You can't take back what is posted. Rumors fly and the situation gets out of hand. One small bit of truth turns into a war. I have tons of documents that would curl your toes from what things these kids say to each other online. Before school even begins in the morning, the school yards are all atwitter about who said what, and inevitably, because of those rumors, fights break out before the bell even rings.

[loki]

You cant take back what you say?? Na. Politicians do it all the time. They say something stupid, and a day later someone from their office issues a statement of what they meant to say...
But your right, in the real world, things dont work that way. Thats only in Oz... I mean ,.DC

[ArthurTwoShedsJackson]

You are mistaken. This IS a big deal that warrants suspension and possibly expulsion under existing laws.

[pinkfirefly]

I think this "technological twist" on the same type of school yard bullying can be a blessing in what it exposes. Let's hope the shame and embarassment of these brats leads to some realization and growth. And opens up more of this type of dialogue.

On another note, I wasn't a bit surprised after hearing it discussed on the news to look up and see the victim, Piper, is strikingly pretty. Typical junior high type jealousy-induced nastiness that really needs to be called out and worked on.

[toomuchtolose]

They don't have to use any physical force on the victim. The point in some of these cases seems to be to drive the bullied kid into committing suicide. You might read a book called "Letters to a Bullied Girl."

[Octoberluna]

I have to disagree - far too often in this day and age there is nothing to stop this sort of pretend violence from escalating into real murder. Goog le Reena Virk - a sad and tragic case of school girls baiting and trapping a "friend" to her death. One of the killers shows no remorse to this day and she was the one who held Reena under the river until she stopped fighting. They were 14.

[Moshe]

We have a serious cultural problem here, one that is literally killing people, both children and adults.

Bullying is an epidemic not only in our schools but also among adults. Middle school never ends for some people, and the workplace is just the current forum for their torment of others.

And this is not harmless behavior. Bullying (both the child and adult varieties) results in untold human suffering and anguish, mental and physical health problems from stress, and even suicides and "Columbine" style attacks when individuals are pushed beyond there limits of tolerance by serial bullying and abuse.

From the school yard bully to the enthusiastic supporter of state sponsored torture, abuse and tolerance of abuse is far too common, but it is not part of a normal, healthy human culture (common does not mean healthy; slavery was once common), and it is in everyone's best interests to work together to set healthier cultural norms for social interaction and conflict resolution.

Abuse of other humans is not acceptable, so don't accept it.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Sir Edmund Burke

[JanSP1971]

These girls need to be kicked out of school. If this does not happen all parents of every other student in this school need to pull their children out on grounds it is not a safe inviorment for any child. These girls have shown they have major problems, does this school what these girls walking in with guns before they will REALLY do something about this?

[paulbikes]

The answer isn't to kick those girls out of school and deny theme an education. What they need is an education more than anything else.

[CEDobson]

Then we can put them in charter schools for special needs so they get their education, but are taken out of general population until they learn to behave.

[Aesthete]

In my town, there is an alternative school for kids who can't function peaceably in regular school.

[Eres]

I blame the parents.

Every day we see more and more proof that parents need to pull the plug on popular culture that encourages aggression and violence against others. I don't have children, but if I did, you can be sure they wouldn't be weaned on American style entertainment.

[CEDobson]

Yes! As my husband says, the Internet is not a right, it is a privilege. Television is not a necessity, it is entertainment, just as books are. Cell phones are for emergencies, not for socializing. Finding a happy medium with all those "outlets" is the challenge, but not insurmountable.

[CEDobson]

.... and before I get raked over the coals, I don't mean educational/informational books, lol!

[blondecuban]

If I knew how to get in touch with Piper's mom, I'd say this: get your daughter out of that school -- NOW! I was harassed when I moved to a new school in 6th grade. We were the only Hispanics in a Jewish neighborhood. Everyday was torture. I was a complete outcast by the time I arrived to junior high school. I was, consequently, shy and reserved. I ended up dropping out of h.s. Lucky for me, I was ambitious, so I somehow got myself into community college, then U.S.C. on scholarship, then law school. It's not the same for all the kids that are bullied. To this day, I have a hard time making friends. Mrs. Smith get your daughter out of that school district.

[CptKendrick]

See? This is what happens because we are no longer a Christian nation.

[amdezurik]

since America never was...your point would be?

[CptKendrick]

My point is that if we all went to church, this would have never happened!

[daffey]

Two overstatements. We have never been a bona fide ‘Christian nation’. But, as one historian put it so well, Christianity was the canvas upon which our Enlightenment Constitution was painted. And the Judeo-Christian world view and ethic dominated (though not always exclusively), the American moral compass up until the early to mid twentieth century. Among the intelligentsia, that began to erode as far back as the 19th century, in trying to keep pace with much of Europe. But in America, the average Joe and Jane on the street were still informed by a decidedly Christian (as opposed to European Atheist, Buddhist, Hindu, etc.), world view. So were we ever a truly ‘Christian nation’? Not really. But the Christian foundation of our moral compass cannot so easily be ignored, even if it was not always in control of our nation’s steering.

[paulbikes]

Sarcasm? I note a flying spaghetti monster avitar.

[robiform]

Yes, sarcasm--check CptKendrick's subsequent comments!

Regarding the topic at hand: bullying these days is a lot different than the bullying that went on in the fifties and sixties (my childhood and teenage years). No Internet, no YouTube, no cell phones with texting, etc., etc. These days, it's very easy for a child to be the subject of ridicule, teasing, and outright terrorizing not just on the playground but in all of cyberspace. I still think that the woman who posed as a teenage boy in order to harass her daughter's schoolmate (schoolmate subsequently committed suicide) should have been sent to jail for at least 10 years. I hope that the children who did this were made to understand how wrong their behavior was.

[Scottay]

This comment is as equally disturbing as the girls actions. Both parties need to be sat down and learn some true facts.

[toastedink]

Please... i'm a christian.. and that statement is some bullshit.


People need to learn how to tolerate others... period. It has nothing to do with religion. It has everything to do with what's right.

[M4dwoman]

If this didn't happen in Christian schools, then I'd say your comment was OK. But it does happen, just on a smaller scale. My daughter was thrown up against a wall by the (male) school bully because, well, no one told him to stop...that is until the same kid insulted the preacher. Now that got him expelled. As a coach, I had a weak (skills-wise) team that was bullied on the field, bullied by instant message, and then threatened at a theater. After our principal talked to their principal, all was well, except that it continued at the next game. These same girls broke the arms of two players from different schools during basketball games. And this was under the guise of a Catholic Sports league.
I do blame the parents and coaches who encourage this kind of behavior, but ultimately an 11-12 year old has to be taught in the strongest way possible that this behavior is wrong and will not be tolerated.
They may go to church every Sunday and they may read the bible, but bullies don't practice the teachings of Christ.

[TJane]

There is no way Piper should have to attend school with these girls. Even if there is no real threat of death, the emotional trauma of having to be in close proximity with people who did this to her is very damaging. The victim's mother should get a restraining order against the girls. Since they could not come within a certain distance of Piper, that would prevent them from attending this particular school. They would have to be moved to another school in their district and their lives would be disrupted-maybe they would even become the victim's of the reigning "Mean Girls" and they could get a taste of their own medicine.

[janie@atthelake]

These kids need PARENTS.

[bsc]

those kids should be charged in juvenile court. that would teach them and their parents.

[CEDobson]

I agree, but the way it would work is that the parents would then sue the state for not giving their kids the right to freedom of speech - and knowing this twisted system, they would probably win.

[Moshe]

I appreciate your concern, but this is clearly not protected speech.

Nor is this just a simple discipline issue for the school to handle.

Making terroristic threats, stalking, threatened assault, these are not simple acts of misbehavior.

These are crimes, and they should be treated as a crimes.