WHAT IF PHOEBE PRINCE had brought a knife to school? What if she had turned her despair on a classmate instead of on herself? What if the 15-year-old had not killed herself but had stabbed to death a girl she had never met in a school bathroom?
We wouldn’t be talking about anti-bullying laws and mean girls. We would be talking about school security and about life in prison without parole. We would be talking about John Odgren.
Their cases could not be less alike, we tell ourselves. Phoebe Prince was a victim, an innocent girl who hanged herself last January after being tormented by bullies. John Odgren was a cold-blooded killer convicted in April of stabbing to death a classmate he didn’t even know.
But how different were these two, really? Phoebe committed suicide after months of harassment. John committed homicide after years of ostracism. Phoebe’s mother could not persuade school officials to intervene in the bullying of her daughter. John’s parents could not persuade school officials to approve a more appropriate setting for their mentally ill son. And yet, the despondency and impaired judgment that led Phoebe to take her life elicits our compassion; the depression and distorted thinking that led John to kill another student triggers our contempt. In matters of juvenile justice, we prefer the clarity of black and white, villain and victim, even when the reality is much more ambiguous. It is so much easier to arrest a few South Hadley bullies and to lock up a mentally ill killer than it is to confront the systemic failures that produced them.
WHEN HE WAS CONVICTED of first-degree murder in April, John Odgren became the 58th juvenile sentenced to life without parole in Massachusetts since 1996. That’s when a draconian revision of state law put children age 14 and older accused of murder beyond the reach of the juvenile justice system. Just as we are now told that bullies are more numerous and more deadly than the schoolyard thugs of old, we were warned then that juvenile killers were multiplying, morphing into remorseless "super-predators" whose youth was irrelevant to the magnitude of their crimes.
No matter the circumstances, a juvenile charged with first-degree murder in Massachusetts must be tried as an adult. If convicted, he or she must be sentenced to a prison term of life without parole.
Odgren was 16 on January 19, 2007, when he stabbed to death 15-year-old James F. Alenson of Sudbury. For years Odgren had taken medication for symptoms of depression, anxiety, ADHD, and Asperger’s syndrome. A special-needs student from rural Princeton, he had been in Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School’s Great Opportunities program for only a few months. It was his fourth out-of-district placement in four years.
I believe that the punishment John Odgren has received does NOT fit the crime here. Yes, another child has died, but in the throes of mental illness, how culpable can he be? My son also has Asperger’s Syndrome. These kids become fixated on one or two things, sometimes for years at a time and thats all they can think about. I am sure John played out the scenrio of the Steven King movie hundreds if not thousands of times in his head, as such this became a reality for him. John clearly needs help and we as a community and fellow American are failing to help this child. His school system failed to get him the help he needed in school which continued to escalate until this fateful moment. Let us stand up and stand behind John. This young man needs help, not to be condemned as a murderer.
I believe that the punishment John Odgren has received does NOT fit the crime here. Yes, another child has died, but in the throes of mental illness, how culpable can he be? My son also has Asperger’s Syndrome. These kids become fixated on one or two things, sometimes for years at a time and thats all they can think about. I am sure John played out the scenrio of the Steven King movie hundreds if not thousands of times in his head, as such this became a reality for him. John clearly needs help and we as a community and fellow American are failing to help this child. His school system failed to get him the help he needed in school which continued to escalate until this fateful moment. Let us stand up and stand behind John. This young man needs help, not to be condemned as a murderer.
Can you visualize how this might have turned out differently if the school had provided the supports that John needed? It would have saved a precious life and actually cost taxpayers less in the long run.
We faced a similar situation. The district placed our child in a public middle school setting without the adequate emotional supports which we had requested. After two days, he turned his held-in stress toward home and poisoned our family. We were fortunate that no one died. This could have been avoided. Now the district is paying for outside placement and our child suffers from isolation from peers and home when this could very possibly been prevented with enough services earlier.
I joined http://www.SPEDWatch.org because I want to help stop these intolerable situations.
The school system failed John Odgren and it failed the young man that was murdered James F. Alenson. If John could not tell fantasy from reality what was he doing at this school that did not have serv
The school system failed John Odgren and it failed the young man that was murdered James F. Alenson. If John could not tell fantasy from reality what was he doing at this school that did not have services for someone like him. John’s doctors are also culpable. This doesn’t seem like a simple case of a boy either neurotypical or with aspergers being completely overwhelmed and having some type of break from reality. John sounds like he was on a lot of medication prescribed by doctors. People on meds are at risk of depression and psychosis why weren’t the doctors looking for this. Psychosis is not listed anywhere in the DSM for aspergers syndrome. Psychosis is not Aspergers, but seems to be common in kids being medicated with antidepressants and not treated for their underlying conditions. Why would the doctors offer up false hope to the parents and dope up a kid with aspergers instead of encouraging him to get real treatment. By the way there is no medication for treating aspergers!! The treatments are social/pragmatic, developmental, and behavioral. They are supposed to be supplied through the school system so that the children…
Whenever I see “without parole” I always scrutinize a case harder. To assign that fate, we believe this person has no ability to be reformed or rehabiliated. A teenager, whose brain is not even finished forming, is without any hope of reform or rehabilitation. Impossible. This was simply retribution.
To even consider the agony of the Alenson’s makes me tremble. But this does not bring their son back and it DOES increase our general ignorance of autism spectrum disorders and, in particular, Aspergers.
The profile the media portrays is unconscionable and inflammatory. Kids with Asperger’s do not tend to be violent. They are more often stereotyped as rule-followers and reminders, and silly.
But, when you add those drugs…boy, you’re playing with a whole other beast.
Thank you for writing this article. I hope it opens the eyes of even 10% of the people who were so quick to swallow the simple view you so eloquently shared.
And, while I’m glad the important statistic about the INSANELY unfair sentencing of black americans, to just have it mentioned it as an aside breaks my heart. I hope you’ll follow up SOON with a piece on that. HOW can that level of racism still…
The unfunded mandate that is special education failed both John and James. Although people are quick to cite special education as a budget buster, they fail to understand the ramifications of this unfunded mandate and how the rampent non compliace with special education law destoys the lives of children and young adults with disabilities.
John’s parents did everything in their power to seek an appropriate theraputic educational setting. The cost for a hearing before the Bureau of Special Education Appeals is well over 25K. Parents get to pay twice since the districts legal fees are funded with tax dollars.
The Odgren’s fought and one in 2003 forcing Wauchusetts to fund an appropriate setting. But the costs not John’s educational, social or emptional needs drove the changes in placement. Evidence of that is Dorothy’s statment that just when they thought they had an apporpriate program, the district rejected it saying it was not approved. Why? Why did it agree to the placement in the first place if it was not approved. Because the cist of a public school program was significantly less. Ir the “professionals” who rejected a 1:1 aide had any understanding of the complexity…
The unfunded mandate that is special education failed both John and James. Although people are quick to cite special education as a budget buster, they fail to understand the ramifications of this unfunded mandate and how the rampent non compliace with special education law destoys the lives of children and young adults with disabilities.
John’s parents did everything in their power to seek an appropriate theraputic educational setting. The cost for a hearing before the Bureau of Special Education Appeals is well over 25K. Parents get to pay twice since the districts legal fees are funded with tax dollars.
The Odgren’s fought and one in 2003 forcing Wauchusetts to fund an appropriate setting. But the costs not John’s educational, social or emptional needs drove the changes in placement. Evidence of that is Dorothy’s statment that just when they thought they had an apporpriate program, the district rejected it saying it was not approved. Why? Why did it agree to the placement in the first place if it was not approved. Because the cist of a public school program was significantly less. Ir the “professionals” who rejected a 1:1 aide had any understanding of the complexity…
My childrens’ mental illnesses have required over 25 psychiatric hospitalizations. They have had suicide attempts, homicidal ideology, self-injurious behaviors and aggression towards others. They cannot ride a bus, walk down a hallway or attend classes without becoming overwhelmed. They are unwelcome and unable to participate in sports, school dances or clubs, due to their lack of social skills, anxiety and their unpredictable and aggressive behaviors. For years they were bullied, ridiculed and humiliated at the public school, summer camps and in the community, yet the school district refused to help them.
It took years and over $40,000 to get appropriate special education services for my obviously seriously impaired children. Their special education attorney, psychiatrist, neuro-psychologist, therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist and educational consultant had to attend IEP meetings with me. Even with an attorney and a panel of experts, it was extremely difficult to get the school district to provide appropriate services or placements.
The parents of mentally ill children are physically, emotionally and financially drained. Our children need specialized help in order to keep themselves and others safe…
My childrens’ mental illnesses have required over 25 psychiatric hospitalizations. They have had suicide attempts, homicidal ideology, self-injurious behaviors and aggression towards others. They cannot ride a bus, walk down a hallway or attend classes without becoming overwhelmed. They are unwelcome and unable to participate in sports, school dances or clubs, due to their lack of social skills, anxiety and their unpredictable and aggressive behaviors. For years they were bullied, ridiculed and humiliated at the public school, summer camps and in the community, yet the school district refused to help them.
It took years and over $40,000 to get appropriate special education services for my obviously seriously impaired children. Their special education attorney, psychiatrist, neuro-psychologist, therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist and educational consultant had to attend IEP meetings with me. Even with an attorney and a panel of experts, it was extremely difficult to get the school district to provide appropriate services or placements.
The parents of mentally ill children are physically, emotionally and financially drained. Our children need specialized help in order to keep themselves and others safe…