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mikeg826
10-12-2012, 9:48am
Reading this article on Bullying, :sadangel: Parents have to start teaching their kids early on it is not right to bully , make fun of, etc other people:

Bullied Canadian teen leaves behind chilling YouTube video - CNN.com (http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/12/world/americas/canada-teen-bullying/index.html?hpt=hp_c2)

(CNN) -- Her YouTube video started out innocently enough. The Canadian teen, her face obscured from the camera, held a stack of cards each filled with messages in black marker.

"I've decided to tell you about my never ending story," the card in Amanda Todd's hands read.

At this point the viewer may have no idea that they are about to be led on the most agonizing journey, one that pushed the premier of British Columbia to issue a stern warning against bullying, a journey that has birthed a Facebook page with thousands of people commenting many offering condolences.

In the soundless, black and white video, the teen showed one card after another. Each card painfully sinking the viewer deeper into the anguish too many teens have experienced.

"In 7th grade I would go with friends on webcam," the card in the teen's hand read.

The next few cards reveal that the teen began to get attention on the Internet from people that she did not know. People who told her she was beautiful, stunning, perfect.

"They wanted me to flash. So I did one year later," the cards said.

The teen then got a message on Facebook from a stranger who said she needed to show more of herself or he would publish the topless pictures he had taken of her.

"He knew my address, school, relatives, friends, family, names ..."

On Christmas break, the police came to her home to tell her that photos of her were sent to "everyone."

She pushed the next card very close to the camera.

"I then got really sick anxiety major depression and panic disorder. I then moved and got into alcohol and drugs."

She says she struggled with anxiety, rarely went out for a year. And then the same man appeared again with a Facebook page that displayed her topless as his profile picture.

"Cried every night, lost all my friends and respect people had for me ... again ..."

She was teased and felt as if she could never erase that photo. She started cutting, a form of self-injuring act that psychologists say is an impulse-control behavior that sometimes accompanies a variety of mental illnesses.

At school, she ate lunch alone until she moved to another new school.

"Everything was better even though I sat still alone," the next card read. "After a month later I started talking to an old guy friend."

She thought the guy liked her even though she knew he had a girlfriend. One day he asked her to come over because his girlfriend was on vacation.

"So I did ... huge mistake ... I thought he liked me," she held the cards in one shaky hand now, using the other to brush under her eye as if wiping away a tear.

A week later the guy's girlfriend showed up at her school with a posse of 15 others. A crowd gathered. The girlfriend berated her screaming that nobody liked her.

"A guy than (sic) yelled just punch her already ..."

She was punched. Thrown on the ground.

"I felt like a joke in this world I thought nobody deserves this," the next card reads. "Teachers ran over but I just went and layed in a ditch and my dad found me."

When she got home she drank bleach.

"It killed me inside and I thought I actually was going to die."

She was rushed to a hospital to flush the chemical out of her.

She put the next card almost flush with camera so that the viewer can no longer see her and only sees "After I got home all I saw on Facebook- She deserved it and did you wash the mud out of your hair? I hope she is dead."

She moved in with her mother in another city, to another school. But her past followed her.

"6 months has gone by ... people are pasting pics of bleach, clorex (sic) and ditches ... Everyday I think why am I still here,"

Her struggles with anxiety and cutting had gotten worse and even despite counseling and antidepressants she still was rushed to hospital again after an overdose.

The last cards say simply: "I have nobody. I need someone. My name is Amanda Todd."

"No one deserves to be bullied. No one earns it. No one asks for it. It is not a rite of passage. Bullying has to stop. Every child has to feel safe at school," Clark said in a You Tube video posted Thursday.

On Wednesday, Amanda Todd's body was found in her home, police in the Vancouver-area city of Coquitlam said. She took her own life.

She was 15.:sadangel::sadangel:

Tossin
10-12-2012, 9:59am
I'm sure Red will have some very well informed and measured remarks about this.

snide
10-12-2012, 10:01am
:sadangel:

FasterTraffic
10-12-2012, 10:47am
She deserved none of that. Zero.

That said, her parents should have (assuming they didn't) about the internet, pictures and predators. That very well could have kept this girl from not ending up dead.

I thought I saw recently they prosecuted some guy who did the Internet/picture/blackmail thing.

onedef92
10-12-2012, 10:47am
I'm sure Red will have some very well informed and measured remarks about this.

Ditto for FuelJetA... :leaving:

ConstantChange
10-12-2012, 11:02am
This is very sad, but I'm afraid things like this will get worse before they will get better.

Social media is a big game changer with this upcoming generation. A picture, video, email, etc... can spread like wildfire in a matter of hours. I see very young kids with iPhones and other mobile devices. This is dangerous.

I think good parenting is the only solution, but that seems to be fading away as well.

island14
10-12-2012, 11:14am
Sad story she felt so bad she had to take her own life :sadangel:

Defib1961
10-12-2012, 11:57am
I am sure that at some point in life we were all bullied at least once. That being said, there is absolutely no reason why a person, much less a child, should be tormented to that degree. She tried moving twice and these pictures and the remarks followed her. Did she make a mistake at the beginning? Yes she did, but forcing her to pay many times over is indefensible. Later in life those responsible will be haunted daily by their actions..........I hope. :sadangel::sadangel:

VatorMan
10-12-2012, 12:24pm
You can't watch your kids 24/7. You can only hope you raise them in such a way that they will rely on you if they need help.

Still surprises me how many people just absolutely live on Facebook and Twitter. If something happens on there they are devastated.

Tossin
10-12-2012, 12:34pm
Still surprises me how many people just absolutely live on the internet. If something happens on there they are devastated.

It also goes the other way. Being on the internet has emboldened many people to say (and do) things online that they would not ever consider saying (or doing) to a person's face. Even when your name is attached, many people still feel a cloak of anonymity while posting.

C5Nate
10-12-2012, 12:40pm
She deserved none of that. Zero.

That said, her parents should have (assuming they didn't) about the internet, pictures and predators. That very well could have kept this girl from not ending up dead.

You can't watch your kids 24/7. You can only hope you raise them in such a way that they will rely on you if they need help.

Still surprises me how many people just absolutely live on Facebook and Twitter. If something happens on there they are devastated.


:iagree:

The rule in our house was no camera on the PC and the PC was placed in a common area with the screen facing out for all to see. I had the password and it was only used while a parent was home.

MEANZ06
10-12-2012, 9:26pm
R.I.P. Amanda Todd... :sadangel:

I saw the YT before reading this article... :sad:

ft laud mike
10-12-2012, 11:28pm
You can't watch your kids 24/7. You can only hope you raise them in such a way that they will rely on you if they need help.

Still surprises me how many people just absolutely live on Facebook and Twitter. If something happens on there they are devastated.

:iagree:
Sad, I know it wouldn't get rid of the pics, but why didn't she close her fb account? At least the stalker dude wouldn't be able to stalk her

Yamma
10-13-2012, 7:57am
This is very sad, but I'm afraid things like this will get worse before they will get better.

Social media is a big game changer with this upcoming generation. A picture, video, email, etc... can spread like wildfire in a matter of hours. I see very young kids with iPhones and other mobile devices. This is dangerous.

I think good parenting is the only solution, but that seems to be fading away as well.

Couldn't agree more.

Parents don't care and don't notice because they are just as engulfed in social media, trends, etc, and think even less of what their kids are doing. I don't see it getting better. I remember how bullying was when I was in school, and it's nothing compared to the level of cruelty that today's kids use.

So sad to see it end like this for such a beautiful young girl.