Amanda Todd RIP

[Pook]

Very sad a video she posted not even a month ago.


My story: Struggling, bullying, suicide, self harm - YouTube



Port Coquitlam teen driven to death by cyberbullying (with video)

The mother of a teenager who died Wednesday of suspected suicide wants her daughter’s anti-cyber-bullying video to be used to help other young people.

Fifteen-year-old Amanda Todd was found dead in a Port Coquitlam home at 6 p.m. Wednesday, five weeks after she posted a heartbreaking video on YouTube detailing how she was harassed online and bullied.

“I think the video should be shared and used as an anti-bullying tool. That is what my daughter would have wanted,” Carol Todd, Amanda’s mother, told The Vancouver Sun in a message on Twitter.

Click here for ways to get help if you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts

By Friday morning, The Amanda Michelle Todd memorial Facebook page, created shortly after her death, had more than 2,500 "likes." An outpouring of support for the girl's friends and family were posted:

"She is a beautiful young lady. I am in tears over this," wrote Jennifer Fincher, while many other Facebook users said they hoped she was with angels in heaven.

But not all the chatter was positive. Mike Mace, whose own Facebook page says he is a member of the Canadian Military, faced a flurry of shaming comments after he posted a negative comment mocking her death.

In the comment, he suggests that it's not the bully's fault that she showed her breasts and gave out her private information on the Internet.

"You should be ashamed of yourself," wrote Amber Garofano, while another woman Ashley Soucy posted, "have a heart."

The tragedy has sparked much discussion online about cyber-bullying and what can be done to eradicate the problem.

The Vancouver Sun is joining in on that discussion. The Sun is hosting a day of dialogue on bullying at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Facebook. Visit The Vancouver Sun - Vancouver, BC - Newspaper | Facebook to join the talk.

Click here for more photos of Amanda Todd

In September, Amanda posted a video to YouTube entitled My Story: Struggling, bullying, suicide and self harm.

In it Amanda does not speak, but instead holds up to the camera pieces of paper on which she has printed her story, one phrase at a time. She documents a painful tale of being harassed through Facebook and shunned at school, leaving her feeling alone and suicidal.

It started in Grade 8, when an embarrassing photo was circulated to her relatives, friends and schoolmates. Amanda switched schools, but the bullying continued.

“I can never get that photo back,” she writes.

Later, she was confronted by a group of teens in front of her new school and beaten up, an attack that was filmed. Despondent, Amanda went home and drank bleach.

Her harassers posted photos of bleach and commented that they wished she was dead.

Near the end of the video, she writes: “Every day I think why am I still here? ... I have nobody. I need someone.”

In a message accompanying the video post, Amanda added: “I’m not doing this (video) for attention. I’m doing this to be an inspiration and to show that I can be strong.”

Premier Christy Clark posted a short video on YouTube Thursday sending her sympathies to Amanda’s family.

“I want to say to everyone who loved her, to all her family and friends, how sorry I am about her loss,” Clark — who spearheaded a ‘Pink Shirt Day’ anti-bullying campaign while she was a radio host — says in the video.

“No one deserves to be bullied. No one earns it. No one asks for it. It isn’t a rite of passage.

“Bullying has to stop.”

Click here for ways to get help if you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts

In 2008, the B.C. government declared an annual anti-bullying day, and Clark has advanced anti-bullying initiatives since becoming premier.

Amanda was a former cheerleader with the Vancouver All Stars squad based in her hometown of Port Coquitlam. She attended school there until the middle of Grade 8, when she moved to a Maple Ridge school. In February, she transferred to Coquitlam Alternate Basic Education (CABE) in Coquitlam.

Students and staff at Amanda’s school were grieving her death Thursday.

“It is a very sad case,” said Paul McNaughton, principal of CABE, where Amanda was in Grade 10.

“She was quite connected here. The staff and the students here are very much impacted. She had some very strong ties in the school and to staff in the school.

“I can tell you we feel we tried everything we could to help her when she came to us.”

In her video, Amanda says she moved schools in a futile attempt to escape her bullies.

Spokeswomen for the Maple Ridge and Coquitlam school districts would not discuss the case directly, but both said their districts take action when they receive bullying complaints.

Grief counsellors were speaking to students in both districts Thursday.

Dr. Tyler Black, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at B.C. Children’s Hospital, said the reasons people commit suicide are often very complex. He urged parents, educators and youth at risk of suicide to realize there is help through options such as YouthinBC - Be Heard Get Help - Crisis Line, Live Chat and Resources or 1-800-SUICIDE.

“The message is there are professionals there, there are people out there who can help.”

On a positive note, Black added, suicide among youth aged 10 to 24 dropped 25 per cent from 2000 to 2009.

Amanda joined YouTube on Sept. 6 and posted her video Sept. 7.

On Sept. 7, Amanda also uploaded a slide-show presentation called Cyber Bullying on Prezi.com, in which she gives advice on how to deal with such harassment.

In what could turn out to be her own very sad legacy, Amanda urged people to stand up to bullies and help victims:

“If you see that someone is being bullied, don’t be afraid to tell the bully to stop doing what they are doing. Make sure to tell them that it’s wrong and that they shouldn’t bully other kids.”

Amanda told parents “to always give your child emotional support” and to help them if they are being bullied.

B.C.’s education ministry announced last month that it will spend $2 million on a strategy called ERASE Bullying. The strategy includes a confidential online bullying reporting service that will allow students, school staff, parents and members of the public to make anonymous reports about potential or actual cases of school bullying and violence.

“My thoughts and prayers go to her family, I cannot even begin to imagine what they are going through. High school is supposed to be the best time of your life, not one where you fear for yourself every day. No one should have to feel the way she did,” wrote Breanna Lockhart Collins. “She was a beautiful young girl who went way too soon.”

In a post on its Facebook page, G Force Gym — home of the Vancouver All Stars cheerleaders — wrote:

“Today we feel the loss of our former VAS family member Amanda ... I ask that we all watch her video and share her story so that her loss is not in vain. Allow this to be her legacy ... Allow us all to look around & find the next Amanda before another precious spunky teenager is lost.”

Amanda’s video echoed another similar online story entitled My Story: Suicide and Bullying, which had been uploaded by Mollydoyle18 on YouTube. Commenting on Amanda’s video, Molly posted Wednesday:

“Rest in peace and fly high to Amanda Todd. I was just messaging her about almost a week ago, and I just found out that she has taken her life. She was asking me about how to be an inspiration to others and to get her video more views, and now I have found out that she has passed away ... This is a terrible tragedy. I wish she could have had her happy ending.


Read more: Port Coquitlam teen driven to death by cyberbullying (with video)

[ky scrambled]

so she showed her tits then got the fawk out?

[gunracer1]

Just stupid

[purevil71]

Did they ever figure out who it was that was bullying her?

[big pimpin]

Originally Posted by ky scrambled

so she showed her tits then got the fawk out?

and drank bleach

[yozsi]

Originally Posted by ky scrambled

so she showed her tits then got the fawk out?

your signature is my reply to this thread.

[vetteboy79]

Originally Posted by ky scrambled

so she showed her tits then got the fawk out?

Ironically, after drinking bleach as well...

edit:

[kc8ksg]

Originally Posted by ky scrambled

so she showed her tits then got the fawk out?

And drank bleach apparently.

What the hell is wrong with parents that they don't support their kid and let them know it doesn't matter what other people think and to grow thicker skin.


Edit: late on the bleach

[Blame Canada]

My wife and I argued about this story, this morning.

My wife's question, was "Where were her parents in all of this?"

I replied, "Probably, at work like most of us?" ~ not the empathetic answer she was looking for I guess.

Drinking bleach in Grade 8 should have been a wake-up call that the girl was unable to protect herself. Sadly, it doesn't sound like anything changed since then.

[usmcdoc14]

wow. I never thought you could actually clean the gene pool with bleach, learn something new every day.


and before someone quotes me and others in this thread and calls us assholes: Yes, I am an asshole

[DRM]

wow.. she actually drank bleach

[thumping]

Sorry…but I just don’t get this whole cyber bulling shit. I guess some people just can’t walk away from the computer.

There have always been bullies and there will always be bullies. The world will never be rainbows and unicorns. Where the problem has come about is how people have been taught in how to deal with them. When I grew up, I was taught to fight back, not coward away. If you want someone to stop doing something you have to give them a reason that hurts if they don’t.

But today all we hear is, don’t hit back, tell someone (what fucking good does it do to tell someone if all they are going to do is tell them to stop?) We need to get back to people learning and willing to defend themselves and NOT punish those that do.

[TJGreg5]

So how old was she when she showed her tits? If she was 18, where's the video?

edit, watched the video. 7th grade :chris hansen:

Anyway, another vote for kyscrambled's sig.

[JParuBob]

Originally Posted by TJGreg5

So how old was she when she showed her tits? If she was 18, where's the video?

She wasn't.

Sent via Morse code

[Ho Shorts]

TOGTFO



























Wait, too late she's out :-(




All Jokes aside this sucks

[wireman]

Originally Posted by TJGreg5

So how old was she when she showed her tits? If she was 18, where's the video?

She never saw her 16th birthday.

[CaryW]

Only think she left out was a fork to the neck!

Sounds like she was a cheerleader and popular. Not the classic bully target until the titties popped out.

[MT4Runner]

Originally Posted by purevil71

Did they ever figure out who it was that was bullying her?

Fawk bullying, she was outright stalked!

[Nightshade]

I wouldn't think it would be difficult to track down the cyber bullies and make their lives a living hell in return, the internet is not as anonymous as one would think.

One part of me wants to say that Darwin did his job, but in reality I think this is just plain fucked up and those doing the bullying should get the same treatment.

[ky scrambled]

Originally Posted by CaryW

Sounds like she was a cheerleader and popular. Not the classic bully target until the titties popped out.

christ

[IEATRKS84]

whooooole lotta WTF in that article.

lemme get this timeline straight:
-shewed bewbers
-pic passed around
-got beat up/teased
-drank bleach
-made an anti bully video on youtube
-killed herself
-mom finally steps in and wants her daughters video to help other people?

[Cabin Boy]

[Nightshade]

Originally Posted by IEATRKS84

whooooole lotta WTF in that article.

lemme get this timeline straight:
-shewed bewbers
-pic passed around
-got beat up/teased
-drank bleach
-made an anti bully video on youtube
-killed herself
-mom finally steps in and wants her daughters video to help other people?

Yeah I agree the mother definitley did not do much to help things from the looks of it.

[Action Fab]

Originally Posted by thumping

Sorry…but I just don’t get this whole cyber bulling shit. I guess some people just can’t walk away from the computer.

There have always been bullies and there will always be bullies. The world will never be rainbows and unicorns. Where the problem has come about is how people have been taught in how to deal with them. When I grew up, I was taught to fight back, not coward away. If you want someone to stop doing something you have to give them a reason that hurts if they don’t.

But today all we hear is, don’t hit back, tell someone (what fucking good does it do to tell someone if all they are going to do is tell them to stop?) We need to get back to people learning and willing to defend themselves and NOT punish those that do.

Sounds like she was getting shit at school too. But yeah, not understanding the online part.

[MT4Runner]

Originally Posted by Nightshade

I wouldn't think it would be difficult to track down the cyber bullies and make their lives a living hell in return, the internet is not as anonymous as one would think.

I think this is just plain fucked up and those doing the bullying should get the same treatment.

Interesting...

Get /b/ on it!