15 year old Canadian teenager Amanda Todd committed suicide weeks after posting her bullying video. This was not the first attempt to kill herself, she had previously drank bleach after being beaten up at school but this only made the bullying worse as images of bleach were tagged on to her Facebook account with no sympathy.
In the video she explains her ordeal that lead to the teenager committing suicide. At the age of 13 with a few friends she had entered a chat room to meet new people. She was showered with compliments and was then asked to flash her breasts which she did, not knowing what the consequences of this would be.
A year later she was contacted by the male who threatened to send the image of her to everyone she knew unless she ‘put on a show for him’. She refused and he carried out the threat, this is where the torment and the heartbreak began. Watch the whole video online, you will sense her remorse, her sadness and most of all her want for somebody to save her.
She also explains in the video it was a mistake that she made, but everyone makes mistakes and tries to move on but this young child was not allowed to move on. She changed schools and made new friends but bully was able to find her yet again and do the same thing.
The case of Amanda Todd highlights a number of issues that are not fully addressed in the media. Yes it is a case of bullying but it is also a case of sexual harassment and sexual exploitation of a young child which should be seen as pedophilia. She suffered physical and emotional abuse; those behind the bullying should be found and held accountable for their actions.
Public reaction has been mixed, of course the majority are sympathetic towards her, yet others make ignorant comments about her showing her breasts and committing suicide, making it into a joke. All you have to do is enter her name in a search engine and you will see images of the bulling. The internet can be a deadly tool.
Parents and teachers need to take more notice and action in the lives of their children; not just those who are being bullied but also the bullies themselves who should be made to stop.
The sad thing in this case is that Amanda was being bullied in front of everyone, it was no secret. The creators of websites such as Facebook need to do more to tackle cyber bullying and chat rooms need more supervision and tighter access and control of social networking sites is needed.
Amanda Todd was bullied when she was alive and is still being bullied after her death.