Canadian girl committed suicide after cyber bulling

[Brennan]

Tributes from across the world are being paid to a 15-year-old girl from Canada who killed herself after being bullied online.A memorial for Amanda Todd was held overnight in British Columbia, five days after she was found dead.
It comes just five weeks after she uploaded a video to YouTube describing years of bullying that she said drove her to drugs and alcohol.
In the nine-minute video she told her story with a set of handwritten notes.
The recording, described as "haunting", showed the cheerleader going into detail about what happened to her.
She said she was persuaded to expose her breasts to a stranger who then sent the photo to her school friends.
'I need someone'These images were then used to torment her on social media, she adds.
The teenager changed schools repeatedly but this did not stop the bullying and she was physically attacked by classmates.
After a violent encounter with another girl, she wrote that she went home and drank bleach.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/19960162

Terrible. Hope to God that the people responsible are punished in any way the law allows.

 

[Kurt.]

Heartbreaking.

 

[EFCNIK]

Mick can you please take note and think about how you treat me on here.

 

[Baines' left foot]

So, so sad. This kind of stuff is getting worse too.

 

[bluejock]

Let this be a lesson to parents to keep a close watch on what your kids do online. Absolutely no reason why a 15 year old child needs a webcam.

A very preventable death.

 

[Bigmaclad]

One thing that annoys me about this whole situation is that people have now set up various pages in a selfish attempt to get 'likes' on Facebook.

Why can't they just leave the family to mourn in peace without using the tragic death of their daughter in order to up their internet status?!

 

[Tubey]

Mick can you please take note and think about how you treat me on here.

I think you need to back away from the keyboard mate

As for the story, yep really sad, saw this yesterday. American/Canadian schools seem very harsh on in terms of bullying - not helped by the various social hierarchies they have.

 

[Bungle]

The internet has many great uses, this unfortunately is the flip side of it, tragic news and you can only hope the guilt of the people that played a part in it ruins their lives.

 

[DanEFC92]

It bothers me that some people are completely void of a conscience.

 

[HSD]

It's awful, but it seems like it's becoming more and more common these days, whether it's because of bullying or because someone's depressed, etc. There needs to be more awareness for help. It should be advertised every day imo.

A boy from my school & sixth form recently fell 140ft to his death, he was never bullied, he seemed like the happiest person I've met. And it terrifies me that people have actually got to the point of choosing to end their own lives.

 

[EFCNIK]

Bullying someone is the lowest of the low. I honestly dont get how someone can get enjoyment out of making someone else feel like utter **** is unknown to me.

 

[paulbefc]

She's gone to hell and back there, bless her. Kids will be kids, though and when they're online, you can't really police it.

 

[pfim]

I honestly dont get how someone can get enjoyment out of making someone else feel like utter **** is unknown to me.

Bullies can't deal with their own inadequacies so they point out others and mock.

Basically, they're cowards.

 

[Baines' left foot]

I think you need to back away from the keyboard mate

As for the story, yep really sad, saw this yesterday. American/Canadian schools seem very harsh on in terms of bullying - not helped by the various social hierarchies they have.

Spot on with that last sentence.



The introduction of social networking is obviously a massive contributor to this. The whole "liking" people pictures and "re tweeting" has sent everybody mad, the whole LOOK AT ME online culture is so, so wrong. Especially when kids get involved. It's dangerous.

I mean just look at kids now. When I was 14 I was wearing Adidas tracky bottoms and a Le Coq Sportif polo shirt ffs. Now they're all wearing chinos and All Saints t shirts, Hollister and Jack Wills, shaving their f*cking chests, going the gym, and documenting their lives through pictures and status updates on Facebook and Twitter to try and horde more "likes", and meaningless "friends" or "followers".

And if you don't fit in there's a chance you're going to get bullied. I mean that was always the case when I was younger in school, that's just what some kids are like unfortunately, but social networking opens it up to everyone, and creates a permanent document of it.

It's f*cking evil.

 

[Avaseer]

Im going to be a little bit of a devils advocate here, and i do agree thats its a terrible shame when someone kills themselves, but what was said before is correct. Whats a young kid doing with a webcam? I understand she is only young but showing yourself naked on the internet to a complete stranger is NOT the smartest thing to do. There is alot more to this story when you do a bit of research and this is not best example of a life ruined by bullying.

Considering that you cannot stop bullying when you be realistic. What strategies would you think are effective on minimising the occurence and also mitigating the damage it can cause?

This is all assuming she was not mentally handicapped which makes it a different situation entirely, i think alot of children nowadays are too cottonwooled and they dont get used to the fact that life isnt fair and how to adjust to a situation, not just keep doing the same thing and hope the situation changes.