R.I.P Amanda Todd

[OnTheRoadAgain]

Stay off facebook

Right...because no one was ever bullied or committed suicide before Facebook came along.

The difference with facebook is that it is worldwide at one click of a mouse.
That's why they call it the 'information freeway" Add a webcam, and .....
C'mon, surely you do understand that social media has exacerbated the bullying problem, and how?

[sooperphreek]

this whole situation is losing the plot. people are falling for the smokescreen and putting the entire focus of feeling sorry for this girl and lashing out at bullies. the question i have is this - why the he!! did she spend so much time on a media where she bared her breasts, her heart, her soul, and her weaknesses so frivolously? as far as i can see no one put a gun to her head and forced her to any of that until she was blackmailed a year after. why didnt she fess up and tell her parents and authorities at that time? why not just face the music concerning her dumb decision? if you are getting "bullied" online then stay away from youtube and facebook and stop hiding from parents, counselors, and real tangible people in your life that care and can hug you. dont let every tom, dick and online harry pick at it like vultures so they can exploit it. was she expecting a disney version where there were fields of flowers and birds singing? that was a cautionary tale for being impaired mentally. which in the end is a big part of this tragedy. there is a reason we have labeled the latest generation the "emo" generation. why is everyone a bunch of cream puffs? you look at someone cross eyed and they cry to someone that its bullying. which is taking the resonance away from the real bullying and issue. i have people in castanet being very direct in what they think of me on here and walk away thinking even worse because they cant say so without castanet censorship. does that mean that i go out the selfish way and kill myself? leave those that love me to wonder how people that i didnt know took precedence over them? leave them trying to pick up the pieces because i didnt have the courage to let them help me? when you are selfish and take your life it shows how little you think of the ones that love you. and that is a bigger tragedy than the bullying in my opinion.

[Tero]

Parents also need to stop giving their kids free reign to do whatever they want on the internet. I know people who let their kids have their own computers in their room and are always on them. The computer should be in a public area of the house with parental locks on them. No chatrooms, facebook, etc. Sure, you might get bitched out by your kid for being one of the few kids who isn't on facebook when all their friends are but who cares. Suck it up and say no. You're the parent. Set time limits for the internet and have periods of time where the computer is off for everyone. Have family time, these commercials we see where everyone is in the living room on their own laptop are ridiculous and setting poor examples for family life. Unplug.

Oh, the ridicule, shaming, and outright "What's wrong with you?" I"ve taken from my own friends because I withheld facebook from my kids for so long.... yep, awful mom, didn't let them on fb in grade 7!!!
And our computer is in the KITCHEN!

You're so right on with this post. We need parents to PARENT, not be friends!

[gardengirl]

this whole situation is losing the plot. people are falling for the smokescreen and putting the entire focus of feeling sorry for this girl and lashing out at bullies. the question i have is this - why the he!! did she spend so much time on a media where she bared her breasts, her heart, her soul, and her weaknesses so frivolously? as far as i can see no one put a gun to her head and forced her to any of that until she was blackmailed a year after. why didnt she fess up and tell her parents and authorities at that time? why not just face the music concerning her dumb decision? if you are getting "bullied" online then stay away from youtube and facebook and stop hiding from parents, counselors, and real tangible people in your life that care and can hug you. dont let every tom, dick and online harry pick at it like vultures so they can exploit it. was she expecting a disney version where there were fields of flowers and birds singing? that was a cautionary tale for being impaired mentally. which in the end is a big part of this tragedy. there is a reason we have labeled the latest generation the "emo" generation. why is everyone a bunch of cream puffs? you look at someone cross eyed and they cry to someone that its bullying. which is taking the resonance away from the real bullying and issue. i have people in castanet being very direct in what they think of me on here and walk away thinking even worse because they cant say so without castanet censorship. does that mean that i go out the selfish way and kill myself? leave those that love me to wonder how people that i didnt know took precedence over them? leave them trying to pick up the pieces because i didnt have the courage to let them help me? when you are selfish and take your life it shows how little you think of the ones that love you. and that is a bigger tragedy than the bullying in my opinion.

Seriously? You obviously have never been a 13 year old girl.
Actually, it sounds like you have some anger issues of your own.

[Charlie01]

The events of this young life are not much less tragic than her death. Anybody not affected by the cries for help and the sadness of it all is a lot more cold than I can understand.

I don't disagree with a good part of your thinking through several threads about teens OTRA and many good questions could be put forward to a level able to provide and apply answers. The voice to speak up needs to be paired with those possessing the social and psychological tools of recognition and working in concert with those in position to apply the tools of repair. Now, how to go about it?

When a person reads the words of young Amanda, she had backed up in time to where she saw her troubles begin. At 13 or 14, broken home as you point out and reading her words, it's obvious trouble began long before Amanda gave it a start point. She was so young and the mistake she made is one some will see as ( one of?) an early cry for help. What causes a girl so young to feel the need to issue such a cry for love or validation? That's what it is when a young person falls pray to such "flattery". There are basic human emotional needs that are neglected and the "mistake" of the behaviour isn't something "every kid would do". Amanda's mistake was the action of a kid with little respect for herself and craving love any way she could get it. That would have evolved a long time before she flashed for a camera or offered her young body up for evaluation by some young guy ready to exploit her vulnerability.Right there was a flag of low self-esteem, undervaluation and a cry for "somebody please love me" in that earliest mistake. Seems to me her folks were probably too involved in dealing with their own issues to notice a kid crying for validation and security. This certainly would seem like a case where immediate family didn't have the skills themself to be depended on to parent and intervene or even recognize a kid in trouble emotionally - a long, long time before she died. As matters escalated, was there no adult within her family capable of understanding that a young teen drinking, doing drugs, cutting and in extreme social termoil maybe has some issues going on that warrant psychological help? Legally, yes, such help is initiated either by family or social services. In light of everything else going on for this young girl, the bullying sure didn't help, but it was neither the first or only problem - just part of a spectrum. I am sickened that nowhere in the society around her or her family was there anybody compassionate enough to make known the help she needed. There is no doubt the poor kid kept crying out until there was nothing left to cry out with, but what the H*** was wrong with any adult around her? How was she being medicated by an MD, yet still the gravest part of the problem was missed?

I think this is an extreme situation of gross neglect by family and society. I am glad that media might once again cast light on the issues of bullying, but i do not believe bullying was the only problem here.

[sooperphreek]

yes i am angry that this has happened. and im angry how feeling sorry for her and chasing the red herring of "bullying" isnt going to change anything. so what is society going to do to change things? perhaps it is an example of how passive agressive parenting doesnt work. perhaps if parents were more decisive her decisions would have been more sound. perhaps if kids were not so cocooned in a world of social media - a real living, breathing person would have been there face to face to talk to and perhaps even hug her. so ya, i have anger issues. maybe we need to educate kids about the dangers of ostracizing yourself from personal connections that are outside social media. but hey....i guess it is just easier to feel sorry for her and have a flash mob against bullies.

[weatherloach]

I think all of the posters on here who are using this as an avenue to bicker to each other about parenting skills, TV, etc should step back and look. A VERY YOUNG GIRL WHO HAD A LONG LIFE AHEAD OF HER IS DEAD...END OF STORY. All your problems aside i think Amanda Todd deserves AT LEAST this one forum, and in my opinion countless others, of positivity. Unfortunately it is too late for her but posting positively like this, others that may be in a similar situation may look at this forum and believe that despite the ignorant, selfish bottom feeders of society there are caring people out there that you may never have met. RIP Amanda

[sooperphreek]

what did a society of "positivity" get her? and how will sunshine and rainbows benefit her now?

[Charlie01]

In truth, I don't see any bickering either. I see people heart sick and troubled that a young girl committed suicide and that the matter of bullying played a huge roll in the misery of the last of her few short years. I also see a lot of people thinking about what needs to happen to prevent another teen suicide. Maybe Amanda's story as she put it out there can be her legacy as another life saved?

[Loed]

Very glad to see a lot of people here talking about the real issue.

Where were the parents! Broken home, family torn apart and this girl is looking for love.... in all the wrong places. The bullies exasperated the issue and are definitely a part of the problem(how did a person get away, legally, with posting child porn to FB!?), but the family was not there for her. Two, what three suicide attempts, getting beat up and laying in a ditch at school... I would NOT leave my child alone after this many re-occurrences. She would be monitored, her FB access would be given up or only allowed supervised so I could go "Why do you want to look at a page dedicated to making fun of you?" It would be a full-time job, but that poor kid deserved it.

Bullying can be easily countered with parenting. Remember that.

[grammafreddy]

Blame the parents, that's all we ever hear when some teenager dies.
What a crock of *bleep*
Is that the warm blanket some wrap themselves in to feel better?
We are all to blame, this society we live in allows this garbage to continue, Judge mental and self righteous. From omg they're fat to I don't want gay marriage, if you say it it's hurting someone.

Gramma F gets it.

I get it because I have buried and mourned a teenage suicide son, although his issue was not bullying.

I have walked this dawg around the block and picked up the poop.

Sooperphreek gets it, too.

[Roadster]

I didnt read every post so here is my thoughts,,, I feel bad for her and her family,, the bullies should pay dearly for it and so should those who should have intervened,,, but so should the parent who allowed her the time to flash,,, thats admittedly where it all started,,, talking to your kids about being pushed to do something that will hurt them is the start to avoiding this. Its a shame it goes that far but internet is an aweful thing as it is good in other ways.
How about the black dress she was wearing in two of the pics? Does a teen need to own something like that? Maybe I am wrong but I can see where a parent messed up here a few times at least and a young girl paid for it,,, RIP Amanda, hopefully you will teach many parents what to allow and what to do for their kids.

[Lady tehMa]

Everyone is looking for someone to blame - a bully, many bullies, the parents, the poor girl.

This is a societal ill. Teens are detached, lacking empathy. How did they get that way? Coocooned in social media, ignored by parents or parented by people who want to be friends, not authority figures.

There is no right or wrong any more, there are no consequences for anyone involved except Amanda Todd. Everyone else goes on.

Lord of the Flies. This is our future.

[Lette66]

Please join my group..I just started it but my goal is to let all bully victims know that they are and never will be alone in this world..There will always be someone here to help them get through it..

R.I.P Amanda Todd! You are a beautiful angel

https://www.facebook.com/groups/288212371289268/

[Roadster]

Please join my group..I just started it but my goal is to let all bully victims know that they are and never will be alone in this world..There will always be someone here to help them get through it..

R.I.P Amanda Todd! You are a beautiful angel

https://www.facebook.com/groups/288212371289268/

What a good idea, I hope you can get it around facebook somehow and let victims find you when they need you.