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| A screen shot from Amanda's viral youtube video |
Amanda Todd was a 15 year old girl from British Columbia, Canada. Todd took her own life (supposedly via hanging, not confirmed) on October 10th, one month after posting a 9 minute video of herself presenting cue-cards to the camera. Todd was a victim of what appears to be a severe case of bullying, but not unusual. Amanda's problems were brought on by herself when she made the foolish decision to "flash" strangers her breast's through webcam. Though in her video she only states that she did it once, other pictures of her flashing not only her breasts but also vagina have been unfortunately spread around the web. Long story short, Amanda was bullied cyber-ly, verbally, and physically by students and strangers. She switched schools and begun cutting herself. She attempted suicide, and recently suceeded.
Why Do You Care?
Amanda Todd did actions that young, stupid grade 8 girls do with access to webcam. She made foolish mistakes, and internet predators took advantage. The difference? She made a video. A 15 year old, white, female uploaded a video of her story before she died. Now people could pretend to care. They have something to spread to their social media sites and something to cry over for the few minutes they watch the video. Your friends or maybe even you have called this girl strong, maybe beautiful, perhaps even a hero. This is a fine example of glamourizing suicide, death. That by taking one's own life and publicizing it, you could too become famous and noticed. It's sick.The Reality
Since you've been reading this post, dozens of people have left this world. Today, suicide outnumbers homocide in our youth and there are an estimated 8-25 attempted suicides for each teen suicide death. Don't kid yourselves, there are a few Amanda Todd's in your school right now, and you walk by them everyday. We should not focus on one girl who is too late to be helped, and we should especially not give her praise and fame. What message does that send to the easily influenced, vulnerable teenagers?Though I'm almost certain our media obsession with death will not decline any time soon, there are some things you can do to lighten up your hipocracy on this subject.
1. Reach out to the teens, adults, and children in your community who are struggling with depression. A simple conversation, phonecall, or friendly supportive e-mail is all it takes.
2. Help stop the spread of band-wagon pages, tweets, posts, etc. glamourizing tragic occurences.
3. Be a decent human being. Learn from the mistakes of bullies in every situation. Follow the simple Golden Rule, do not do unto others what you do not wish be done to yourself.
That is all. Please, everyone, put some thought into what you share, tweet or re-post. Have a good day.
For further information on how to deal with, or help someone struggling with depression or suicidal thoughts, visit the following links.
http://www.familyfirstaid.org/suicide.html
http://www.kidshelpphone.ca/Teens/Home.aspx
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/depression_tips.htm
WEll SAID.
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