37 replies to this topic

[sarah_444]

Quote

Amanda Todd switched schools three times to escape, and reached out last month through a YouTube video.

“Everyday I think why am I still here?” the teen wrote on cards, which she showed the camera.

Toronto Sun article

Edited by sarah_444, 12 October 2012 - 02:59 PM.

[glorybebe]

That is horrible!  I know that I moved my daughter from a school that said it had zero tolerance for bullying.  It was a gong show.  If you are going to say zero tolerance then practice it.

That is horrible!  I know that I moved my daughter from a school that said it had zero tolerance for bullying.  It was a gong show.  If you are going to say zero tolerance then practice it.

[OverSword]

I couldn't watch that entire vid knowing she killed herself after she posted it.  You can tell she was really pretty, you don't picture pretty girls getting bullied.  Too bad for everyone involved.  Her, her family, the bullies, the people who did nothing to stop the bullies.

[sarah_444]

This girl was pushed down by her "friends" and peers for doing possibly the same sort of things they had done. Everyone makes mistakes, especially kids and teenagers trying to fit in and be accepted..it's part of growing up and living life. She was just pushed so far down that she saw no way out.
I do volunteer work at a boys and girls club. The kids I work with are pretty young, but I've heard of kids as young as 9 years old talking with the counselors about bullies.  The older kids usually aren't as open to talking about it from what I hear but a few months ago I had a seventh grader and her friend knock on my door because a mob of kids were going to jump her at the corner. Why? Because she dyed her hair hot pink and stood up for herself against their ridicule. She needed as place to hide out so she could call her Dad to come pick her up so she resorted to knocking on a total stranger's door.

Bullying is definitely nothing new, but the way kids are constantly hooked into the internet makes it easy to target/be targeted 24 hours a day.  Hopefully the loss of this girl will at least open some eyes and hearts.

Edited by sarah_444, 12 October 2012 - 06:54 PM.

[glorybebe]

sarah_444, on 12 October 2012 - 06:53 PM, said:

This girl was pushed down by her "friends" and peers for doing possibly the same sort of things they had done. Everyone makes mistakes, especially kids and teenagers trying to fit in and be accepted..it's part of growing up and living life. She was just pushed so far down that she saw no way out.
I do volunteer work at a boys and girls club. The kids I work with are pretty young, but I've heard of kids as young as 9 years old talking with the counselors about bullies.  The older kids usually aren't as open to talking about it from what I hear but a few months ago I had a seventh grader and her friend knock on my door because a mob of kids were going to jump her at the corner. Why? Because she dyed her hair hot pink and stood up for herself against their ridicule. She needed as place to hide out so she could call her Dad to come pick her up so she resorted to knocking on a total stranger's door.

Bullying is definitely nothing new, but the way kids are constantly hooked into the internet makes it easy to target/be targeted 24 hours a day.  Hopefully the loss of this girl will at least open some eyes and hearts.

We can hope.  And I hope those that were responisble actually feel bad about it, not just push it off to the side.  We need to change our laws so that victims like this have some recourse, whether it is forcing the parents of the bullies to take the bullies to councelling or be the ones who are responsible for their children's actions, be that charges or monetarily.  If parents are responsible for damage that their minor children incure with B&Es or mischief, then they should be responsible in some way in these instances, too.

[JGirl]

bullying is the worst thing to go through when you're a kid. school is your entire social world and when you are hated and bullied within that structure you become seriously isolated and depressed. i know, i was relentlessly bullied in school, by everyone. even those who didn't know me knew i was the one everyone picked on so they did too.
i hated it beyond what i can describe, but i did not kill myself.
the reason i mention that is because i think there is something else going on that causes these kids to kill themselves. yes the bullying pushed them over the edge, but i can't help thinking there is a larger problem with young people that predisposes them to thoughts of suicide.
i think it has a lot to do with our society and the push for them to be smarter, better, grow up faster, be independent before they're ready, we as parents are unavailable, doing our own thing, and the daycare centers raise our children. latch key kids, absentee parents, no structure no discipline no boundries. i believe they desperately need to be children and there is no place for that anymore.

[supervike]

Not saying Bullying shouldn't be addressed, and it's a huge issue.

But, other serious issues, such as depression and anxiety may have played a huge role too.

What I'm trying to say is, we should stand up to Bullying, but also look for signs of other problems as well.

Quite honestly, we're never going to remove bullying all the way.

But, the end result here is horrifically tragic.

[glorybebe]

supervike, on 12 October 2012 - 07:30 PM, said:

Not saying Bullying shouldn't be addressed, and it's a huge issue.

But, other serious issues, such as depression and anxiety may have played a huge role too.

What I'm trying to say is, we should stand up to Bullying, but also look for signs of other problems as well.

Quite honestly, we're never going to remove bullying all the way.

But, the end result here is horrifically tragic.

bullying can lead to depression, anxiety and eating disorders.  If we can prevent bullying, we may be able to prevent or lessen the degree of mental, emotional or eating disorder.

[DarkHunter]

This is a tragedy, of that there is no doubt, but trying to remove bullies will not solve the problem, it is at best a practice in futility.  You can talk as much as you want about zero tolerance but that will never solve the problem, at best it will just change the type of bulling, at worst make it far more of a problem.  You can talk about punishing the parents but that will not solve anything either.  All that would do is prolong kids learning about taking responsibility for their actions and getting the parents involved in a fight with the school and/or state.  

Bullying is a part of human nature and you just can't remove or change it.  Instead of wasting so much time, energy, and money in fighting a battle that can never be won the best and logical course of action would be to develop some kind of support system for the bullied.  Instead of focusing so much on stopping the bully which can't be done, why not instead just focus on helping those who are bullied, especially those who are showing signs of suicide.

The kids who are committing suicide often have more problems going on then just bullying going on that need to be addressed and stopping the bullies won't fi those other problems.  All of this targeting the bully stuff to me just sounds like a bunch of people who where bullied when they where younger and are out for revenge and don't truly care for the plight of those being bullied.

Edited by DarkHunter, 12 October 2012 - 08:11 PM.

[JGirl]

glorybebe, on 12 October 2012 - 07:38 PM, said:

bullying can lead to depression, anxiety and eating disorders.  If we can prevent bullying, we may be able to prevent or lessen the degree of mental, emotional or eating disorder.

i agree - i think my depression was due in large part to the constant bullying. we can lesson bullying, at least i hope we can, but it will not be eradicated completely in my opinion. it's part of human nature to be competitive and aggressive, although i will also agree that we should be able to teach people to use those traits in productive ways rather than striking out at each other. as for the depression. even when the bullying is ongoing, treatment and therapy for the depression affords an outlet and builds self esteem and confidence, all of which are beneficial to facing and standing up to the bullying.

[sarah_444]

No, I don't think that bullying (between humans of all ages) will ever be eradicated, but I think it's worth the effort to raise more awareness about it though.  Obviously kids who are bullied need more support, not only from their schools or communities but from the people close to them, because especially with cyber bullying, it's not just a "school problem".  Raising the awareness of the effects of this sort of behaviour can help prevent it to some degree at least, and that's better then standing by and waiting until kids are already being tormented and in some cases, like this one, it's too late to offer support.

[Hilander]

I wish they could find this man that bullied her.  I got the feeling he was a grown man and she was only 15.  I think she had lots of issues going on between getting beaten and the online bully that needed to be dealt with by a professional.  Poor girl.

[sarah_444]

The RCMP has confirmed a full investigation has been launched into Amanda's death. Their spokesman also added that bullying ranks second, behind substance abuse when it comes to "concerning youth issues". Which is not very surprising, unfortunately.

[JGirl]

sarah_444, on 12 October 2012 - 08:49 PM, said:

it's not just a "school problem".  

absolutely right.
i think i was using the school system because that's where my experience was but now it's the internet every bit as much if not moreso

[Imaginarynumber1]

It's a bit ironic, how everybody suddenly cares and the outpouring of support after she kills herself.

Edited by Imaginarynumber1, 13 October 2012 - 06:37 PM.