UK & World News
- 14 October 2012, 8:03
Canadian Teen Who Posted Bullying Video Dies
The death of a schoolgirl five weeks after she uploaded a video describing years of bullying has sparked shock and outrage in Canada.
Coroner Barb McLintock said on Thursday that preliminary indications suggest 15-year-old Amanda Todd killed herself.
In the nine-minute video posted on September 7 on YouTube, the British Columbia cheerleader did not speak but told her story in haunting detail in a series of handwritten notes that she held up to the camera.
She said she was lured by a stranger to expose her breasts on a webcam and the picture ended up on a Facebook page made by the stranger, to which her friends were added.
She wrote of being plunged into anxiety, depression, drugs and alcohol.
Amanda said she changed schools but an encounter with another girl's boyfriend started the bullying again, which this time escalated into a physical attack in which she said she was beaten.
When Amanda got home, she wrote, she drank bleach: "It killed me inside and I thought I actually was going to die."
She was rushed to a hospital to flush out the bleach.
More anxiety, cutting and overdosing followed, her struggles with anxiety and cutting herself got worse, and despite counselling and antidepressants, she was rushed to hospital again after an overdose.
The last cards in the video said simply: "I have nobody. I need someone. My name is Amanda Todd."
Beneath the video, Miss Todd posted a note saying she produced it not for attention, but "to be an inspiration and to show that I can be strong".
"Everyone's future will be bright one day, you just gotta pull through. I'm still here, aren't I?"
Ms McClintock said Amanda died in her home on Wednesday. Her office released no other details.
The Coquitlam Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the family are not prepared to speak publicly and have asked that their privacy be respected.
The girl's death was headline news nationally on Friday, with #RIPAmanda trending across Twitter and one Amanda Michelle Todd memorial page on Facebook garnering more than 35,000 "likes".
Shock, sadness and recriminations poured out on a Facebook page devoted to her.
British Columbia Premier Christy Clark posted a video on YouTube, deploring the tragedy.
Bullying "isn't a rite of passage", she said. "Bullying has to stop."
Update:
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what do you think?
rfbevan
How very sad!
mark townend
I hate bullies. I got bullied at school since primary right though to the end of secondary school for having ginger hair. Uniform ripped and torn,hair messed with chewimg gum and cut...marker pen on my face with pictures of genitals etc..for me.school were the worst years of my life.
Matthew Stoner
Same here Mark......from Primary right through to Secondary....unfortunately for me though, I thought once I left school I'd be free...in a way I was....free from the physical torment, but it affected me mentally for years after, right into my late 20's.....without going into detail, I was one of the lucky ones for whom councilling worked....but it took the support of my family to get me through also.....This is such a sad story, makes my blood boil when I read about bullies....I cant even watch it happening in a soap on TV without feeling a sense of rage....poor lass R.I.P.
Helen Little
Poor girl.Very brave.No one should have to go through that.My thoughts and prayers are with her family.R.I.P
Brian E Gorton
Bullies are very sick low life.How does it feel to take a life.I hope you remember what you have done for the rest of your life!! RIP Amanda you where a beautiful girl.I feel very sad for all of your family
Jasmin Louise
And because she was such a beautiful girl that's probably the problem. Bullies never prosper in life! They're insecure and weak.
t.bulgin
Poor girl. Very sad story. R.I.P.
Richard Gould
There is currently no legislation to control bullying in public, workplaces or schools. Governments should stop sticking their heads in the sand and act now to stamp it out. They put so much effort into sexual harassment, racism but nothing with regards to bullying.
Carol Else
YES I AGREE TOTALLY. GOVERMENT NEED TO BUCK UP TO BULLYING IN PUBLIC PLACES
David Rankin
people always say there is no this and no that against bullies and bullying.the answer is there for all people to see but thanks to dogooders again they will stand up and fight for the bullies rights,,.all and i mean all bullies are cowards if 1 got a bully on there own and some 1 was way bigger than the bully 1 disovers that the bully when a lone turns into a frightened child and starts to cry.. this is a fact all bullies are cowards and cant act alone unless the person has been bullied that much that they have given up,, AGAIN ALL BULLIES ARE COWARDS,(FACT)
Carol Else
I HATE BULLIES. SCHOOL BULLIES GO ON TO BULLY IN ADULTHOOD. MY HEART GOES OUT TO HER FAMILY AND FRIENDS BLESS HER NOW SHE IS SAFE IN GODS ARMS XX
ffreem200
Such a tragic story for such a young an innocent girl. May she rest in peace and thoughts with the family
shaun spencer
Such a pretty young girls life has been eroded away by bullys.so very very sad.
Paul Grice
The problem today is the victims of bullying are treated like the aggressor and the aggressors like victims . It's an all too familiar story Maybe this poor girls death my make the do gooders and hug a tree brigade do the right thing and bring down the full weight of the law on the sickos how get kicks out of others misery
Joe Elliott
What ashame such a beautiful girl I hope these bullies never forget what they,ve done and never have peace.rip sweetheart.x
Jim Ford
"The problem today is the victims of bullying are treated like the aggressor" People often side with the bully for fear of being a target themselves.
Sharon Ridgeway Ahmadi
R.I.p another life taken by the bullies :-( why?
Name witheld
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Maria Jose Gómez Carrasco
It is unfortunate that such cases occur. Parents should take action. My partner and I have installed a free software sassreport, through which we see our daughter's activity on social networks and so we can prevent and detect any type of cyberbullying. I leave the link where I found <a href="http://www.sassreport.com" rel='nofollow'>http://www.sassreport.com</a>
ali baba
2:12pm on 13/10/2012
very sad, rip. i really hate bullies.
ali baba
7:49pm on 13/10/2012
stories like these really sadden me cause i hate people suffering. the hours before she passed away the sadness that she must have bottled inside must have been disturbing. i hope the perpetrators get the their bad karma. watching the video really brings it home what a lovely and sweet person she was.