Bullying: The Amanda Todd Story

Bullying: The Amanda Todd Story

CRJ180: Juvenile Delinquency and Justice

Bullying: The Amanda Todd Story

Amanda Michelle Todd was born November 27, 1996 in British Columbia, Canada. In the year 2009, Amanda moved in with her father and like every other pre-teen/teenager she created an account to meet new people via video chat. She befriended a male whom she did not know, and video chatted with him for the better part of a year. After talking to him for a while, he persuaded her to show him her breasts but unknown to her, he took a screenshot of her breast. He later would contact her and tell her that he would spread the photo unless she put on a show for him. Amanda refused and the pictures were spread abroad on the internet to friends, family, and teachers. Amanda became very depressed and turned to drugs and alcohol to deal with the depression. After moving to a new school, Amanda begin to feel as if things were getting better however, the stranger popped up again and made a Facebook account with the profile picture being that of Amanda’s breast. Amanda was bullied and beat up in school and attempted to commit suicide. After the failed attempt of suicide, Amanda was bullied even more by her peers and it pushed her deeper into depression and self-mutilation. Amanda moved to several different schools and from her father’s home to her mother’s home however, it did not matter the bullying followed her everywhere like a shadow of pain. There was nothing that Amanda could do to stop the constant barrage of attacks. She suffered from the cyber-bullying and physical in person bullying day and night. She was pushed into a corner of no return and in her mind, ending her own life was the only definite way out of the situation.

Amanda Todd suffered endless consequences from every angle possible. She was innocently seeking what every human on this planet wants, Love and Acceptance. Amanda Todd had no idea of what horrors were to come her way after revealing an intimate part of her body privately, she thought. From that moment forward Amanda Todd faced embarrassment, ridicule, slandering, stalking, bullying, and all this escalated to physical beatings. The mental, emotional, and physical abuse was more than Amanda Todd could endure, and on October 10, 2012 she ended her torment by taking her own life.

“I’m struggling to stay in this world, because everything just touches me so deeply. I’m not doing this for attention. I’m doing this to be an inspiration and to show that I can be strong. I did things to myself to make pain go away, because I’d rather hurt myself then someone else. Haters are haters but please don’t hate, although I’m sure I’ll get them. I hope I can show you guys that everyone has a story, and everyone’s future will be bright one day, you just gotta pull through. I’m still here aren’t I ?”                   
​                                                         ~ Amanda xoxo  Sept 7, 2012

I graduated high school in 1992, there was no cell phones for kids, no social media, no nude pictures to spread on the web. Bullying still happened and suicides still happened, kids were mean and brutal with words and actions, however the bullying would stop once you left school, it did not follow you home. Girls were still sought out for the inferiorities and pushed to have sex just to have sex, lies were still told and hearts broken by selfish people. Standing up to a bully and knocking down was actual and you could take back your integrity with a physical show of force. Now reaching out to stand up to a bully is way harder because the choose to be keyboard warriors. Sadly, most teens live through social media posts and take them so personal and no information is private now. Parents you must protect your child at all costs!

In conclusion, could things have been different for Amanda Todd? The cold, hard truth is yes, things could have been different, The end story may not have changed however, I strongly feel that more effort should have been placed on guarding all her social media, monitoring may not stop it but, it will keep in in the loop on what is happening and knowing is half the battle. Parents must stay close with their teens and form a worthy bond to let your child know they have worth in themselves. Show them that they do not need some fake male or female approval to exist. Social media is not going away, and parents need to be more present and have guidance in mind. We all have battles and struggles and must never give up the fight, our lives are worth it!

References