We live in a cruel world. Amanda Todd’s suicide in October 2012 rammed that fact painfully home. If you’re unaware of her, she was a 15 year old, Canadian girl who hung herself. Before that, she’d cut herself. She had taken drugs. She’d overdosed on bleach. She changed schools several times and then just stopped going. Through all of this, she never got the help she needed. Sure, she got anti-depressants but what she really needed was a friend. Her YouTube video screams “ALONE!”
“I’m struggling to stay in this world,” she said,” 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 ?” One month later, she wasn’t.
Amanda Todd was a victim of bullying. I acutely remember what that was like as a child. I fought back and it changed my life. Some teens don’t know how to. Some teens never get inspired to be stronger. Some teens ‘grow’ into ghosts of adults. Some just die.
So when you see bullying – STOP IT! There’s no such thing as a cool bully. No cool crowd would do that. And standing up for someone will be standing up for yourself too. Stop bullying.
R.I.P. Amanda Todd.
PS: Read Amanda Palmer’s thoughts on this tragedy.
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This is really quite sad. RIP Amanda Todd.
My thoughts are that teens are so full of expression and emotion that it comes out in any form it can, mostly anger towards those around them.
On Radio 4 they were talking about this drama progamme they set up in this one prison, each month talking to criminals who had joined. The before and after was a transformation. Most expressed that it gave them ways to express their emotions in more ways than one. I think we need this, maybe not only through drama but its a good place to act out without being weird.
I agree. Life continues to pile on pressure. Every generation has its challenges (especially those with war) but overall societal pressure has become excruciatingly tense the past decade. There's hardly any discipline anymore. There's more selfish than ever before. There's less understanding of value in the culture of "I Want" and "I Want Something Now That I Won't Give a Damn About Tomorrow'. Parents are less involved (not always their fault – some work so hard that they need time to breathe so that they survive). One girl may flash her boobs and make a joke about it. Another may be an Amanda Todd who has no grounding so as to put it in perspective…a small part of her life…and that life eventually moves on if you will it.