This Young girl committed suicide by social media !

reply to post by 0bserver1


Sad sorry indeed.

So let this be a wake up call to parents who have young girls who use social media out lets.

I would personally put more blame on the parents. But then again when I was in high school things where much different. No such thing as face book, or email for that matter.

Kids have always been cruel and there have always been bullies.
It just seems that bullies have a new tool and can further their affect. I guess now bullies can follow you into your home these days.

But I say again. Parents should be more involved. As its obvious things are different now a days.

My older sister has a kid, and we all make it our job to make sure she is not tooling around face book, showing herself off to perverted men. She is not allowed to access a computer unless the history is recorded, and what not.
Sure kids are smart these days.. But parents, you have to be on top of these things.
Lets not spin this out of control here.

I simply think if you have kids, more over young girls, its your JOB, responsibility as a parent to be on the up and up, and control them as you would in any other aspect.
Yet most parents can not be bothered with all that work.. I get it.
They can have them, but when it comes to protecting and keeping them in line.. Well that is asking to much from them.

reply to post by zysin5


You know, today there was something on the news in Argentina about a 12 year old girl that went missing. The family went to the police about two days later, I think. The girl had forgotten her cell phone at her house so they went through the messages and found out she was supposed to meet a guy she had come in contact with through Facebook.

They found her a couple of days later in the house of a 22 year old man, she was missing for 6 days. For what I've heard, the family of the girl isn't pressing charges, maybe they will later? I'm not sure.

The thing is, the mother was all over the local news saying how she never paid attention to what the girl was doing or who she was talking to, what she did on the internet even though her daughter spent a great amount of time on Facebook, saying she didn't talk much with her and usually went about doing things without anyone looking into what those things were.

What shocked me was how casually the mother explained these things. The "Oh yeah, she's my daughter but I didn't really care what she did or where she went" attitude. Seriously? She's 12! What's wrong with you? You can't let her do whatever she wants, you have to set limits and pay attention to what she's doing.

What if they had found her dead? Would she still have the same attitude? I hope she starts paying attention now and monitors what her daughter does online and not let her spend all day on Facebook.

Remember when your parents used to tell you not to talk to strangers? Kids today accept friend requests from them and tell the personal information. They have a great number of "friends", most of whom they've never met, and just post things for the world to see without caring what could be done with that information. Kids need supervision, that's what parents are for.

Originally posted by LoneCloudHopper2
reply to post by Xaphan

 

Probably because she was a young, white, middle-class female

Kind of. She was actually half Asian.

The subject of bullying has been getting more and more attention, especially because of the continuing acts of mass murder by people who were likely bullied when they were young. Not that victims always become deranged psychopaths of course. I was bullied but I eventually learned to stand up to bullies, and even defend others. I was also abused by teachers (physically and psychologically) and I've always wanted to see a change in the school system to combat its violent elements. Kids don't just learn to behave cruelly by bad parents, they also learn from other kids at school. I was only ever bullied while in school, never outside of it (not even with those who bullied me while in school!)

There is something apathetic about the very structure of school, which keeps you caged inside a building and you're told (essentially): "Sit down, shut up and do this. We will tell you what to think about, how to think about it and when. We will also give you the answers, so please, no questions or opinions! Just shut up and do your work as assigned." I would argue that this is harmful because, beside the fact that discourages independent thought, it also forces kids into a tense, unnatural atmosphere where their nervous energies build up to exploding point (at recess, where most bullying occurs.) Of course there is also the matter of the teachers' apathy in ignoring verbal or even physical assaults, even right in front of them. I remember some teachers 'buddying up' up to the more popular kids, even if they were bullies, and literally ignoring the less popular ones. This is an extremely immature attitude for a grown adult whose job it is to both educate and to look after these kids by serving as some kind of proper role model!

I of course don't mean to vilify all teachers. In high school, I had some very good ones, some who had big hearts and did what they could for anyone in need. If only more teachers (especially in elementary) were like this.

There are alternative schools out there where kids are allowed more ‘breathing room’, to play video games, sit around on the grass and talk or whatever. It’s more down-to-earth and is a far healthier atmosphere. The average marks for these schools have been slightly above average, which proves that the rigid public education system which we have been accustomed to does not have to be that way in order for kids to learn. Besides which, let’s face it, most of what we learned was just busywork anyway. 50 variations of a variation on a math question, really? How about two or three and see if they can do it? How long would it take you to teach the average 17-year-old long division if they already knew how to add and subtract, hmm? 20 minutes? Maybe an hour for 'slow learners'.

Plus, much of what we learned was unnecessary. I’ll never forget my Grade 10 science teacher (a great man) who stood up on our first day of that of that class, held the book up and said: “This book is almost completely worthless and a waste of our time, but I have to teach it, and you have to learn it.” LOL We really liked and respected him for his honesty! And he wasn’t kidding either: we had to memorize the parts of a lie detector!!! WHY?? Were we all going to be assigned to build them upon graduation?? Noooo...they just needed to keep us busy!

Point is: the public school system is far too rigid (and apathetic) in its design and unnecessarily so.

Originally posted by Xaphan
reply to post by LoneCloudHopper2

 

To be honest I usually don't take him seriously either. He does seem to be a bit of a troll in the sense that he gets off on getting people worked up over various topics. However he did make a good point in that video. Why is everybody making such a big deal out of the Amanda Todd incident when there are quite a few other bullying related suicides that didn't get much media attention?

The only thing I can say about that is, it's bound to be about someone sometime. If it wasn't Todd, then it would be someone else and people would be saying the same thing about them. So on and so on. Just happened to be the straw that broke the camel's back maybe?

Originally posted by Casandra
reply to post by zysin5

 

Remember when your parents used to tell you not to talk to strangers? Kids today accept friend requests from them and tell the personal information. They have a great number of "friends", most of whom they've never met, and just post things for the world to see without caring what could be done with that information. Kids need supervision, that's what parents are for.

Crazy story! That just goes to show, parents have a big role in this day and age to be more careful and watchful of your young girls. Less they end up at some 22 year mans house, when she was only 12! geezzz.
Kids NEED and must have supervision! agree 100%. I need a damn license to catch a fish from a boat. Yet anyone can have a kid at will.. And people wonder why things get so far out of hand.
Yeah if they would have found her dead, it would have been all Face books fault. And or would be another spin to their total incompetence as parents to a 12 year old girl!
Social media is a tool. That is like saying, its because we have cars that the stranger was able to abduct children. Tools are used by predators and bullies. Parents have a high order in this day and age to keep your kids safe.

Oh yes I do remember those days.. Also there use to be blue stars in some folks windows, where if you where being talked to by a stranger, you could always go to the house with the blue star.
This was back in the early 80's when I was 7 or 8.
Such a different time between then and now.. I feel old.. lol
Yeah its shocking how that do not talk to strangers has totally gone out the window in this century. Honestly it really has. Just add these people as "friends". Now they are no longer strangers they think.. Scary, and its hard for me to wrap my head around, as I am clearly out of touch with how things work anymore..


I just say with all confidence.. Parents role and blame is being underplayed here. All this finger pointing. When we should be looking at Todds Parents for allowing this young girl a webcam, and access with no moderation.
Who the hell gives a little girl a webcam anyway??? REALLY?
Any parent who thinks its okay for a young girl to have a webcam, needs their heads fixed, and are not fit to be a "good" parent. IMO

Just to add.. If you allow your young girl a webcam to talk to family members that is one thing.. But take it away and put it up when you are not there to see what is going on.. I am serious, little girls and webcams have no place in any good home. Any parent who allows a girl under the age of 16 to be alone to her own devices with a webcam is a fool, bad parent, who is out of touch with reality.

Originally posted by zysin5

I just say with all confidence.. Parents role and blame is being underplayed here. All this finger pointing. When we should be looking at Todds Parents for allowing this young girl a webcam, and access with no moderation.
Who the hell gives a little girl a webcam anyway??? REALLY?
Any parent who thinks its okay for a young girl to have a webcam, needs their heads fixed, and are not fit to be a "good" parent. IMO
Just to add.. If you allow your young girl a webcam to talk to family members that is one thing.. But take it away and put it up when you are not there to see what is going on.. I am serious, little girls and webcams have no place in any good home. Any parent who allows a girl under the age of 16 to be alone to her own devices with a webcam is a fool, bad parent, who is out of touch with reality.

Don't forget they let her have a Facebook account even after she changed schools and was still getting bullied. If she was being harrased and threatened you'd think the parents would close it down and keep her away from it.

Does anyone know what was posted on her FB? She said she had no friends and her classmates hated her, so what did she use it for? If it was to talk to relatives or something like that, she could have used a different name and only add those relatives. If they were distant then people at her school wouldn't know them or look for them?

I don't know. I'm just trying to see the reason behind keep going back to a place where she was being harrased.

Another thing, did the police confirm they had gone over at 4am to tell her the picture was leaked? Was there an investigation?

This story reminds me of a "friend" back in high school in 2002. My "friend" grr...she was not a nice person. I think she was unhappy with herself so she took it out on other people to feel better about herself. Anyway, I remember we were hanging out and she gets a phone call from someone. Apparently one of her friends was taken to the hospital because she was cutting herself again. And then I'll never forget my "friend" starts saying really hurtful things about this person, making fun of her, and saying that she was just doing it for attention.

Anyway, I think as long as these teenagers are not happy with themselves, they'll continue to bully others. Perhaps if we all as parents are good to our children and treat them well, this sort of behavior can be minimized. Unfortunately it ends up being a wicked cycle. It kind of inspires me to want to have children because I know I would raise them well and help them along the way to make them be smart, confident, kind-hearted individuals. I know there are no guarantees, but it would be nice to foster children to do some good in the world. Who perhaps would have stood up for that girl as the other girl was beating her. To tell the group of bullies to back off. And then if that girl saw she was helped, she would see there was hope in the world, and she might still be here today.