New video posted by Anonymous on YouTube....Amanda Todd is a media scheme

reply to post by olliemc84


I am actually in agreement with what you have been posting in this thread - and this is coming from someone who was severely bullied from the ages of 9-15, struggled with depression and has also been effected by suicide multiple times.

I find it irksome that she is being used as a poster child for various anti-bulling campaigns. I understand as a young teenager she may not have had a 'big picture' in mind, but certainly she knew what she was doing when she was stripping down naked for strangers on the internet and hooking up with other girls' boyfriends? In her video she states "He hooked up with me..." as if to say she had nothing to do with it, to gain sympathy for her position... I believe the bullying was taken to an extreme, but when do you get the hint? Instead of accepting the multiple fresh starts given to her by her loved ones she just kept right on at it...

Can we just remove the emotion from this situation and look at the story thus far... The girl showed her nude self online, turned to drugs and alcohol, slept with another girls boyfriend, all the while being moved from school to school, town to town to make a fresh start but having none of it, only to ultimately throw in the towel because she couldn't deal with the consequences of her actions... and we're supposed to look up to her? It seems as if other than posting a Youtube video with flashcards she didn't even attempt to allow people to soften up to her. For a girl who had no one and just wanted someone - did anyone explain to her that sleeping with someone else's boyfriend isn't going to garner sympathy? Did she expect to be Miss. Popular after doing such a thing?

And why are we turning her into a celebrity? Saying that she killed herself because she was tormented... She killed herself because she was ill-equipped to deal with life, not because people were coming after her for THINGS SHE DID TO HERSELF. What about these kids that are bullied for things outside of their control? Bullied for their looks? Bullied because of their home life? Bullied because they can't afford the nicest things, or because they are brave and mature enough to come out of the closet at a young age? We should be looking up to those who were beaten down everyday for these things, yet still made something of themselves in spite of it.

Bullying and suicide do not go hand in hand. I believe if we are going to recognize her for anything it should be the fact that she was mentally unstable and was unable to cope with consequences - she was depressed and that's a shame, but spread the word about THAT. Spread the word about depression and suicide, but don't make her out to be an innocent victim who never did a thing to have people come down on her. Stop using her face to show how "Bullying Kills" because it doesn't - sick, mentally unstable people kill themselves all the time and it often has nothing to do with bullying.

reply to post by Deebe


You literally could not have said it better.
I agree with you 100%.

reply to post by Deebe


No matter how this story is spun, Amanda was a tortured soul that went deeper then all the bullying and "immoral" things she did. It's not her fault for being who she was...that's all any of us can ever be. Obvioulsy enough she displayed a chemical imbalance and there were many "triggers" to coax her towards all the destructive behavior. At fifteen it is so hard to see past the present. We do not KNOW her entire life, only bits and pieces from the media. She was a worthwhile human being as much as we all are, and it doesn't matter who becomes the "poster child" for anti-bullying, for if THATS what it takes to open our eyes and take more action, then the point is made! She will not have died in vain...nor anyone else who reaches the unfathomable point of no return. May she rest in peace...enough negativism about this child!

Originally posted by Deebe
reply to post by olliemc84

 

What about these kids that are bullied for things outside of their control?

What about those who are bullied or abused and then develop destructive habits and develop badly before passing away being known as a drug addict or loser? Its a possibility that people seem to ignore.

Spread the word about depression and suicide, but don't make her out to be an innocent victim who never did a thing to have people come down on her.

Myself and others have been taking that approach.

The problem is a distraught mother asked her daughter to be remembered for the touching (depending how you see it) youtube video she produced ... and instead of accepting that a mother in grieving is entitled to that request/comfort, and understanding that a parent might not want to accept the reality of what their child became ... we seem to be demanding that her parents admit their daughter was ... I'm not even going to go into the words people have used.

I do honestly believe some persons are deeply mistaken when they assume everyone responding to the harshness is a mislead idealist.

Originally posted by Pinke

Myself and others have been taking that approach.

The problem is a distraught mother asked her daughter to be remembered for the touching (depending how you see it) youtube video she produced ... and instead of accepting that a mother in grieving is entitled to that request/comfort, and understanding that a parent might not want to accept the reality of what their child became ... we seem to be demanding that her parents admit their daughter was ... I'm not even going to go into the words people have used.

I do honestly believe some persons are deeply mistaken when they assume everyone responding to the harshness is a mislead idealist.

I wouldn't ever ask that her parents admit she was anything... I'm aiming that more towards other people. Do you know I can hardly go anywhere without hearing about this poor girl? About what those kids did to her that made her kill herself? I don't think people are looking at the whole thing and I highly doubt that people are brandishing her a hero after death simply because of a mother's request. It just seems that as a whole, we as a society will latch onto the wrong people for the wrong reasons all the time. It feels like that's what this is to me.

I feel horrible for her family. I even feel badly that she had cried out for help numerous times and didn't seem to be met with a reply.. She was depressed and it ended in the worst possible way. I just wouldn't want my children looking up to her as any kind of anti-bullying anything and I think hers is the wrong message to be sending.

Certainly respect what you're saying.

Originally posted by Deebe
I wouldn't ever ask that her parents admit she was anything...

A part of this and other threads are asking why her parents are still defending her or implying they are trying to profit from the event.

It just seems that as a whole, we as a society will latch onto the wrong people for the wrong reasons all the time. It feels like that's what this is to me.

I guess sometimes these things happen.

Eliot Ness didn't catch Al Capone. Oscar Schindler was a liar. Thomas Edison didn't invent the light bulb. St.Patrick isn't Irish. The founding fathers aren't Christian.

To me I suppose people using the event to inspire themselves in some way are less wrong than people who feel a need to dig for dirt over it. It's one of those rare moments where it's better sometimes just to let things be.

It's no new thing here at ATS to deal with the main stream media and people in general being wrong. To most people I think all Amanda is, is a youtube video and a head stone.

She was depressed and it ended in the worst possible way. I just wouldn't want my children looking up to her as any kind of anti-bullying anything and I think hers is the wrong message to be sending.

I don't think suicide is a reason to be a role model, but I just think that's the wrong term. She is a symbol now rather than a person I guess. A bit like a number of historical and mythical figures where eventually the truth stops mattering; she stands for the bullied and those who make mistakes they can't take back.

I certainly don't look up to her, but I don't look down either. I'm open to being wrong, but I can't see the massive amounts of harm from such a symbol that requires people to constantly call a 15 year old dead person a floozy, weak, irresponsible slut.

Don't take me wrong ... I'm not saying the truth isn't important, or that the message is more important than the truth. I'm saying in this instance, even a well informed person should be able to agree it's tragic when a confused 15 year old woman takes her own life, and if it discourages people from doing the same it's a good thing.

But apparently I'm mega wrong!

Thanks for being respectful.

The way I look at it...... For every one person that kills themselves over bullying, there are hundreds, if not thousands that don't. For every one person that goes on a shooting spree, there are hundreds, if not thousands that deal with it without killing themself, or others. Why is it these cases always get all the attention? It is sick if you ask me.

What kind of message does this send? No one cares now, well off yourself and you might just have a bunch of people paying attention then! Do it! No one cares now, no one really knows you? Well go on a killing spree, everyone will know your name then!

What a twisted world we live in. I think a movie I recently seen summed up a lot of how I feel. It's called "God Bless America". I relate to a lot of what they guy says in that movie. It's a sign of the empire crumbling. Except this time it's not just regional, it is world wide, because of the net connection.

I'm in the UK, haven't seen anything of this.

If it's not true then it's obviously a campaign against bullying, someone said it's anti-bullying week/month so this viral campaign would make sense.


If it is true... then man, that's awful.

Kids can be seriously ******* nasty.

Originally posted by TKDRL
Why is it these cases always get all the attention? It is sick if you ask me.

It's not sick, it's just catch-22.

If a community cares when a member of it commits suicide, they will mourn the passing and try to stop it in the future. In that community, your opinion is equally valid.

Some people and cultures treat suicide as a great shame and sin, that the person failed and is going to hell. That's a reaction to the belief that giving a suicide victim a proper burial / mourning will encourage others to do the same out of vengeance or attention seeking.

I'd prefer it if people could be more middle of the road about it. Suicide is wrong, but we are reminded to look after the people who don't go on sprees or commit suicide when one of that number actually does. It's better than sweeping it under the carpet.

reply to post by Pinke

The media loves drama. We know that. James Holmes anyone?

How and why are you comparing James Holmes to Amanda Todd?

James Holmes was a homicidal maniac killing innocent people and ruining lives forever?

The media should still be talking about the horrific acts he committed. They should be telling the civilized world to donate what they can to the victims of that hideous act instead of asking for donations to some anti-bullying campaign in Amanda Todd's name.

Here is something interesting that I have found...

But even when a screen-capped minor has been positively identified, the image isn’t necessarily child pornography, at least not in the law’s eyes. It all depends on the state. “In some statutes, the chest does not count,” Gillingham says. “In some jurisdictions it has to be the genitalia.” In California, where Gillingham practices, an image of a 13-year-old flashing her breasts might not be considered child porn — even if it is widely circulated and drooled over on capper message boards. “That being said, there are other statutes that we could use to address it, ” he says, like the state law punishing “unnatural sexual interest in children.” And, of course, extortion is illegal.source

This is why the police showed up at the house to inform the family that their little girl should keep her clothes on while on a webcamming site. Because what the "creep" was doing wasn't technically illegal.

Anonymous, if they are indeed trying to find this guy(s), are chasing down people that may not have even broken the law. Bullying to stop a bully. What a joke.

I know this has become a big issue in modern society, with all the candle vigils and bull crap.

Soldiers commit suicide every day, soldiers served their country and saw atrocious things. Yet do we hold candlelight vigils for them?

No, we hold them for a girl who was naive enough to expose herself online. If the parents would have held a bit more of a hold on their child's life, she wouldn't have been in that situation.

That and sleeping with another girl's boyfriend? There was nothing innocent about this girl. Not in my opinion. In a sense she brought it on herself in my opinion.

HOWEVER.

Suicide is never the answer, I don't support it, I don't condone it, and it makes me cry each time I see it on the news. I deal with the thought that I'm going to come home and find my partner dead because I wasn't there for him when he needed someone. I can't imagine what the parents are going through at this moment, especially with all the memes going around making fun of their daughter.

The modern day internet has become a cruel and daunting place for children, especially young women. They are exposed to sex every day, in music, in television, in movies, in games. Parents need to begin to understand the dangers that lurk on the net, and begin to educate their children on how to properly use it.

That's my opinion however, though I was also raised by a catholic family, who was involuntarily taught that sex before marriage was bad. Perhaps that mentality is affecting my opinion on the matter.

Originally posted by Transitarian
I know this has become a big issue in modern society, with all the candle vigils and bull crap.

Soldiers commit suicide every day, soldiers served their country and saw atrocious things. Yet do we hold candlelight vigils for them?

No, we hold them for a girl who was naive enough to expose herself online. If the parents would have held a bit more of a hold on their child's life, she wouldn't have been in that situation.

That and sleeping with another girl's boyfriend? There was nothing innocent about this girl. Not in my opinion. In a sense she brought it on herself in my opinion.

HOWEVER.

Suicide is never the answer, I don't support it, I don't condone it, and it makes me cry each time I see it on the news. I deal with the thought that I'm going to come home and find my partner dead because I wasn't there for him when he needed someone. I can't imagine what the parents are going through at this moment, especially with all the memes going around making fun of their daughter.

The modern day internet has become a cruel and daunting place for children, especially young women. They are exposed to sex every day, in music, in television, in movies, in games. Parents need to begin to understand the dangers that lurk on the net, and begin to educate their children on how to properly use it.

That's my opinion however, though I was also raised by a catholic family, who was involuntarily taught that sex before marriage was bad. Perhaps that mentality is affecting my opinion on the matter.

I do not believe her suicide was because of the internet exposure especially. She was verbally beaten and humiliated, and because of this began to believe herself to be a worthless human being. It's always a complicated thing...you...know...the "mind." The reasons for taking her life can never really be known, even if she confided to someone beforehand because I don't think she really understood herself to well... as being only fifteen. Extreme chemical imbalance comes to mind, as does a spontaneous reaction to her sad situation whereas she felt all hope was gone and could NEVER return to her.

I happen to have a personal friend who was Amanda's Big Sister in 2009. She was devastated shocked and heartbroken to hear of her suicide. She was a real person. Just saying...as for her reasons and story behind the suicide I'm inclined to think they're might have been more to the story than what Amanda put in her video...My friend had no idea she was being bullied either and was shocked to hear what happened. Either way the whole thing is rather tragic. A girl was hurting and it obviously affected her enough to take hey own life and that in itself is tragic regardless of the speculations surrounding her death.