When Amanda Todd posted a video on Youtube with the use of flash cards, it seemed like a cry for help. She told the story of being abused, bullied, harassed, and stalked online and in person. She narrated her silent story of how she used self-harm, drugs, and alcohol in an attempt to silence the pain she suffered as a result of CyberBullying. She was desperate for someone to understand her, listen to her and simply, she wanted a friend who got her. Read on to know what happened to Amanda Todd.
The story of Amanda Todd began just like all cyber bullying stories begin. Amanda was born in 1996 in British Columbia, Canada, and was a happy easy going person, until she was introduced to an anonymous person on Facebook who flattered her so much to the point of convincing her to flash her topless body to him. A year later, the same person or another anonymous person sent her the picture and it went viral, creating a mass of bullying and teasing to the point that she had to change schools several times. Her reputation was ruined, she had no friends, she was beaten up by some classmates, she tried drinking bleach but was saved at the last minute. Months later, Amanda Todd took her own life.
After her death, her Youtube video went viral to the point of reaching more than 17 million views. People were shocked when they learned about the Amanda Todd Story and reached out to her family. The authorities began a mass inquiry especially with the inspiration and the help of Amanda's bullying video. To the shock of everyone, the hate campaign continued online after Amanda's passing, people ridiculed her suicide and made fun of the entire story, they even said she deserved what had happened to her. The cyber bullying continued despite appeals for people to see the real tragedy behind Amanda's death. The famous Anonymous hacking group even went on a massive search to defend Amanda and find the person who tormented and blackmailed her online but the authorities did not see him as a person of interest in the case.
The truth remains that people who bullied and tormented Amanda still walk the streets everyday thinking their hate and actions mean nothing while in fact every comment they have made about her while she was alive or after her death, brings so much pain to the people who loved her. Remember that words do hurt and scar, sometimes beyond repair.
According to the BBC, A 35-year-old man was officially charged in April 2014 in the Netherlands in connection with Amanda Todd's suicide.
According to the Canadian police, the unidentified suspect was charged with extortion, internet luring, criminal harassment and child pornography, Canadian police say. The Police also mentioned the suspect is involved in other abuse cases and not just the Amanda story.
The Dutch newspaper Omroep Brabant reports materials seized at the suspect's home put him in suspicion of other cases of online abuse involving in the Netherlands, the UK and the US.
"Today marks a major milestone in our investigation," said Inspector Paulette Friel of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. "A suspect has been identified, he has been arrested and he has been charged."
"The suspicions against the man are that he approached underage girls via the internet and then seduced them into performing sexual acts in front of a webcam," Dutch prosecutors said in a statement, quoted by AP.
Suspected targets include men who were allegedly convinced the man was an underage boy and were persuaded into performing sexual acts on camera.
It took police almost two years to find only one suspect in the Amanda Todd cyber bullying case. It is to be remembered, that there are thousands of child predators in online chat rooms who are taking advantage of sweet young boys and girls everyday. This is why Amanda Todd's story should serve as a wake up call for children everywhere.
Carol Todd, Amanda's Mother says that the rise in cyber bullying is happening due to the rise in social media platforms that allow the user to remain anonymous which makes the bully anonymous.
"Technology has ramped it up so much that there are no boundaries," Todd said. "It's so faceless and they are free to say whatever, they're free to say and do whatever without thinking about it." It is worth noting here that the origin of Amanda's story started when, according to Amanda's viral Youtube video, she had been coerced online in 2010 to flash her breasts, and the resulting image was used against her and circulated on the Web and at school.
"The picture was put out there on the Internet and then all of a sudden, her peers started harassing her, both face-to-face bullying and online, so she had to endure that kind of abuse," Todd said to Foxnews. "She was afraid to go to school, people were looking at her, she developed more depression, social anxiety. She was afraid people were watching her all the time."
It is worth mentioning that in Canada, the criminal code's general harassment provision includes the prosecution of cyber bullying. Many U.S. States have also incorporated laws that specifically target cyber bullying and harassment.
With the cyber bullying Amanda Todd and other victims in Canada endured, the Canadian parliament suggested Bill C-13. This bill was designed to help prevent children from online bullying. However, it did not pass due to several key issues. First of all, the bill would have completely overhauled the entire system, allowing the police and other government agencies to no longer need warrants from a federal or state judge in order to monitor the movements and actions of a person online. Opponents of the bill pointed out it really did not keep children safe, but instead would just give the police additional powers to monitor Internet usage. With the current spying issues with the United States and other countries around the world, there is a large distrust for the amount of monitoring the government is allowed to do on individuals who use the Internet. This is the major reason Bill C13 did not pass.
Sorry this book is so short I want to reach out to the people who can't stay in this world because of bulling!
