A month ago, a young girl called Amanda Todd posted a vid on Youtube recounting the bullying she was experiencing at school and on Facebook and her attempts at self-harm as a consequence
Amanda Todd killed herself on Wednesday. She was just 15 yr old
So sad. What a tragedy.When will this bullying crap come to an end?
‘Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never harm me‘
That’s a saying my parents taught me and my sis when we were wee. Trouble is, it’s not true. Words can do much more damage than physical blows. Psychological wounds are not so easily healed as physical injuries !
To be honest, I think it will only get worse.
Kids now open themselves up to all manner of anonymous abuse via Facebook, Twitter and other online media…. and to some extent, they’re the more savvy ones where such stuff is concerned.
You only need to look at the lack of brain shown by adults (and I use the term in its loosest sense) such as various footballers when commenting on Twitter to see how easily a complete shitstorm can be kicked up by a few ill-chosen words. Once it’s out there, it’s a done deal.
To underline the dangers of kids setting themselves up to face the wrath of some of the twats who inhabit the internet – one of our top search terms at the moment is ‘Amanda Todd Titts’ (sic).
My kids are now in their 20s, and both pretty worldy-wise when it comes to what to put about on the internet in terms of personal information. I do, however, fear for the safety of an entire generation when faced with the pressures that commercial ventures such as that initiated by Mr. Mark Suckemdry exert upon them to open up to all and sundry.
Bullying has always been the province of cowards but used to be incredibly personal – a fist in the ribs on the school bus, or a face in your face in the playground – now it is even more cowardly when done from behind the anonymity of a username.
Facebook has become a prime tool for bullies. So easy to make someone feel bad by writing cruel comments on their wall or ‘isolating’ them by refusing their ‘friend requests’
There’s a lot of support being expressed on Facebook right now for Amanda – pity it wasn’t shown before she killed herself !
Being able to post comments anonymously brings out the worst in some people. Even folk who didn’t know her were posting unkind comments on youtube after she posted the above vid and even now she’s dead there are still some bastards slagging her off
