Amanda Todd legacy continues in Niagara | St. Catharines Standard.
Amanda Todd was burdened by bullying. Terrible months of it.
It was so bad, the Port Coquitlam, B.C. teen suffered severe social anxiety and spent two months alone in her bedroom.
There, she prepared a YouTube video of her experience of being blackmailed and harassed for two years.
The video went viral and was witnessed and reported on around the globe, sparking a worldwide anti-bullying movement.
And it all started with a youthful indiscretion with an online sexual predator that others saw through the Internet.
“Amanda was making that video I did not know about until she posted it on Sept. 7, 2012,” said her mother, Carol Todd, who spoke in St. Catharines Monday night.
She was deeply concerned about Amanda being targeted online, but her daughter assured her that her full face was not visible in the online image.
And besides, the teen pointed out, other girls are called Amanda Todd too.
“The very next day, she came downstairs after two months and said ‘Mom, I want to go out, get my hair done … I want to have friends over.'”
Then Amanda told her mom: “I can do this now, my story is out there, the haters will be haters and I don’t care any more,” Todd told an anti-bullying seminar group of about 150 at Denis Morris High School.
Amanda, just 15, ended her life the following month.
Her famous video circulated worldwide. In it, she used flash cards to relay her experience.
It garnered millions of hits and sparked an international debate about cyberbullying and online cyber-safety.
It also spurred legislation in Canada and elsewhere to combat that problem and related issues, like texting sexually-explicit pictures and having them transmitted widely.
Todd, a mother of two and technology teacher for special needs students, used multimedia as part of her anti-bullying presentation co-hosted by the Niagara Catholic District School Board and Niagara Regional Police.
Todd’s talk focused on the devastating effects of cyberbulling.
She stressed the need for parents to be aware of young people engaging in dangerous online behaviour.
“I never knew. I wish I had known more. I thought I had open discussion with my daughter,” said Todd, adding she had blunt talks with her kids about the perils of online communication.
As one solution, she suggested kids have their online usernames and passwords in a sealed envelope. It would be available to their parents,and not be opened unless serious trouble arose and adults needed to take charge.
‘Kids, we trust you,” she said. “But as soon as you break that trust, it’s fair game and we can (review) your social media.”
Parents also need to be mindful of all mobile devices and the destructive online communication that can happen.
They must remind children that when a sexual image or hateful message is sent, the Internet is permanent. The content stays forever.
Every child should also have a few trusted adults to help them if such trouble arises, she added.
Adults should also be mindful of depression-related changes in young people like sleep disturbances, drastic mood changes and the loss of friends.
She also spread a message of kindness and compassion — the opposite of bullying.
Todd said if such attitudes are spread by young people and the adults who influence them, change will happen.
“Amanda started and wanted a legacy,” her mom said.
“She wanted us all to continue, and we can’t do it unless we do it together.
“The changes are small now, but in 10 years you will see a difference.”
Laurissa Loch, 14, a Denis Morris student, said the Todd talk would make her try to stop bullying if she witnesses it.
“We should teach younger kinds not to bully,” she said.
“We should share this with each other.”
Aidan Atkins, 11, was impressed that both Todds, mom and daughter, had the courage to speak out.
“She was able to tell her story, and most kids would probably keep it to themselves,” said the student from St. George elementary school in Crystal Beach.
“There’s the fact she was able to realize in the end that she needed help, and doesn’t want that to happen to anyone else.”
don.fraser@sunmedia.ca
Twitter: @don_standard
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Amanda Todd Legacy Society
http://amandatoddlegacy.org
Kids Help Line
1-800-668-6868