The short life and lonely death of Amanda Todd...

[LazyGun]

I came across this story recently, and found myself unexpectedly moved by the plight of this young girl, who posted a video "cry for help" just weeks before her apparent suicide.

It raises all sorts of issues - the need, craving even, of teenagers for peer group validation, the need of all humans to have friends and to feel loved, and the power for harm of the internet and social media.

I was once a strong supporter of anonymised postings online - I am now starting to rethink that position.....

http://www.metro.co.u...ter-teenagers-suicide

[wolf63]

It is sad that the internet, which is a powerful communication tool, can be used as such a negative weapon by people who are callous and intentionally cruel whilst hiding behind a mask of anonymity.

Mental health problems are never fully comprehended by those lucky enough to suffer from them. Many still see psychiatric illness as a sign of weakness and this leaves the ill person vulnerable to attacks by bullies.

I am not sure if suicide statistics have increased as a result of cyber bullying - maybe it is just more visible than the subtle/not-so-subtle jibes and criticisms comments given to mentally ill people prior to the internet.

A cry for help is usually ignored or passed off as a selfish act - maybe it is and maybe it isn't.

My brain seems to have run out of words at this point ... I hope that Amanda's family don't blame themselves in any way

[naomi24]

This is a dreadful story - but how could any website ensure that all users posted under their real names? I think it would be impossible to achieve.

[wildwood]

It is all very sad and I don't have any answers.

The Internet is now a fact of life and can't be stopped, stronger reprimands for those caught misusing it is of course one avenue but the work involved to catch these individuals is quite expensive. The telephone was once a favourite tool for anonymous bullies but new technology makes it easy to trace those now.

[wolf63]

Slight error in my previous post -

Mental health problems are never fully comprehended by those lucky enough NOT to suffer from them

[LazyGun]

@Naomi - I think you are probably right.Its not even a guarantee of more civilised behaviour, unfortunately.

I just think that all too often people forget just how public internet forums, facebook, twitter etc are - posting or tweeting or commenting is the equivalent of shouting out your thoughts via a megaphone in a public park, and having that shout preserved forever, renewed and re-uttered each time someone, anyone, walks through it.

And as wolf says, mental illness is often hard to understand or appreciate unless you yourself have had personal experience of it.

The casual cruelty of teenagers never fails to amaze me either - vulnerable as they all are to issues surrounding self worth, friendship, a desire to belong. I am just glad I do not have to experience all that again, in this virtual age we now inhabit...

I do feel very sorry for this girl.........

[wolf63]

and, alas, girl teenagers can be much worse than their, inferior, male counterparts.

[mibn2cweus]

What has saved me from suicide is the recognition that it would simply be wrong to give up my life for the sake of some bully who is no more deserving than me to live on this planet. This world belongs to those of us who care enough to make it a place worth living in and ourselves worth living with.

Success is the ultimate form of revenge against those who hate and despise others no less them themselves.

[naomi24]

Some years ago on these very pages I spent hours talking someone I knew very well on here, and who I knew suffered severe bouts of depression, out of committing suicide – whilst at the same time fending off stupid comments from the several brainless twerps who were hooting and laughing at him. It’s a great mistake for anyone to publish personal details of their life on the internet, but for the lonely and vulnerable who are seeking companionship and support, even more so to publish private thoughts and fears, which they often do. To the cruel and twisted mind, it’s ammunition.

How many times I’ve read here comments like ‘Who cares? They’re only pixels’. Unfortunately they’re not – they are real people.

[ummmm]

It's very sad. Some people are shameful.

[EvianBaby]

I just noticed this. Thought you might be interested.

http://www.dailymail....ng-nude-pictures.html

[LazyGun]

Hadn't seen that article Evian, thanks for the link.

Another illustration perhaps of the power of the internet, which raises more questions itself - such actions lead to vigilantism, and undermine due process, but, assuming they have the right man, there does seem to be a sense of atavistic satisfaction....