Suicide of Amanda Todd

Amanda Michelle Todd was a 15-year-old Canadian student and victim of cyberbullying who hanged herself at her home in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada. Before her death, Todd posted a video on YouTube in which she used a series of flash cards to tell her experience of being blackmailed into exposing her breasts via webcam. The video went viral after her death on October 10, 2012, receiving over 1,600,000 views by October 13, 2012. Todd’s mother Carol established the Amanda Todd Trust to support anti-bullying awareness education and programs for young people with mental health problems.

About Suicide of Amanda Todd in brief

Summary Suicide of Amanda ToddAmanda Michelle Todd was a 15-year-old Canadian student and victim of cyberbullying who hanged herself at her home in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada. Before her death, Todd posted a video on YouTube in which she used a series of flash cards to tell her experience of being blackmailed into exposing her breasts via webcam, and of being bullied and physically assaulted. The video went viral after her death on October 10, 2012, receiving over 1,600,000 views by October 13, 2012. Todd’s mother Carol established the Amanda Todd Trust, receiving donations to support anti-bullying awareness education and programs for young people with mental health problems. She wrote that she experienced anxiety, depression, and panic disorder due to having been sexually exploited online and cyberbullied. After the attack, Todd attempted suicide by drinking bleach, but survived after being rushed to hospital to have her stomach pumped. After returning home, Todd discovered abusive messages about her suicide attempt posted to Facebook. Six months later, she began to engage in self-mutilation and cutting. Despite taking her prescribed antidepressants, she overdosed and was hospitalized for two days for her severe depression. Todd was taunted by other students at her school for her low grades and for the time she spent in hospital to treat her depression. She also featured briefly on the faux animated news show Daily Capper on BlogTV in an incident that attracted the vigilante attentions of the group Anonymous after her suicide.

In response to Todd’s death, Christy Clark, the Premier of British Columbia,. made an online statement of condolence and suggested a national discussion on criminalizing cyberbullies. A motion was introduced in the Canadian House of Commons to propose a study of the scope of bullying in Canada. The video has had more than 13 million views as of October 2019, with news websites from around the world linking to it. During the video, Todd writes that when she was in grade 7, around the same time she moved in with her father, she used video chat to meet new people over the Internet and received compliments on her looks. In March 2012, her family moved to another city to start afresh, but Todd was unable to escape the past. She later said she began using alcohol and other drugs. A year later, Todd’s blackmailer reappeared, creating a Facebook profile that used the topless photo as its profile image and contacting classmates at her new school. The following week, the boy’s girlfriend and a group of about 15 others confronted Todd at school, shouting insults, with theBoy’s girlfriend punched her; Todd fell to the ground, then lay in a ditch, where her father found her. Todd wrote that during the Christmas 2010 break, police informed her at 4: 00 a. m. that the photo was circulating on the Internet. She also wrote that the friend invited Todd to his house, where they had sex while his girlfriend was on holiday. He eventually sent Todd’s video to her new schools, including students, and teachers.