The Tragic Case of Amanda Todd

The doubled edged-sword of living life on social media By Maia Szalavitz | @maiasz | October 1 ! "#1" | "1 inShare$ %og &n with 'aceboo( Sharing T&M) stories with friends is easier than ever* +dd T&M) to your Timeline* Learn More The &nternet accelerates and magnifies virtually everything! including viciousness and com,assion* One month! we celebrate a bullied girl-s 'aceboo(-enhanced trium,h over classmates who voted her homecoming .ueen as a /o(e0 the ne1t! we mourn the suicide of another teen whose tormenters relentlessly stal(ed her across the net and through multi,le real-world moves* The case of +manda Todd! the 1$-year-old 2anadian girl who (illed herself this wee( after a cascade of abuse following her victimization by a ,edo,hile! illustrates what can ha,,en when technology enables the most vile ty,es of human behavior and how bullying can destroy ,sychological health* The horror began when a ,redator too( advantage of an overly trusting 1"-year-old* + ,edo,hile who stal(ed young girls with webcams called her 3stunning! beautiful! ,erfect!4 using the flattery to convince the child to reveal her breasts* Those few seconds of naivety set off a chain reaction that ultimately ended in Todd-s death* The man began to blac(mail her5 and when she refused to 3,ut on a show4 for him a year later! he emailed the ,ictures to her friends and family! eventually creating a 'aceboo( ,age using her breasts as his ,rofile ,icture* 6hile this should have resulted in outrage from Todd-s classmates over a ,ervert who should have been ,ursued and ,rosecuted! instead Todd was targeted by bullies as a 3,orn star*4 Todd-s mother said that her daughter had learning difficulties! which may have ,layed a role in the incident* But the focus shouldn-t be on the victim! but on the ,er,etrators! who target the wea(* Both bullies and ,edo,hiles choose children who are hel,less and des,erate for any ty,e of friendshi, or affirmation! (ids who are isolated and feel bad about themselves for not fitting in but do not (now how to tell when flattery or ,romises of friendshi, aren-t genuine but actual tools of cruel mani,ulation* 7MORE: 6hy +utistic 8ids Ma(e )asy Targets for School Bullies9 To start afresh! Todd switched schools after the first incident* But the e1,erience had already triggered de,ression and an an1iety disorder* :esearch connects all of these

,roblems with bullying; being a victim of bullying can not only can s,ur de,ression and an1iety! but (ids with mood disorders! li(e others who are different! are also es,ecially li(ely to be targeted* Todd-s mood disorders set off other ,roblems as well* &n an attem,t to feel better! she began drin(ing and ta(ing drugs* Studies show that this misguided 3solution4 often a,,eals to students in Todd-s situation both as an esca,e and because of the strong social identity associated with teen substance misuse* 3Stoners4 and 3burnouts4 in most situations tend to be more acce,ting and su,,orting of misfits* Then the stal(er re-a,,eared! revealing the ,ictures again to her new classmates! ,rom,ting another round of bullying and isolation* Once more! she moved to try to esca,e* 7MORE: The :elationshi, Between Bullying and <e,ression; &t-s 2om,licated9 But unfortunately! now settled reasonably well in another school! Todd again trusted the wrong ,eo,le* Someone she described in her video as an 3old guy friend!4 got in touch! convincing her to 3hoo( u,4 with him when his girlfriend was away* 6ord got out5 and soon the girlfriend! her friends and even the guy himself showed u, at Todd-s new school! to administer a beating that they videota,ed* =er 3re,utation4 caught u, with her all over again* &n des,air! the teen dran( bleach! winding u, in the hos,ital and then getting /eered online again for the unsuccessful suicide attem,t* <es,erate! she ,osted a video detailing her ordeal* 3)very day! & thin(! why am & here>4 reads one of the white cards that she holds throughout the silent blac( and white video* 3&-m stuc(* 6hat-s left of me now> ?othing sto,s* & have nobody*4 She attem,ted to ta(e her life again! and this time! she succeeded* )ven now! after her death! there are taunts ,osted among the tributes on her memorial ,age* MORE: @sing Twitter to 2rac( <own on Bullying <id the internet (ill +manda Todd5 and why was the ,redator who created child ,ornogra,hy and who blac(mailed her allowed to go free> =ac(er activists +nonymous claim to have located the ,er,etrator! a A"-year old Bancouver man who was charged with se1ual assault with a minor in a case unrelated to Todd-s according to 2TB* But whatever becomes of the instigator of this terrible story! & thin( we need to remember the victim* +manda Todd wasn-t able to ,rotect herself; she wasn-t the villain! but she was treated li(e one* &f we want to sto, bullying! we can-t allow the ongoing targeting of those who can-t defend themselves to be seen as acce,table* 6e need to as(; what is wrong with a society in which other adolescents can see a 1"-year-old who is blac(mailed by a ,edo,hile as a 3,orn star!4 rather than a victim of child se1ual abuse> =ow have we gotten here>

MORE: The CBullying Trial-; The @nsettling Berdicts in the Tyler 2lementi 2ase &ronically! as news of Todd-s death became (nown! a related story was ,laying out regarding the ,o,ular website! :eddit* Dossi, site Daw(er outed one of :eddit-s most ,rominent trolls! a man who anonymously ,osted cree,y but not actually illegal ,hotos of unwitting teenage girls* :eddit-s ,artici,ants! however! weren-t outraged over the ,resence of .uasi-child-,orn that might be involved in tragic stories li(e that of Todd-s suicide! but! in a defend-the-,er,etrator-blame-the-victim reaction eerily similar to that of Todd-s classmates! too( issue with the fact that the ,oster-s real name had been made ,ublic* 6e-ve got to as( ourselves if this is the way we want our web5 and our children-s world5 to be* Maia Szalavitz is a health writer at TIME.com. Find her on Twitter at @maiasz. You can also continue the discussion on TIME Healthlands Facebook a!e and on Twitter at @TIMEHealthland. :ead more; htt,;EEhealthland*time*comE"#1"E1#E1 Ethe-tragic-case-of-amandatoddEFi1zz"G6.uznri