An outpouring of grief from around the world has flooded to social media websites for Amanda Todd, the 15-year-old Port Coquitlam girl who ended her life Wednesday after years of bullying.
On the weekend, a memorial Facebook page for Todd accumulated more than 700,000 ?Likes,? her name was trending on Twitter and dozens of videos had been posted on YouTube.
In one video, Megan Landry, a 16-year-old singer and songwriter from Ontario sings a touching song about bullying and empowerment.
?I hope this will help those who are starting to feel torn down to rise up,? she said, in an email to The Vancouver Sun.
Landry said she?s worried that because of all the attention Amanda is getting, other teens will copy her suicide. Having experienced bullying, she wanted to offer some advice to other young people about how to deal with it.
?Reality, if it shows that it bothers you, they?ll just do it more, she said. ?Don?t let anyone make you a victim. They aren?t worth it.?
Dozens of young people from around the world photographed themselves holding small hand-written notes of condolence on Facebook, solemnly mimicking the images and pleas for help that Amanda posted online before her suicide. Larger groups of teens held rallies and anti-bullying events and posted pictures to several Facebook memorials.
Most of the sentiment posted was kind and supportive of her friends and family, but many people were outraged that the bullying continued online.
Cruel photos and comments littered her memorial pages, including one photo of a young woman hanging herself with a rope and another of a bottle of bleach and the caption ?it?s to die for.?
The vitriol spurred hundreds of people to question how anyone could be so callous following the death of a girl so young and after suffering so much abuse.
A Facebook user with the screen name Haunter posted several doctored photos making light of the teen?s suicide to draw attention to his Facebook group, where he also antagonized users by inviting them to meet him at two phoney Metro Vancouver addresses.
?Well, I expected to get a few comments about how evil I was and how I?m a horrible person, which is expected. But what I actually did get out of it surpassed my wildest expectations,? Haunter told The Sun in a Facebook message. ?The sheer popularity of my page skyrocketed.?
?And honestly, I got a lot of enjoyment. I enjoy screwing around with people who think they?re tough because they threaten physical violence to people who post pictures on Facebook,? he added. ?I don?t think that the photo I posted is nice and I think it?s very morbid, but I was well within the Facebook Terms and Conditions and my legal rights to post it.?
Meanwhile other, more public users, faced online shaming for posting negative thoughts on a memorial site.
On Friday, Mike Mace, whose own Facebook page says he is a member of the Canadian Military, faced a flurry of backlash after he posted a lewd comment about Amanda?s death on a site meant to remember her life.
In the comment, he suggests that it?s not the bully?s fault that she showed her breasts and gave out her private information on the Internet.
?You should be ashamed of yourself,? wrote Amber Garofano in response to Mace?s comments. Another woman, Ashley Soucy posted, ?have a heart.?
Major Dan Thomas, a spokesman with the Canadian Forces, said he was not aware of any formal complaints against Mace.
However he said that the military was aware that the individual who posted the comments matched a junior member of the reserves.
He added that the military will investigate to see whether discipline is required.
The military has strict guidelines about a member behaves when on duty, said Thomas, but he noted that members don?t have to adhere to them when they are not at work. However, members are expected to have a high standard of social behaviour, particularly when they have photos of themselves representing the military on social media.
With files from Mike Hager
ticrawford@vancouversun.com
Source: http://feeds.canada.com/~r/canwest/F7791/~3/nq8z7VZ_7zI/story.html
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