Post date: Oct 13, 2012 6:29:1 PM
Maple Ridge citizens react to the suicide of teenager Amanda Todd after she says she was persistently bullied online.
MAPLE RIDGE, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA (OCTOBER 11, 2012) (CBC) - A British Columbia teenager has committed suicide a month after uploading a video to video sharing website YouTube telling the story of being bullied for the past couple of years.
In the video, fifteen-year-old Amanda Todd stays silent while holding flash cards detailing her story of bullying that she says began when an unidentified person got her to show her breasts to a webcam chat room, which was then circulated to family, friends, and classmates.She goes on to describe the anxiety, depression, and panic disorder that followed which led to transferring schools and drug and alcohol abuse.
Todd says in the video she faced a second round of bullying. She tells how she drank bleach, hoping to die which led to the tormentors to post photos of bleach and continue their harassment.
One of the flash cards reads, "Every day I think why I am still here."
Classmate Ray Anne Grant talked about the bullying.
"This has been going on for her a very long time. If I was her I would have done it way before," Grant said.
Coquitlam School officials said they were aware of the video prior to her death and put support in place but it wasn't enough to save Todd.
An Amanda Michelle Todd memorial Facebook page appeared on Wednesday (October 10) with close to 400,000 people "liking" the page and leaving hundreds of comments of condolences.