Amanda Todd Research Paper

On October 10, 2012, a teenage girl's body, Amanda Todd, was found at her home in British Columbia. The cause of Amanda's death was suicide. It all started when she was in the 7th grade, Amanda was on an online chat room, where she met a man who harassed her into flashing him her breasts. A year later, that same man contacted her on Facebook asking her to 'put on a show' for him, when Amanda did not comply the man who she had met online had found out her personal information and released the picture of her breasts to everyone she knew, and that photo went viral. Amanda's classmates saw the pictures and they began to harass and bully her in school to the point that she became depressed, and began to abuse drugs and alcohol. Amanda began cutting herself to relieve the pain she felt. Amanda changed schools, as a result, girls from her other school came to her new school and beat her up, while people from the new school filmed it and posted it on social media. She had multiple suicide attempts, first lying in a ditch on the side of the road, then drinking a bottle of bleach with no success, Finally managed to kill herself on October 10th 2012, ending her life. (Puresight,2012)

Currently, whether school districts could do more to prevent cyberbullying is an issue that is currently being debated all across the country; While supporters argue that schools aren't doing enough to prevent students from cyberbullying other peers on the internet, critics claim that it's not the schools responsibility of students to extend past the classroom.

Without a doubt, cyberbullying is a major issue that needs to be resolved. To begin, 42% of kids have been bullied online; another 21% of kids have received hostile messages, while 14% have received degrading comments on their online profile; 13% have had rumors spread about them online; 7% had someone impersonate them online; and finally, 5% of kids had a nude or other degrading photos of themselves posted online by someone else. (Adams, 2017). These are some alarming statistics for our youth.
What could the schools do to prevent cyberbullying among our children? On the first note, Schools can't prevent cyberbullying any more than they can prevent regular bullying. Students who have a will to bully other students will always find a way. But all hope is not lost, schools can encourage respect, tolerance, and kindness in the classroom and online.(CommonSenseMedia) Schools can also provide information to students about the effect cyberbullying has on others. Schools need to encourage the appropriate use of technology in the classroom while Educating children about the consequences of posting personal information online and also providing information on how to remove any personal information they had previously posted online, preventing cyber attacks before they begin. (WiredKids, Inc.). Outside of the classroom, schools need to also notify the parents about consequences of cyberbullying has on their child, and encourage them to.