Another tragic bullying story

[aaronzaski]

Absolutely tragic and only because she created a youtube video are we talking about. This happens every single day.

I have to admit, if my kid ever commited suicide due to bullying I would probably hunt down kids and slit some throats.

[HELPNEEDED]

Holy ####, bullying has gotten really bad. I was bullied but never to a bad extent. And to the people I bullied I want to ask for forgiveness. Thing is kids are kids, theres teh strong and the weak; so the bullied at the bully. Its the way it is, but these things should not happen. Kids should not fear life. God damn it! I am sad.

[Russic]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

First off, what a disturbing/troubling story .

Secondly, Russic, i'm with you. Kids have always been cruel, and that won't change.

What has changed is this new online world that has been created. Having an email account, you tube, twitter, facebook,etc, etc, etc, has resulted in a person's actions/mistakes to suddenly be broadcasted very very easily.

This could have easily happened to anyone, not necessarily a teenager. How many young proffesionals are out getting totally hammered on your average Saturday night? Someone using their smartphone at the right time and right place, and boom, the video is being used to blackmail the person otherwise the video will be put on facebook/youtube/etc, where it will be seen by family, relatives, co-workers, etc!

This means everyone needs to be wary of this, and more importantly we need to be teaching this to our children before they hit their teens.

feel very bad for this girl, and also am getting even more nervous about becoming a father soon.

A good point. We all did stupid stuff as kids... I'm quite happy everybody didn't have the capability to take full HD 1080p video using a camera small enough to fit in their pockets.

I remember in my high school somebody took crude pictures of a girl who'd passed out and displayed them in a bathroom. Once the cops were involved and the pictures removed nobody ever saw them. Even 5 years later that could have ended very differently.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by zukes

I hate to sound cynically because I know that this is a real problem, but it would seem there has to be more to this story. With the way kids act these days, 10 year old wearing make-up and mini skirts, the age that kids start having sex... how could one girl, living in a big city like Vancouver, be ridiculed so much for showing her boobs to a dude on the internet?

And this went on from Grade 7, so 12 years old, until she was almost 16?

Tragic story, but there has to be more to it.

No, there really doesn't. I'm not sure if you're questioning the legitimacy of the harassment, or why you'd have any reason to question that in the first place, but it definitely happens and the isolation that can come from it can be devastating, especially to a young person that isn't at a point in her life to realize that being isolated from those people is a good thing.

[Thor]

CNN picked this story up, its gonna blow up now.

http://us.cnn.com/2012/10/12/world/a...html?hpt=hp_c1

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Thor

CNN picked this story up, its gonna blow up now.

http://us.cnn.com/2012/10/12/world/a...html?hpt=hp_c1

i don't know how this story doesn't end with criminal charges. a guy posted a topless photo of a 15 year old girl as the profile picture on a facebook account. that has to be trackable back to him

[Bertuzzied]

Why did CNN obscure her face from the video?

[GoinAllTheWay]

Cue the evening news showing images of her "friends" huddled in a circle outside the school having a good cry when they see the camera pointed in their direction.

[kirant]

That was brutal to watch.

I wonder if we'll get something akin to the "It gets better" speech (Joel Burns) from when gay hate bullying was more prevalent a couple years ago.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Cue the evening news showing images of her "friends" huddled in a circle outside the school having a good cry when they see the camera pointed in their direction.

The fact that a bunch of kids bullied her and drover her to this point doesn't mean that others didn't care about her. It also doesn't mean that was enough to convince her to not take such a drastic step.

[Kybosh]

So, the internet is primarily based upon anonymity. I wonder if years down the line we will have stricter log-on requirements (ie. Name, legal documents, phone numbers) for all users? Obviously this would not exactly be easy to accomplish, but I wonder if this is where society will head? Would making those changes even help with online bullying?

[rubecube]

Maybe it's time to stop protecting the identities of kids who engage in these tactics. Would the thought of having your name plastered all over the internet and major media outlets for being a piece of #### be at least a bit of a deterrent?

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Maybe it's time to stop protecting the identities of kids who engage in these tactics. Would the thought of having your name plastered all over the internet and major media outlets for being a piece of #### be at least a bit of a deterrent?

Bully the bully?

[flamesfever]

Originally Posted by Thor

CNN picked this story up, its gonna blow up now.

http://us.cnn.com/2012/10/12/world/a...html?hpt=hp_c1

I'm glad it's being given this attention. Hopefully it makes young people realize the dangers of the internet, if they are not cautious in what they say and do.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

Bully the bully?

Negative reinforcement might be a better term.

[Nyah]

Another thing I've been wondering about: why don't people just call it what it is - harrasment, assault, battery...why put it under a label of 'bullying' when it comes to kids? Maybe it would be taken more seriously?

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Nyah

Another thing I've been wondering about: why don't people just call it what it is - harrasment, assault, battery...why put it under a label of 'bullying' when it comes to kids? Maybe it would be taken more seriously?

I have seen adults get bullied at jobs as well. I am not arguing you post, but "bullying" and it's classification. I veiw bullying as a catch all term.

[Tailgator]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Negative reinforcement might be a better term.

How about "forced empathy"?

This was so hard to watch and I feel horrible for this poor kid and her family. As much attention that bullying is being given, I still don't think enough is being done. Until authorities start coming down really hard, and the parents of these punks start actually admitting their kid is part of the problem and actually doing something about it instead of trying to be their kid's best buddy, I fear nothing will change.

I agree with the people who said the police should have been involved in this right away and slapped down the original idiot, but I think the damage was already done once the pic was out there.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Tailgator

How about "forced empathy"?

This was so hard to watch and I feel horrible for this poor kid and her family. As much attention that bullying is being given, I still don't think enough is being done. Until authorities start coming down really hard, and the parents of these punks start actually admitting their kid is part of the problem and actually doing something about it instead of trying to be their kid's best buddy, I fear nothing will change.

I agree with the people who said the police should have been involved in this right away and slapped down the original idiot, but I think the damage was already done once the pic was out there.

Hit the nail on the head. I know of some instances where the parent flat refuses to address the issue, believing their child could not do these types of things.

[kermitology]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

I have seen adults get bullied at jobs as well. I am not arguing you post, but "bullying" and it's classification. I veiw bullying as a catch all term.

My boss and I got bullied right out of our jobs at Shaw.