Amanda Todd's Story: Struggling, Bullying, Suicidal, Self-Harm

Introduction

Amanda Todd was subjected to cyberbullying and physical bullying. Cyberbullying refers to the use of digital technologies such as text messages, emails, internet, and social media platforms to intimidate, threaten, or embarrass another person. Amanda Todd experienced this kind of bullying when a certain man persuaded her through a webcam to capture a photo of her breast (Todd, 2012). The man then sent this photo to Amanda's teachers, parents, families, and friends through Facebook to intimidate her. In contrast, physical bullying includes hitting, kicking, punching, tripping, pushing, shoving, slapping, damaging property, and other physical attacks imposed on a person. According to the video, Amanda was subjected to this type of bullying when she was punched by a girl who was in the company of other peers.

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Amanda experienced horrible consequences as a result of bullying. In particular, she experienced anxiety, major depression, and panic disorder. In an attempt to deal with these effects, Amanda indulged in drugs and alcohol to reduce stress (Todd, 2012). She also started taking antidepressants and going for counseling. To some extent, she attempted to commit suicide by taking drug overdose and drinking bleach.

The immediate strategy that Amanda's parents and teachers could have used is involving Amanda in regular communication and talk therapy. The teachers, parents, and authority already knew the incident, and they ought to have spent a lot of time with Amanda. From the time Amanda's photo circulated through Facebook to the time she attempted suicide should have been a better opportunity for the parent, teachers, and authority to stay close with her. Engaging her in regular communication and talk therapy would have helped because she could have felt free to share the entire scenario with the elders. In the process, the elders could have used the opportunity to monitor Amanda's online activities to locate the source of the problem.

Another strategy was to investigate this problem deeply. From the video, it seems that no further investigation was done even though the police knew about the incident. It is possible that the authorities had sophisticated devices to trace the perpetrator and charge him for the crime. Finding the culprit could have relieved Amanda from stress because the man could be forced to withdraw the posts and apologize publicly. Not only could these strategies reduce episodes of bullying of Amanda, but they could also prevent Amanda's Suicide.

One similarity between the bullying cases that occur today with those that took place when I attended high school is that they both involve the use of the internet. Another similarity is that they both involve name-calling whereby a student is called names by his or her peers to abuse or belittle the person. These bullying cases have not changed. Since I am still in high school, there are no differences between these bullying cases.

Conclusion

The key contributing factors that influenced bullying behaviors include school climates, lack of empathy, and aggressiveness. Negative school climates associated with school perception as unwelcoming, unfriendly, and unpleasant have high chances of bulling. Lack of empathy is characterized by zero feelings of humanity. Such individuals are likely to be bullies. Aggressiveness is also a factor associated with bullying. Aggressive people often use force, intimidation, and extortion to get things done. Prevention programs can reduce bullying cases in the following ways. Firstly, they can improve relationships among peers at school (Olweus & Limber, 2010). Secondly, they can instill discipline in school, particularly if the school develops rigid rules against the act. Lastly, they can prevent the development of new bullying problems.

References

Olweus, D., & Limber, S. P. (2010). Bullying in school: evaluation and dissemination of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 80(1), 124.

Todd, A. (2012). Amanda Todd's Story: Struggling, Bullying, Suicide, Self Harm. Retrieved August 24, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej7afkypUsc