I didn’t really want to reply to my thoughts about this news story, but I thought I would reply to this, just once, and that’s it. The Amanda Todd story is pretty huge on the internet, everyone’s talking about it everywhere. Opinions on the story are mixed. Some feel sympathy for Amanda and some say she deserved it and she had it coming. Before I give out my thoughts, lets talk about what’s going on here. Amanda was talking to some stranger in an internet chat room, and he asked her to flash her boobs on camera. She decided to go for it, and a year later, her topless photo has been landed on facebook with her photo as a profile pic. Her topless photo circulated facebook, then she made a 9 minute youtube video using flash cards, talking about her problems. On Oct. 10th, she killed herself.

So here goes. If this was my daughter, I would be sure that something like this wouldn’t even happen. I mean, she was 15. Too young to be using the internet on her own. If that was my daughter, I’m not saying she won’t be allowed to use the internet, however, I would monitor everything, she does online. EVERYTHING. Just to look out for her safety and protection. How come her mother wasn’t doing that, at the time? Was this Amanda’s and her family’s fault? Part of it was, you can’t deny that. She’s too young to be flashing herself online to strangers she doesn’t even know. If you don’t want kids doing something like that, you need to teach your kids of what’s right and what’s wrong. Don’t allow her to go into chat rooms that young of age. When she’s alone using the computer, there are ways to block those sites where, she won’t visit them.

I’m not saying she deserved it, and she had it coming, but once again, part of this was her fault. She should have known better and family should have taught her better. When you have a child, you need to teach them these things, so they won’t do anything risky in the future. Teach your child that, if they plan to use the internet, teach them that they should talk to people online only if they know them. It’ll take them a while for them to understand, but it’s worth it. I’m not saying her mother is bad at parenting, but she should have protected her child more. If I had kids, I would do anything to protect them before they get into depression and before they go making suicidal notes in youtube videos.

Being a parent (which I’m not yet, but just saying), takes a lot of learning and responsibility.

Teen suicides are horrible, and teen bullying is horrible. I’ve experienced getting bullied in school when I was a teen myself, so I know what it is like, for sure. Which is why I am against bullying of all kinds. It is pretty inappropriate to bully people, no matter who they are, whether it will be for their orientation, their disability, their weight, their appearance, etc. People shouldn’t be bullied what so ever. I still get bullied by people to this day, but I learn to rise above it all and be a tough son of a bitch.

You’ve got to teach your kids that too, which is what I plan to do if I ever get kids someday. Teach them to be tough and teach them how to defend themselves when getting bullied. Teach them karate class or teach them how to fight, and teach them to fight back for self defense only. If you got a kid, who is driving themselves into depression and suicidal, then there must be something wrong with your parenting skills there. It takes a lot of skill as a parent to make your child safe and happy.

My heart and condolences goes out to Amanda’s family & friends, it’s just that suicide is not the answer. If you know a kid that is in trouble, you need to seek them professional help, before it’s too late.

Kev