I think we all have seen Amanda Michelle Todd’s video that went viral after her death, resulting in beyond borders media attention. Before 16 year old Amanda committed suicide she posted on YouTube a video in which she used a series of flash cards to tell the world of her experience of being blackmailed and bullied.
As a result Amanda’s story has shocked many around the world and of course her family; she and her mom Carol had a close relationship. Her mother Carol Todd established the Amanda Todd Trust, receiving donations to support anti-bullying awareness education and programs for young people with mental health problems. A week after her death, ABC News reported that fraudulent websites had been set up claiming to solicit donations,
“Taking advantage of a family’s grief is despicable… We want to get the word out that there is one real account and anyone who is interested can make a donation at any RBC branch to the Amanda Todd Trust Account.”
This family has been through a lot! And this is one strong mom; after seeing her daughter suffer for years can you imagine how devastating to have such a tragic ending and the feeling of helplessness to do everything in her power to help her daughter, moving, changing schools twice, getting counseling for her, rushing her to the hospital after her previous suicide attempts and still not being able to protect her from al the media attacks and the bullying to Amanda. Carol is a teacher in the Coquitlam school district and a specialist in assistive technologies.
But she has turned the page and has become an active member and strong advocate on bullying; is using her daughter’s tragic story to warn parents to update old “stranger danger” lessons and focus on social media interactions and she makes very important points for all parents to have in mind:
Todd reminds, social posts and file shares cannot be taken back; “Once it’s out there, it leaves a digital footprint and you can never get it off,”
She also stressed that kids and teens should never feel like they’re alone whenever they’re in trouble; ideally they should always have a trusted adult to talk to.
“They shouldn’t ever feel if they’ve done something wrong, it should be hidden, because that’s when the problems start to happen,”
Carol Todd also writes a blog since she is very comfortable around computers, the blog is titled caroltoddsnowflakes in memory of her daughter posting pictures, her rants and raves and she invites others to write about “reflections” and “magical moments” but only “happy ones” quoting her daughter:
As Amanda would say, if you are a ‘hater’, there is no place for you here
Carol says writing has helped her:
Air out my brain and thoughts of all the things that are weighing it down
She also says she is very thankful for her community, the family lives in Port Coquitlam BC
My community has been so supportive and also so protective for me and my family.
Since her daughters tragic death Carol decided to learn more about the horrifying world of child ****ography and all of problems her daughter Amanda went though and now doesn’t want other children to suffer as her daughter did…don’t miss the video where she tells us about Amanda’s suffering path for over 3 years.
You can follow Carol Todd on twitter here.
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