Dear Readers,
I heard about this story from my friend Kayla yesterday and I only saw the video and understood what happened a few minutes ago. Amanda Todd was a girl just like us, a girl that was lead down a road- a dangerous road- by people that deceived her or whom she felt she could trust. Many of our peers are making mistakes like Amanda and you know what? It could happen to any of us. I sat here and watched this video, listened to this girl's story, and felt so sad. I wanted so badly to find out more about her, to see if there was any way that this blog could reach her, that somehow she could be inspired to keep going, to keep trying and to know that she wasn't alone. So, I quickly typed in "Amanda Todd" in the search bar and I was shocked by what I saw. Amanda Todd took her life this week and that's when this situation really entered reality. Girls, we need this to stop. Too many of us are ending our lives just as it's beginning and... it just hurts me to think about this.
I've felt alone before; yeah, I was bullied, but I always had the support of my family, teachers, and friends to keep me up and therefore it causes great pain to imagine if, like Amanda Todd, I didn't (or didn't feel as if I) had the support that I needed to keep going. To be honest, I broke down upon learning about what happened to her because I can relate. It's not quite in the same type of problems, but in the struggle to keep her sanity and the struggle to be who she was in a world that was trying to change her.
To top it off, she was being cyberbullied. This is a type of bullying that I'm not too familiar with, but my name has been tossed around on Facebook (and I don't even have a Facebook account) and it doesn't feel nice to hear about the different things that they say about me; but to have someone put up things like, "I hope she kills herself" is insane! Why is it necessary? I mean, what would possess that person to say something so hateful about this girl? When your in certain situations, sure, you might think, "Gosh, I wish that person would just disappear" or something, but I would never have the gaul to vocalize (or even think for that matter) that someone should die or commit suicide. It's just so irrational and irresponsible to say such a thing so someone. What I'm thinking is that I would love to hear from these same bullies and ask them how it feels to have a 15 year old's blood on their hands. She took her life because they made life miserable for her. Gosh, life is full of joys and pleasures and they pretty much yanked it out of her hands. It's so disappointing and heart-wrenching to think about the things that we humans (especially teens) have been doing to each other.
Now, Amanda's mom has set up a fundraiser for anti-bullying and mental disorders through the Royal Bank of Canada. I am going to ask you guys to do whatever you can to at least put a penny into that fundraiser. I am so serious about this cause that I am going to work with my school to gather money to give to the Royal Bank of Canada to help out. We need to help each other, girls. Amanda took her life, but she tried saving thousands of others. Let's try to help Amanda save more.
Love Always <3,
Katrina Lowell
I heard about this story from my friend Kayla yesterday and I only saw the video and understood what happened a few minutes ago. Amanda Todd was a girl just like us, a girl that was lead down a road- a dangerous road- by people that deceived her or whom she felt she could trust. Many of our peers are making mistakes like Amanda and you know what? It could happen to any of us. I sat here and watched this video, listened to this girl's story, and felt so sad. I wanted so badly to find out more about her, to see if there was any way that this blog could reach her, that somehow she could be inspired to keep going, to keep trying and to know that she wasn't alone. So, I quickly typed in "Amanda Todd" in the search bar and I was shocked by what I saw. Amanda Todd took her life this week and that's when this situation really entered reality. Girls, we need this to stop. Too many of us are ending our lives just as it's beginning and... it just hurts me to think about this.
I've felt alone before; yeah, I was bullied, but I always had the support of my family, teachers, and friends to keep me up and therefore it causes great pain to imagine if, like Amanda Todd, I didn't (or didn't feel as if I) had the support that I needed to keep going. To be honest, I broke down upon learning about what happened to her because I can relate. It's not quite in the same type of problems, but in the struggle to keep her sanity and the struggle to be who she was in a world that was trying to change her.
To top it off, she was being cyberbullied. This is a type of bullying that I'm not too familiar with, but my name has been tossed around on Facebook (and I don't even have a Facebook account) and it doesn't feel nice to hear about the different things that they say about me; but to have someone put up things like, "I hope she kills herself" is insane! Why is it necessary? I mean, what would possess that person to say something so hateful about this girl? When your in certain situations, sure, you might think, "Gosh, I wish that person would just disappear" or something, but I would never have the gaul to vocalize (or even think for that matter) that someone should die or commit suicide. It's just so irrational and irresponsible to say such a thing so someone. What I'm thinking is that I would love to hear from these same bullies and ask them how it feels to have a 15 year old's blood on their hands. She took her life because they made life miserable for her. Gosh, life is full of joys and pleasures and they pretty much yanked it out of her hands. It's so disappointing and heart-wrenching to think about the things that we humans (especially teens) have been doing to each other.
Now, Amanda's mom has set up a fundraiser for anti-bullying and mental disorders through the Royal Bank of Canada. I am going to ask you guys to do whatever you can to at least put a penny into that fundraiser. I am so serious about this cause that I am going to work with my school to gather money to give to the Royal Bank of Canada to help out. We need to help each other, girls. Amanda took her life, but she tried saving thousands of others. Let's try to help Amanda save more.
Love Always <3,
Katrina Lowell
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