Bullied B.C. Teen Committs Suicide

By now, everyone has heard the tragic story and most everyone has seen the video; a fifteen year old girl committed suicide last week, partly attributed to physical and cyber-bullying.  The B.C. teenager  posted a youTube video in September, describing the bullying experience she endured and ended with her clearly reaching out for help.

This horrible event is fraught with complication and many factors were likely at play; it is improbably simple to say bullying was the only cause.  That being said, there are deadly serious lessons for all our teens and pre-teens; vigilance and action by communities is the only real answer.

Obviously the bullying laws and efforts that have been put in place were not enough to help in this case.  In fact; BC's premier, Christy Clark has gone as far as to say that maybe we need even tougher laws in place to help with this problem.

“I don’t believe for a second that anyone who is bullied doesn’t want to report the fact that they were bullied; they don’t trust that the people to whom they’ll report it will use the information in a way that’s going to protect them,” - read more.

What is clear is that we need to stand as families, friends and as a community to help prevent any thing like this from happening. Mrs. Higgins says, "We are committed at Wilma Hansen to address bullying in an open, dignified way to ensure all our students feel safe." There are many resources at the CBE which can help anyone who is in distress - click here for all help that the CBE offers. 

Another important aspect in this and something that needs to be pointed out to our children on a regular basis is the never ending endurance of the internet.  No digital message sent in any form is ever secure or secret once it is sent.  A picture posted on Facebook or sent via IM or texted, a stray tweet about a friend, a joke comment at someone's expense on Instagram never goes away. If its mean/insensitive/embarrassing now, it will also be embarrassing in twenty years when you're entering a job interview, or about to get married, or your kids are checking up on you.

Infinite digital life is an aspect of the social experience that most of us parents are simply not familiar with and bears deliberate consideration.  It astounds me every time I hear about someone who is surprised that their 'secret' internet activity gets exposed. Amanda's ultimate decision points out that we need to remind our kids often about responsible digital behaviour. 

Do you think enough is being done about bullying?  Have you had an experience that will help our community?  Do you talk regularly to your kids about digital responsibility? Leave a comment by clicking on 'comment' below.