Am 10. Oktober 2012 beging Amanda Todd, ein Teenager aus Kanada, Suizid. Sie war jahrelang Opfer von Cyberbullying und Belästigungen gewesen. Judith Bruhns erläutert den schockierenden Fall.
Der Fall
Im Alter von zwölf Jahren meldete sich Amanda Todd bei einer Webcam-Chatseite im Internet an. Dort überredete sie ein dreißig Jahre alter Mann dazu, vor der Kamera ihre Brüste zu entblößen. Der Mann fotografierte heimlich die Webcamaufnahme und verbreitete die Bilder unter Freunden, der Familie, Nachbarschaft und in der Schule des Mädchens. Obwohl Amanda Todd mehrmals die Schule wechselte und mit ihrer Familie sogar umzog, fuhr der Mann fort, sie zu belästigen. Mitschüler des Mädchens fingen darauf an, sie ebenfalls zu schikanieren und zu drangsalieren. Amanda begann unter Panikattacken zu leiden, sich selbst zu verletzen und versuchte sogar mehrmals, sich umzubringen. Am 7. September 2012 veröffentlichte Amanda, die zu diesem Zeitpunkt 15 Jahre alt war, ein neunminütiges Video auf Youtube, in dem sie auf Karteikarten ihre Leidensgeschichte wiedergibt. Am 10. Oktober des selben Jahres beging das Mädchen Suizid.
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“How many girls have to kill themselves before society realizes that cyber bullying leads to suicide.” Over the past years we have seen many incidents of suicide attempts due to cyber bullying. Yet some of us claim that bullying (in the sense of freedom of expression) should be protected under the 1st amendment. This philosophy is however a drastically ignorant approach to a matter that can have a deeper impact on a person’s mental and physical state than anticipated. In the case of Amanda Todd, physical and cyber harassment were tools used to drive her into suicide. We believe that this would not have happened if the extent of the verbal abuse could have been limited by the school regulations and public laws. In cases like these speech and hate speech must be differentiated and dealt with accordingly. Reflecting upon that statement, we are highly convinced and fully invested in the thought that Amanda Todd would have seen another day, if the hostility and malevolence of her classmates would have been confronted and address as harmful and as a criminal offence.
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It is really a shocking news. Cyber bullying is one of the major problems for kids as they are exposed to different social media websites. Internet safety for kids are indeed these days and parental control programs helps protecting kids. I also use a parental control program for my kid’s safety.
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What a terrible news!
This is not only about the privacy, but the right to life. To protect users from cyber-bullying is a key topic that administrators must concentrate on.
Free speech is consist of rights to speak and the protection of personal reputation.