You Tube video – Look2wiceTV – Amanda Todd Bullying Tribute - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTezC-1VNPQ
You Tube video – Matrice Music TV - https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pFvoSHOvKmI#!
Article - http://www.thenownewspaper.com/life/Students+band+together+Surrey/8412413/story.html
Pew Internet Report - http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/Teens-Social-Media-And-Privacy.aspx
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Points can be sharp or they can be blunt. I saw a Facebook conversation tonight about the interesting conversation starter ‘think before you speak’. I remember the older people in my life always saying this. The comment on Facebook was “Why don’t people think before they say or talk about certain things? hmmmm….” This of course sparked a whole conversation on the issue. Me included. My thoughts are that technology has promoted a ‘NO FILTER’ rule. We spend so much time behind our computers and our mobile devices, that face to face contact may be limited. But as adults, we often work outside our home so we do see people. Our kids go to school but depending on their age, but sitting in classes and listening to their teaches is not the same as the face to face social contact that kids need in order to read facial and body cues. So often, kids are behind ‘the screen’. That’s how they socialize. So when those kids and sometimes us as adults are saying things === it is without a filter. Some of us don’t know how to say things, when not to say things, how saying things may hurt someones feelings. Because when you say something behind your screen, you don’t see the emotion at the other end. You might see the sad emoticon. But you will never feel what the owner of the emoticon is feeling. There is something to say about ‘vibes’. Have you ever walked into a room and felt the ‘good vibes’ or the ‘bad vibes’. That is all part of the human interaction that is needed in building a whole person.
I had a girlfriend contact me via Facebook today. She wrote the following letter to our community papers right after Amanda died. I might as well print her name because you will find it in the article. Sheri watched Amanda grow while I was pregnant. I watched her grow also with her middle child. Amanda and Sheri’s middle baby were 3 months apart. We did the baby/toddler thing together. There were also the bday parties. The trip to the parks. Swimming lessons. Lemonade. Popsicles. The only thing was that Amanda was a girl in the midst of boys. Amanda eventually got bored when she wanted the Barbies. Here is the link to Sheri’s letter. It made me cry when I read it for the first time. Come to think of it, I only read it once because it did make me cry. I am glad it is on the internet as it needs to be shared again and again. http://www.mapleridgenews.com/opinion/letters/174491101.html
It was one of Sheri’s son’s birthdays today. She asked him what he wanted. He said maybe a housecoat or some shorts. Mom then asked “Is there not anything you REALLY WANT?? And he said he really wanted to make a donation to Amanda’s Memorial Fund. So I have done that on his behalf tonight.” I have to say, her son is turned 20 today. What a great pay it forward birthday present. I know he might not take a hug from me but I told his mom to give him a huge one. And this is what I have been saying all along …. ‘It’s about the KINDNESS that we give and how others can learn from it.’ Another form of KARMA that is good. We raise our kids and only hope that what we teach and share with them will stick. Good going Sheri, you raised great kids!!!
And then the downside of life … a research study came out today from the Canadian Medical Association Journal about the evidence of ‘suicide contagion’. Of course that will be evident if the topic isn’t discussed. There were some good recommendations put forward in that suicide needs to be talked about schoolwide if it has occurred. Not just with the youth that were ‘the friends’. I truly believe it becomes a school/community issue. So closing the topic doesn’t help. We all need to talk about our feelings.
But what about how ‘depression and suicide’ come about. It’s about mental health. Who is supposed to be supporting that? Does bullying/cyberbullying sometime come into play? Who treats the mental health that results in the suicide? Community care is where it should start. Emergency rooms are the last resort. So are Adolescent Psych Units. If there were more supports in the schools and community for treating mental health issues and youth, maybe the numbers would decrease.
Maybe it’s time to use social media to help bring more awareness and resources to the forefront!!
Leaving some articles for reading. Some are of course redundant but it will show you how it was in the newsfeed today.
(Thanks to everyone for all their warm fuzzies to me. Having coffee with the lovely lady who wrote and directed ‘The Bullying Games’ tomorrow.)
Hugz… xoxo from me
| New research finds evidence of ‘suicide contagion’ among Canadian teens CTV News Teenagers who had a classmate die by suicide are significantly more likely to think about or attempt suicidethemselves over the following two years, according to a new study. The idea that being exposed to asuicide can spur suicidal thoughts or … See all stories on this topic » |
| Preventing teen suicide key to workshop nwitimes.com For more information about “Youth Suicide — Prevention and Education” or the Family & Youth Services Bureau, call (219) 464-9585 or visit www.fysb.org. VALPARAISO | Social media plays a significant role in the incidence of teen suicide, a social … See all stories on this topic » |
| Cyberbullying, Risky Sex Hike Teen Suicide Risk – MedPage Today MedPage Today Data from the federal Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), involving more than 15,000 teens in the 13-17 age group, suggested that cyberbullying — denigration and threats communicated via Internet technology — was a greater contributor to suicidal … See all stories on this topic » |
| Teen suicides can lead peers to consider taking their own lives, study finds Calgary Herald TORONTO – A new study says teens who had a schoolmate die by suicide are more likely to consider or attempt taking their own lives than those who haven’t lost a peer to suicide. Researchers say the effect known as “suicide contagion” can last for two … See all stories on this topic » |
| Teen suicide may be contagious: Study Sun News Network OTTAWA — A new study from the University of Ottawa suggests suicide may be contagious among young people, especially when they hear stories of others killing themselves. “Suicide contagion — the idea that someone else’s suicide can influence your … See all stories on this topic » |
| Student Suicide May Spur Similar Thoughts in Teens Health.com TUESDAY, May 21 (HealthDay News) — When a classmate commits suicide, teens are more likely to consider or attempt suicide themselves, according to a new study. This “suicide contagion” occurs regardless of whether the teens knew the deceased … See all stories on this topic » |
| Cyberbullying triples suicide risk in teens Global Medical News Network Published on May 21, 2013. The risk of teen suicide tripled after online bullying and doubled after off-line bullying compared with no bullying, an analysis of federal data on teen behaviors reveals. Dr. Kristi Kindrick discusses the study and its … See all stories on this topic » |
| Teens affected by ‘suicide contagion,’ Canadian study finds – The Province The Province Teens whose schoolmates have died by suicide are more likely to consider or attempt suicide themselves, according to a new study. The research found the effect, known as suicide contagion, can last for two years or more and it affects not just close … See all stories on this topic » |
| Teens Exposed to a Classmate’s Suicide Are at Higher Risk Themselves Healthline Teens who have had a classmate die by suicide—whether they were close friends or not—have an increased risk of contemplating or attempting suicide for up to two years after the event, according to new research published in the Canadian Medical … See all stories on this topic |
