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Should schools show the Amanda Todd YouTube video?

Amanda Todd's cry for help was ignored by the masses when it was first posted on YouTube, but the emotional black-and-white video has been at the centre of a nationwide debate about bullying and mental health since she committed suicide earlier this month.

The 15-year-old British Columbia student used flashcards to recount in an eight-minute video her experience of being bullied at school and online, describe her descent into depression and reach out for support and understanding.

It remained widely unnoticed on YouTube for more than a month until garnering attention when she took her own life on October 10.

The video, which has now been viewed more than five million times, has since been embraced by some schools as a way to discuss the effects of bullying and avoided in others, where administrators are concerned about how struggling teens might perceive the message.

[ Related: Amanda Todd was not Internet obsessed, mother says ]

The Canadian Press reported that a B.C. anti-bullying expert cautioned schools about the YouTube video, saying it was "preferable" if teachers did not show it.

The note relayed the idea that the video would cause other teenagers to consider suicide.

Mental health advocates have recently focused their attention of awareness and bringing the issue of depression into the spotlight so sufferers are less afraid to ask for help.

Earlier this month, the Institute for Clinical and Evaluative Sciences and Public Health Ontario released a report titled Opening Eyes, Opening Minds, which found that mental illness and addictions are often misunderstood and misdiagnosed.

"People can often dismiss mental illnesses as, 'Oh, that person is just feeling a little blue,'" Sujitha Ratnasingham, the author of the report, told CBC. "But they don't fully understand the impact it has on their life as a whole, their work, their social interactions, their family."

[ Related: Todd's death prompts father of suicide victim to speak out ]

Todd's mother told the Vancouver Sun that she hoped the video would be used as an educational tool.

The Sun came to the same conclusion in an editorial posted Wednesday, writing:

… [I]t's natural and important that educators seize on what is both a teachable moment and a need to address the issues that arise from Amanda's story. Most teenagers will at least have heard of Amanda's video by now. Many will have seen it. They will have discussed it with their friends. They will have read the comments of others, both sympathetic and vicious, and perhaps commented on it themselves in social media.

Schools play a distinct role in the lives of children. It is for learning English and math, but it is also where societal structures and stigmas are first experienced. It is where bullying begins.

Todd was by all accounts a bright and active girl before the anxiety, self-mutilation and drugs. She would hopefully appreciate the attention her video is receiving.

Had it not come too late, having her peers see the effects of bullying first-hand in a place that fosters thought and debate may have provided the support she so desperately needed.

Had it not come too late.