Cyber-bullying concerns raised in wake of suicide
The death of a British Columbia teenager last week is raising questions in Manitoba about the harmful effects of cyber-bullying on youth.
Amanda Todd of Port Coquitlam, B.C., committed suicide in her family home on Wednesday, weeks after posting a video on YouTube saying she had sunk into depression after enduring years of online bullying, blackmail and physical assaults at school.
The internet has made it impossible for children and youth to escape constant judgment and criticism from their peers, says Signy Arnason, the Winnipeg-based director of CyberTip.ca, a national tip line for reporting the online sexual exploitation of children.
"Adolescence is such a precarious time," she told CBC News on Monday.
"You're trying to figure out who you are; that is difficult unto itself. When you take that issue and combine it with the internet, it can be absolutely brutal, what happens to these kids."
Arnason said it's up to parents to "get involved" and monitor what their children are doing online.
"You cannot take your head and bury it in the sand, because it's 24-7 for youth," she said.
"You need to be … having [a] regular dialogue about how they're to behave online, and treat others, and how they deserve to be treated as well."
