Today (Wednesday), all students in School District 43 will be given a letter to take home to parents related to the Amanda Todd's death.
Photograph by: NOW , file
It's been a week since Tri-Cities teen Amanda Todd took her life after detailing constant bullying in the schools and online, and there is no shortage of developments surrounding her story.
Today (Wednesday), all students in School District 43 will be given a letter to take home to parents related to the teen's death.
The letter will address Internet safety issues, and encourage parents to talk to their kids about appropriate Internet use and the harmful effects of bullying.
School District 43 spokesperson Cheryl Quinton said the district would continue to follow up on any reported cases of bullying, and also look to partner with the various Tri-Cities municipalities to collaborate on and pool resources toward the issue.
But teachers are being urged to follow district guidelines when it comes to showing Amanda's YouTube video or her story in the classroom.
"Out of tragedy always comes the opportunity to educate, but we want to ensure in the district the education done on this topic is done with some guidance," Quinton said.
She said the district is concerned how some children in the system dealing with similar issues will react.
As for any memorials, Quinton said she was unaware of any being planned through the district, and recommended students go through school administrators who can help liaise with any event.
Todd, who was a Grade 10 student at Coquitlam Alternate Basic Education (CABE) Secondary in Coquitlam, committed suicide on Oct. 10, a month after posting a YouTube video about her experience battling bullies over an incident that occurred a few years back.
Her family has established a trust fund at RBC under the name Amanda Michelle Todd's Trust Fund to support youth mental health, cyber-bullying education and a scholarship fund for students with disabilities.
Her death has also sparked both a police and coroner's investigation.
Lower Mainland RCMP have set up a tip line to help track down the online predator who originally posted nude pictures of Amanda.
By Monday, police had received more than 400 tips in the case.
Todd's mother Carol told The Vancouver Sun on Friday that police initially traced Amanda's online stalker to the United States, but the trail went dead because those types of people "are very good at hiding their tracks."
On Monday, several media outlets reported the online group Anonymous had outed Todd's online stalker as a 32year-old Vancouver-area man, but police have yet to confirm the information.
The BC Coroners Service also confirmed an investigation into the teen's death, and didn't rule out the possibility of a coroner's inquest.
The province's Child Death Review will also look at the case.
Beyond the police investigation, the federal politicians are debating a national bullying strategy.
Local politicians have also weighed in on the tragic story.
At Monday's regular council meeting, Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart noted that not only does his daughter share the name Amanda, but she shares the same birthday. They were both born on the same day 16 years ago.
"We also have to, as a community, accept that it is not the school's problem. This is our problem. This is not the parents' problem," he said.
"We must all step forward and accept that bullying belongs to us and if we're going to solve it, it's going to be all of us working together."
