Stalking Amanda Todd: The Man in the Shadows
The story of the torment suffered by Amanda Todd, a Canadian teenager, begins in the Netherlands. Although continents divided them, the Internet connected them. One Dutch man bullied and blackmailed the B.C teen without ever leaving his home in Holland. Apparently this man would spend hours searching out vulnerable teenaged girls. This is how he found one who was only eleven years old.
According to experts, this man was well practiced. He knew exactly what to say, what to do, and how to do it.
Amanda was a little girl with a dream and she used the Internet as her stage. According to her mother, she was creative but could be shy at times. However she loved technology because it allowed her to make herself known. She loved making videos and posting them on youtube.
Access to her laptop revealed a host of chat logs that proved that her online life was much more than posting videos. Her screen name was ‘cutiielover’ which is completely inappropriate for an eleven year old. She would even tell her friends how she would fool her dad into thinking that she had gone to sleep, but would come back to continue the conversation.
Her online friends gave her what she craved: affirmation and attention. Coming from a broken home, it’s no wonder that she became addicted to this attention. At the age of twelve, she asked her parents for a webcam and although at the beginning it was denied, they eventually saw no danger in it and gave in to her request.
According to her friends, blogtv became a popular website with Amanda. Teens flock to the site because it’s where they meet people their age from all over the world who also have webcams. Some sing, some explore their budding sexuality, others ask for advice, and others simply stare at their own reflections. Either way, there is a growing audience for girls who like to perform.
That’s probably how it all began and how it escalated quickly. Amanda’s log shows that at one point she had about 200 other people looking at her and that’s when she made a decision that haunted her for the rest of her life. She pulled up her shirt and flashed them. That’s when the man with the fake name Tyler Boo showed up and threatened to share the picture with the world unless she gave him more.
Amanda Todd’s name became synonymous with bullying, suicide and loss. How did this happen? Who was her online stalker? Why wasn’t he arrested before Amanda took her own life? Who is really to blame for this tragedy? Find out more now.
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