When Katia had sent us the email that Carol Todd was going to join us for ECMP355 and ECMP455 on April 30th, I wasn’t sure what it was going to entail. I figured it was going to be a very gloomy class, as Amanda Todd’s story is tragic. However, it was interesting to hear Carol’s perspectives on digital citizenship and digital identity.
All too often we hear when someone commits suicide that it is always at the fault of the parent. However, after realizing that this tragic incident should not be a blame game. One of the questions that Carol answers went along the lines of “What do you think failed Amanda?”, Carol said it was a collection of everyone. Blame could be shared between teachers, fellow peers, the RCMP, and the parents. Society, in general, failed Amanda. However, her story does not focus on this. If you have the chance to watch Stalking Amanda Todd: The Man in the Shadows – The Fifth Estate I would highly recommend it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRidpO7kUO0
Carol, a teacher herself, shares her story to help others be aware of the hazards of online. One of the key learnings I took from her discussion with us was her stating, “We can’t get rid of social media because of a negative experience. Just as we can’t get rid of cars if there is an accident.” We can on the other hand make it safer for students and children to navigate the web. As Larissa Mack tweeted:
We make sure playgrounds are safe, why don’t we worry about the digital playground? Love this insight! @c_todd https://t.co/jOtjaaeNkT
— Larissa Mack (@LarissaRKMack) March 31, 2016
I believe that this insight comes down to teaching what a positive digital identity looks like and illustrated the importance of teaching digital citizenship for our students.
We wouldn’t give a 16 year old car keys w/out teaching them to drive first so why do we just give cell phones/tablets w/out teaching them?
— Brea Nyhus (@NyhusBrea101) March 31, 2016
These lessons from Carol are something that as we educators need to embrace and take forward as many other to promote cyber safety amoung our students .
Curtis Bourassa 
Hi Curtis, I enjoyed hearing your perspective that “society failed Amanda”, I have never thought of it this way when this situation occurs. You cannot put the blame on just one person or thing. We can’t get rid of social media as you stated, we need to educate students on how to use social media appropriately and effectively.