Amanda Todd's mother excluded from bullying forum
CBC News
Posted: Nov 14, 2012 7:53 PM PT
Last Updated: Nov 15, 2012 7:27 AM PT
Related
The mother of B.C. cyber-bullying victim Amanda Todd says she doesn't understand why she wasn't part of an anti-bullying forum apparently held in direct response to her daughter's suicide last month.
Carol Todd says she wasn't invited to Premier Christy Clark's forum. She says she asked if she could attend but said she was told "no.”
"I've received so many emails and messages from all around the world from parents and teachers and kids about their stories, where they're the victims or they're the bullies," Carol Todd told CBC News Wednesday.
The anti-bullying forum was held at Simon Fraser University's downtown campus. (CBC)Fifteen-year-old Amanda Todd died in October after posting a YouTube video documenting how she was sexually exploited on the internet and then bullied.
Organizers of the Vancouver anti-bullying forum this week say it was a mutual decision for Todd’s mother not to attend the event, but that’s not her version of what unfolded.
“I really, really wanted to be there. I didn't want to be a speaker at it. I just wanted to sit back and listen and watch," Todd said.
Tweets about exclusion
Todd took to Twitter during the forum to express her anger.
"Amanda Todd's mom excluded from anti-bullying forum," she tweeted."It is a shame that I was excluded from the forum. Is that a form of bullying?"
"I am very upset at this," she said in another tweet.
Organizers say they met with Todd to discuss the dynamics of the forum and she agreed she wouldn't come.
Trauma expert Kevin Cameron advised organizers on whether Todd should attend. But, Cameron said, there were concerns that her presence and focus on Amanda's death could affect teens in the audience.
"High-profile trauma does not cause individuals who are doing OK to become high risk. High-profile trauma, instead, intensifies already existing symptoms among troubled individuals."
B.C. Education Minister Don McRae said he talked to Todd on the telephone Wednesday morning and said that they will meet early next week to talk about the highlights of the forum face to face.
With files from the CBC's Belle PuriShare Tools
Latest British Columbia News Headlines
- Adrian Dix to stay on as B.C. NDP leader despite election loss
- Embattled B.C. NDP Leader Adrian Dix says he will stay on as head of the party despite last week's surprise election defeat. more »
- Rain, snowfall warnings issued for B.C.'s southern Interior
- A low pressure system stuck over B.C. will bring heavy rain in the southern Interior, snow on the mountain passes, and cooler temperatures over the next two days, according to CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe. more »
- 2 bodies found in lake near Vernon
- RCMP in Vernon, B.C., are investigating after two bodies were found in Kalamalka Lake on Wednesday morning. more »
- Plumber's car explodes near Vancouver apartments

- An explosion tore apart a parked car in Vancouver's West End this morning, although no injuries were reported. more »
Must Watch
Top News Headlines
- Harper 'not consulted' about Duffy Senate expense repayment

- Prime Minister Stephen Harper says that not only did he not know about his chief of staff's "gift" to repay Senator Mike Duffy's expenses before the story broke in the media, he was not consulted and did not sign off on Nigel Wright's decision to write a personal cheque. more »
- Mayor Ford stays silent while his brother defends him
- Toronto Mayor Rob Ford continues to stonewall the media over allegations that he was recorded on video smoking what appears to be crack cocaine, but his brother Coun. Doug Ford told reporters Wednesday that the story is untrue. more »
- 'You will see him again in heaven,' Sharlene Bosma tells daughter
- Sharlene Bosma told more than 1,000 people at the public memorial service for her slain husband, Tim Bosma, about the love they shared. more »
- Rob Ford fired as Don Bosco Eagles head coach
- The Toronto Catholic District School board announced Wednesday that it was turfing Mayor Rob Ford from his position as head coach of the Don Bosco Eagles senior football team. more »
- Plumber's car explodes near Vancouver apartments
- Cloverdale Rodeo 'racist attack' investigated
- Adrian Dix to stay on as B.C. NDP leader despite election loss
- Greyhound bus caught going twice the speed limit in B.C.
- Aboriginal woman settles lawsuit over 3½ years solitary confinement
- One dead as floatplane overturns in Bute Inlet
- Former B.C. MLA Harold Long killed in plane crash
- B.C. teachers win fight over political posters in schools
- B.C. mine's temporary foreign workers case dismissed

