WINNIPEG – The parents of two teens whose suicides sparked debate about cyberbullying across Canada are in Winnipeg for Bullying Awareness Week.
Carol Todd and Glen Canning are in Winnipeg to accept the Rosalind Prober Award for Advocacy from Beyond Borders, a registered charity based in Winnipeg that works to free children from sexual exploitation.
Todd and Canning also appeared on Global Winnipeg’s Morning News on Monday to talk about their daughters’ experiences and what can be done to halt bullying.
Todd’s daughter Amanda, 15, killed herself on Oct. 10, 2012, after she endured years of bullying at school and online.
“It could happen to anybody,” Todd told Eva Kovacs on the Morning News, saying she urges kids who are being bullied to talk to an adult they trust.
Canning’s daughter Rehtaeh Parsons, 17, was also bullied at school and online. She hanged herself on April 4 and died in hospital on April 7 after life support was removed.
Photos of both Amanda Todd and Rehtaeh Parsons were distributed online as part of their bullying. Parsons’ family alleges the photo of her was taken during a sexual assault, while the photo of Todd was taken when the Grade 7 girl was convinced to flash her breasts at a stranger online.
The girls’ parents will also share their experiences at an educational symposium on protecting children in the digital age on Monday morning.
Todd will also make a presentation at Sisler High School Tuesday that will be live streamed to schools across the country and in the U.S.
The Rosalind Prober Award for Advocacy is given to people who have made a difference on the issue of child sexual exploitation by undertaking advocacy initiatives, Beyond Borders said in a news release. Prober is the co-founder and president of Beyond Borders.
Canada has a variety of online and telephone resources for people dealing with bullying:
- Canadian Red Cross violence, bullying and abuse prevention — www.redcross.ca/RespectED or www.standup2bullying.ca.
- Kids Help Phone — www.kidshelpphone.ca or 1-800-668-6868.
- Bullying Canada — www.bullyingcanada.ca or 1-877-352-4497.
- Bullying.org — www.bullying.org.
- Rainbow Resource Centre — www.rainbowresourcecentre.org.
- Safe Schools Manitoba — www.safeschoolsmanitoba.ca.
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