I actually posted a Facebook status about this only an hour ago and was immediately met with butthurt people calling me a "c*nt". I now question why I have over 700 friends on my profile when I dislike most of them... Anyway, here is my status, please excuse the grammatical errors:

"Oh look, more people who become concerned about a matter like Kony and turn a tragedy into something personal for about a week. None of you care about Amanda Todd; you won't even remember this in three months so stop pretending to be humanitarians. Kids in Africa are starving and have AIDS and I see countless memes trolling the shit out of the situation and people sit back and take it as nothing, but when people see a rich little white girl get called a "slut" and kill herself it's fucking hands across Australia and anyone who makes a joke in its direction is the Devil incarnate. Furthermore, this shit happens everyday, so get the fuck over yourselves and realize that this is what people like to call "life" and stop acting like this is a one off scenario.

So please, before telling people like me with a morbid/dark sense of humor to "grow up", realize that we're only doing it because we love taking the piss and getting a reaction out of morons acting the hero over something we know to be utterly blown out of proportion, and then take a look at yourself and see how pathetically hypocritical and arrogant you are and what a total retard you must be to attempt to be some internet king and stand up for something that was, is, and always will be unpreventable by any human that will ever exist."

Now more closely related to the debate, here is my stance: nobody is responsible for her death but Amanda.

In most cases, especially this one, suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

I have been in exactly the same situation as her, to an extent of course (I don't have breasts obviously), and you know what I did? I moved the fuck on. I got help. I acted.

My childhood was miserable and awful for about eight straight years, but did I kill myself? No.

Now I know that other people have a different mindset and think differently, and I am fully aware Amanda "tried" to get help with her video, but it's still the principle of the matter. In extension, come on, why would you think a YouTube video would help? Teen girls looking for attention post them everyday, why would this one be taken seriously out of all the others?

Why not ball the police? Embarrasing, yes, but a whole lot more reasonable, not to mention rational, than killing yourself.

Are the people that bullied her and the weird black mail guy to blame for her death? No. They didn't kill her, she killed herself on her own accord.

There is no denying, however, that both those parties are wankers of the lowest form.

Even if you disagree with me, I think we can all agree that this was tragic and wish it didn't happen.

I'm sorry. But no. I don't think it's either's fault. Ultimately, it was HER choice. And yes, she had a shitty situation. But you'd think if the internet screwed her over so much she'd STOP getting online!!!

She could have easily protected herself in so many ways that she choose not to. She didn't get the police's help when the guy blackmailed her, TWICE. She fell for the guy telling her he liked her when she already fell for a guy saying the same things for sex already. She obviously didn't talk to anyone who could help protect her.

It's ultimately her fault. And her parents too for that matter. If I was her parent I would NOT have internet at the house that she had access to. She should have stopped being able to get on Facebook completely.

Yes, the whole situation is terrible. And the people who bullied her and blackmailed her are scum as well, but she didn't handle the situation well at all. Nor did her parents or any other trusted adult that she came in contact with that knew about the situation. And people obviously knew.

I seriously believe everyone gets bullied at some point in their life. It's how they handle it that changes things.

I got sexually harassed in middle school, I didn't just sit back and feel bad about it like it was my fault, though I did feel really bad about it. But I went and told my teachers, and principal. Those guys never touched me again. Though I'm not happy with how the teachers handled it really, at least it stopped.

Amanda Todd could have helped herself. She could have reached out. She didn't. I understand the situation was shitty, but it was her choice.

EDIT: Oh, and by the ways, I don't even believe all of it. I'd love to hear the REAL story from some teenage girl looking for attention. I'm sorry for her, and it's sad, but seriously people...

Neither, this society is always blaming others for the actions or inactions of others, so the ultimate responsibility of her death is Amanda Todd, she choose to take her own life.

If it is true that she flashed herself over the internet, she is also responsible for the situation she put herself as well, so she took the easy way out, death.

Of legal culpability

When an event occurs which is odious to human sensibilities, it is, I have observed, a natural response for those who are disquieted by the matter, to contrive to lay culpability at the door of one party or another. In this, men rely more frequently upon the direction of those same sensibilities which were offended, than on their faculty of reason.

While this course may be of consolation to the bereaved, or a salve to the hearts of those in uproar, no candid reviewer can consider it to be a reliable or judicious means of discerning the guilty party. It is, rather, the obligation of those who have the power to mete justice and dispense punitive measures, to weigh the matter with an even hand, absent the corrupting influences of emotion.

The death of this person was, in my understanding, declared a suicide. As such, it is a voluntary act of self slaughter and regardless of the influences which impelled Miss Todd to this end, no court can justly declare anyone but Miss Todd herself to be culpable.

This is not to say, however, that no legal charges can be brought against those who are guilty of hounding Miss Todd to her death. there are many legal precedents in which those who had committed analogous offences were sentenced to imprisonment, pecuniary confiscations and other mild penances. [1] [2]

Of moral culpability

It is inevitable that indecency and licentiousness, shall commit offences against innocence and gentleness. This we may accept as a natural peril of mankind. Besides the protection of the law, on which I have written above, our principle defence against persons such as he, who is described as "The Blackmailer", is the goodwill and support of our peers.

When such protection is wanting, or when those who should provide it make themselves accessory to the offence, as in this case, then that original offence is not so execrable as the apathy of those who are obliged to defend against it.

Thus, the fault lies as surely with those who Miss Todd had thought her friends, as with the mysterious instigator of these trespasses (being, the dissemination of compromising likenesses).

Conclusion

We submit that, as the law would have it the greater offence lies with the one who disseminated the photographs in question.

Morally, it is our opinion that the most heinous culpability lies with the peers who, in the dereliction of their natural duty, abandoned Miss Todd to the sinister machinations of a licentious man, and who ultimately drove her to the miserable end which is now the subject of our discussion.

People are capable of both genuine good and torturous evil.

The stalker was the original instigator by sending her pictures out to the schools, family, and friends and for following her, precisely fucking with her life.

The friends carried and prolonged that evil that the stalker placed upon Amanda Todd and her life.

Amandas friends could have been there for her instead of calling her names and beating on her; they could have comforted her against the evil acts of the stalker, they did not.

Where was her mother? Comfort from mothers are probably the most pure form of comfort, from womb to arms and body.

Amanda Todd took her own life, she is responsible for her life; her friends were responsible for poorly choosing to prolong the actions of the stalker, the stalker is at fault for originally fucking with her life.

This is horrible and that stalker and friends will be put to justice, in this life or the next.

This from the film "The Boondock Saints":

"And I am reminded, on this holy day, of the sad story of Kitty Genovese. As you all may remember, a long time ago, almost thirty years ago, this poor soul cried out for help time and time again, but no person answered her calls. Though many saw, no one so much as called the police. They all just watched as Kitty was being stabbed to death in broad daylight. They watched as her assailant walked away. Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men."

Really She Did it. It was suicide. I've been bullied pretty badly and I feel like shes nothing as bad as what I went through. She showed her Tits on the internet, and got bullied for it. Not very smart, and I don't care about the case. If a picture of me naked got out, I wouldn't kill myself. I'd say I made a mistake and move on. You can't help you're past but you can change you're future.

Its Amanda'a fault that she got into this herself. She is the one who caused all of this if because she flashed her boobs at a guy if she didn't do that then her life would have been fine. She should have think before she acts, if I was a girl I wouldn't do it at all. Its her fault not the her friends or the black-mailers fault its her fault.

It was a bit of both . I think if the guy would have never put the photo out there and randomly came back and blackmailed her to do more then nothing would have happened . She made the right choice ignoring it . but i feel as though it is more the "friends." They were the ones who took the situation made it a million times worse and than it was . Why would someone ever do that to this poor girl ? Why would people beat her up and not get in trouble ... thats my problem if i were there i would have been furious and made EVERY SINGLE one of them say they were sorry and mean it . This poor girl Amanda Todd if i would have known her before this , and thats one thing that gets me mad too people cared more after she was dead than before . I fully support her . And i hope she rests in peace . </3 Although i never knew you I Love You . She put up with so much and not pressing charges so she could move on . This girl is amazing and only wanted someone a friend anything , anyone. I hope ,honestly hope there is some good in those peoples hearts so they can feel her pain driving some one to killing them selves is WRONG... some one deserves in trouble for something !

she ultimately did it, but her choice was heavily influenced by the actions of those around her

If by "friends" you mean people in schools, I believe the people who were motivated by the blackmailer to abandon and bully this girl or hurt her in other ways are ultimately more responsible. The blackmailer did send the pictures and was generally the scariest person in it, but he isn't completely responsible for what people did to her in response to this.

I think it's awful that someone is saying no one should be commenting or care about bullying because there are kids in Africa who are the subject of memes. Have you ever heard of "death trolling"? This is when people make jokes about things RIGHT ON THE FAMILY'S PAGE. People also make jokes about suicides elsewhere, so the supporting point that people shouldn't care about this because people make jokes out of kids in Africa is null. The thing is, children in Africa have been starving, which makes this an invalid comparison. Are people supposed to comment on children in Africa EVERYDAY? It took one moment for Amanda Todd to die. You would have SOMETHING if people commented on bullying and suicide in general (which happens everyday, like children starving in Africa) every day and ignored everything else, but they don't. Comparing a NEW, FRESH IMPACT EVENT to something that is an ONGOING EVENT will get you nowhere.

I am tired of people trying to belittle the pain of others by using starving kids in Africa. These people think more about using starving kids in Africa as a tool to make everything else seem like nothing more than anything else. How many of these people did something for the children, or think about them everyday? If I were using them, and I helped them or thought about them more than the people I'm criticizing, I would DEFINITELY mention it! Bully victims, don't let people make you feel worse by saying "at least you aren't a starving child in Africa. Why should we care about you?" They don't get psychological pain, or the pain of having every day of your life be a living Hell. They don't understand psychological conditions like anxiety disorders, panic attacks, etc, which DOES wreak havoc on your body as well! All they can grasp are primal, tangible issues, like the need for food or drink, because they are simple.

In many ways I agree with what has been said already to the effect of neither the blackmailer nor the friends being responsible. At the same time, I think it is an oversimplification to observe to say that all of the responsibility lies with Amanda Todd. While one can say it was a choice for her to commit suicide, it is also true that in most cases suicide is a consequence of depression which does distort ones perception of reality. That many people struggle with depression and succeed does not mean that those who lose that battle "chose" to lose it. Depression affects everyone somewhat differently and to varying degrees. More importantly, it can be very difficult for anyone (let alone someone who is relatively young) to get the care they need. We do not respond well to mental health issues and support is very meager at best.

I would also like to contest the point that anti-bullying is an endeavor that should be dropped. Just because bullying exists and is often a so-called fact of life does not mean that we have to accept it without producing any response. That seems like a cop-out that fails to address the very real, positive effects that anti-bullying efforts can accomplish. I think that this is especially true when the bullying is targeting a person or people based upon their identity.