Candles were lit in Edmonton and Calgary memorials Friday night, as Albertans remembered the tragic life of Amanda Todd and used their tiny flames as a metaphorical light shining on the fatal and catastrophic price of bullying.
The vigils were two of more than 40 believed to have been held world-wide to remember the 15-year-old B.C. teen who took her own life a week-and-a-half ago, after years of cyber and physical bullying, and a month after posting a cry for help on YouTube.
Memorials were held in cities in B.C., Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba, Quebec and Nova Scotia, but also in at least five American states, as well as Copenhagen and various cities in India.
Approximately 400 children, teens and adults attended the Calgary vigil at Olympic Plaza, where victims of bullying shared their own stories of survival.
“It’s hard to think that once I was bullied and at some point in my life that bullying pushed me to be one,” Brittanie Outram, 20, told the assembled crowd, The Calgary Sun reports.
“I vividly recall going home every day crying, knowing I would have to go back to that school.
“I was young and didn’t understand how someone my age could be so mean and cruel.”
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Friday night’s Calgary rally is only the beginning of a much wider anti-bullying campaign, Julie Noseworthy told the Calgary Herald.
“This is only the start,” Noseworthy, one of two Bowness moms who started the rally and also created a Facebook page called “Bully Busters,” the Herald reported her as saying.
“We’ve planned some more rallies and walks, and are looking at getting some laws changed.”
A candle light vigil was also held in Edmonton on the grounds of the legislature.
The Edmonton Journal estimates approximately 40 people attended that memorial.
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The Huffington Post Canada | Posted: 10/20/2012 2:21 pm EDT Updated: 10/20/2012 2:34 pm EDT