Julia Kordon and her friend Savannah had no idea what they were about to start when they posted a simple Facebook page memorializing a teen who had been cyber bullied.
Cassidy Joy Andel hung herself on November 4th after being bullied on Facebook.
Her final post read, "My time has come and so I'm gone, to a better place far beyond."
When Julia and Savannah read her words and the hurtful words that led her to take her life, it touched a nerve.
"Some people were posting rude things on her wall, how they didn't like her and I felt a horrible ache for her," Julia said.
That's when the girls created a Facebook page to memorialize the teen they didn't know.
Within days the page had grown to over 7,000 friends, all wanting to know more about Cassidy, cyber bullying and requesting shirts and bracelets to memorialize her.
"We didn't not expect it to go this far." Kordon said.
But the two teens saw an open door to make a difference and decided to run with it.
Julia told her parents about the Facebook page. While they were proud of her, they were worried that she had done it without their knowledge.
"We had to be careful not to squash the good she was doing, but we needed to also keep her safe. " said Karen Kordon, Julia's mother.
When Julia started getting requests for interviews and asked to speak at schools, the Kordon's were overwhelmed.
"We just kept looking at eachother over and over and we said 'we can't believe this," Karen said. "This is unbelievable, our little Julia is quiet and shy."
But when it comes to Cyber bullying, Julia is not shy.
She and friend Savannah have now started an organization called "The Bullying Ends Now," and they plan to take their message as far as it will go.
"People need to be careful with their words because they really can hurt," Kordon said. "When it's typed out it just hurts to see it again and again and again."
But battling cyber bullying won't be easy. Even Kordon's memorial page is being targeted by mean-spirited Facebookers.
The Kordon's have had to delete posts.
"It just blew me away, and you think how can they say something like that and how can they think these thoughts," sKaren said.
But that's not stopping Julia and Savannah, who hope through Cassidy, others will be saved.
1 comment:
It's kids like Julia and Savannah that can help in the fight against cyberbulying and make a huge difference. Their willingness to speak to their peers at other schools is commendable.
After 23 years in juvenile court, I believe that teenagers learn from the experiences of their peers, not just from being lectured by those in authority. Consequently, “Teen Cyberbullying Investigated” was published in January, 2010.
Endorsed by Dr. Phil ["Bullied to Death"], “Teen Cyberbullying Investigated” presents real cases of teens in trouble over their online and cell phone activities.
Civil & criminal sanctions have been imposed on teens over their emails, blogs, texts, IM messages, Facebook & YouTube posts and more. TCI promotes education & awareness of consequences so that our youth will begin to “Think B4 U Click.”
Thanks for looking at “Teen Cyberbullying Investigated” on http://www.freespirit.com [publisher] or on http://www.askthejudge.info [a free website for & about teens and the laws that affect them].
Respectfully, -Judge Tom.
Post a Comment