Rehtaeh Parsons and social media

Rehtaeh Parsons (was) a Teenager in Nova Scotia.

I've been regretting writing this post, as it is the same shit as always. Same story, same outcome, and same level of caring from people who should care.
The judicial system has failed and will fail again.

Reh was a 17 year old high school girl, like any other I guess you could say. Went to school, and dabbled in parties on weekends. Business as usual for most high schoolers. Media and social networking gets blurry on the next details. She drank a lot, she blacked out. Yes, blacked out. Where you don't remember what happens once you reach that point. Typically 0.25-.035% BAC. What is not mentioned or argued, is the fact that one of the 4 guys who proceeded to rape her after the point of blackout, are not charged. For that matter, aren't even put under the microscope.

The incident happened in 2011. She drank, she fucked up and drank too much. What I would assume she passed out. 4 guys proceeded to rape her, one by one. Nobody says anything. EXCEPT for one of the rapists to say take a picture. The picture is put up on nearly every social networking site that we are visit daily.

The next day, she remembers very few details that you would expect from someone who blacked out. Suffering from crippling anxiety and disarray of the whole situation, she was unable to give a reliable testimony for them to look into criminally investigate these 4 shitheads.

That should not be the problem. Photos of their ridiculous actions and selfish fucking stupidity are online. That should be enough to prosecute them. But, alas it wasn't deemed enough reliable evidence to begin to prosecute them.

from 2011 to 2013 she continued to battle through high school. The worst part of it all is nobody was there to comfort her. Nobody cared enough to talk to her. She became afraid. She didn't know what to do. Nobody helped, not one individual could put aside differences to say "hey, everything will be okay." Which is sometimes all a person needs to hear. Instead she got ridiculed, she got called a slut. She was considered a person who liked gangbangs from people who weren't even there for the whole situation. She was called a whore. She was a shell by the end of all of it. That is not fair.

People should be man enough to say something, nod or smile. Include her, even nurture her. She got nothing, she didn't get a wink of helpfulness. Of some semblance of human interaction. High school ate her up and spit her out.

Social media is now a blessing and a curse. In her case it is a curse for right now. Social media lit the fire. She became so much more to people in the town when bloggers, accounts on twitter and close friends were able to tell people how much of a slut she was. How she is playing the victim. People bought into it. People lived it, it embodied them. People hated this girl for basically no reason.

She committed suicide in April. As my previous posts were written, this is very emotional for me. No individual anywhere should be treated like a piece of shit. I have feelings, you have feelings and she sure as fuck had feelings. It is too little, too late to to try help Rehtaeh. You can help the cause by using social media as a positive tool to get those 4 shitheads behind bars.

What can you do? You can talk to people, talk to anyone who looks like they are having a rough day. Listen to people, if they have a story be willing to talk to them. Give them a smile. Make them feel welcome in this shitty world. It is too late for Rehtaeh to have kindness given to her. I send my best wishes to her family.

Nothing or nobody helped this girl in Nova Scotia, nobody cared enough. To the common individual to the elite, nobody gave 2 shits about this girl who got raped.

Bullying has to fucking stop, cyber, human, fiscal, personal, elder, spousal. All of it has to stop.

Rest In Peace Rehtaeh, you will not be forgotten. You may become a face for change, a face for an anti-bullying campaign.
We need to start saving lives instead of ridiculing people.

http://www.kidshelpphone.ca/teens/home/splash.aspx Here is the number to kids help phone.

If you are in post-secondary, talk to a psychologist. If you are stuck and feel trapped. Talk to those close to you. Remember "This too shall pass" and please talk to somebody if you feel anxiety or depression. Do not bottle it up, it will consume you.

Thanks,

Regards,

Devon