Ashley Smith committed suicide, on camera, in a Canadian prison.
Amanda Todd killed herself after posting a Youtube video explaining how it felt to be bullied.

The suicides are significant, but so are the video legacies left behind. Each provides rich opportunities for discussion at Secondary, analysis and response. Some teachers might be troubled over the ethics of using them in class, as might some students.

That these people were so miserable that they took their own lives is tragic.

But what of the young women’s videos and their public display?
Will they become the objects of ghoulish fascination?
…cautionary tales of bullying told to potential victims and perpetrators?
…motivations for legislators to enact new laws or fund suicide-prevention agencies?
…pieces of a larger collection of ‘suicide porn’ as others create and upload their own videos?

Following are some questions and discussion ideas that might help parents and children/teachers and students as they explore and develop a greater understanding of the causes and preventions of teen suicide, and especially their relationships to the media messages that communicate them.

Amanda made her own video, seemingly without assistance.
Why might she have produced a video rather than a blog post or a podcast?
Why might she have uploaded the video to Youtube?
Why might she have displayed a series of hand-written panels rather than mechanically-printed panels?
Why show them in front of herself rather than remove them from a pile on a table?
How significant is it that she looks at the camera while shuffling the papers?
Is it significant that this video mimics Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues?
Might Amanda have known about Dylan’s video, or is the visual similarity likely a coincidence?
Why change the video from colour to black and white (again mimicking Subterranean Homesick Blues)?
Why play a soundtrack during the showing?
What might be the significance of those songs?
If you were Amanda’s close friend or relative, how would you react to her video being posted to and watched on Youtube?

Ashley was in her cell when she died.
This was not her first suicide attempt.
Did she know that her self-strangulation was being video recorded?
If she did, might she have acted specifically or differently for the camera?
The guards knew the event was being recorded.
Why might the prison want to record the events leading to Ashley’s death?
How might being on camera have influenced the guards’ actions?
What reason did the government reps give for not wanting the video shown in court?
What reason did the judge give for allowing the showing of the video?

How might Ashley’s family and friends feel and respond to her video being shown?
How might the guards, their families and friends respond to the video being shown?
If you were Ashley’s close friend or relative, how would you react to a video of her death being shown in court?

Is it ethical for people to watch the recordings of these women’s deaths?
Should Youtube remove Amanda’s video out of respect for her and her family?
Should Youtube remove Amanda’s video so that it might not encourage copycat suicides?
How might Amanda’s attackers feel about the video?

Should access to the recording of Ashley’s death be open or restricted?
How likely is it that the video of Ashley’s death might encourage other inmates to kill themselves?

One caution provided to teachers about using Amanda’s video in a classroom is that it might trigger copycat suicides.
How big a concern do you think that is?
How might Amanda’s video help to prevent suicides?
How might discussion of Ashley’s video help to prevent suicides?
What cautions and advice would you give to a teacher planning to show and/or discuss the videos with students?
Should teen suicide be discussed in classrooms? Why?
What other videos, songs, stories, poems can you suggest that might help teens understand and avoid suicide?