Amanda Todd's mother excluded from bullying forum

The mother of B.C. cyber-bullying victim Amanda Todd says she doesn't understand why she wasn't part of an anti-bullying forum apparently held in direct response to her daughter's suicide last month.

Carol Todd says she wasn't invited to Premier Christy Clark's forum. She says she asked if she could attend but said she was told "no."

"I've received so many emails and messages from all around the world from parents and teachers and kids about their stories, where they're the victims or they're the bullies," Carol Todd told CBC News Wednesday.

Fifteen-year-old Amanda Todd died in October after posting a YouTube video documenting how she was sexually exploited on the internet and then bullied.

Organizers of the Vancouver anti-bullying forum this week say it was a mutual decision for Todd’s mother not to attend the event, but that’s not her version of what unfolded.

"I really, really wanted to be there. I didn't want to be a speaker at it. I just wanted to sit back and listen and watch," Todd said.

Tweets about exclusion

Todd took to Twitter during the forum to express her anger.

"Amanda Todd's mom excluded from anti-bullying forum," she tweeted."It is a shame that I was excluded from the forum. Is that a form of bullying?"

"I am very upset at this," she said in another tweet.

Organizers say they met with Todd to discuss the dynamics of the forum and she agreed she wouldn't come.

Trauma expert Kevin Cameron advised organizers on whether Todd should attend. But, Cameron said, there were concerns that her presence and focus on Amanda's death could affect teens in the audience. 

"High-profile trauma does not cause individuals who are doing OK to become high risk. High-profile trauma, instead, intensifies already existing symptoms among troubled individuals."  

B.C. Education Minister Don McRae said he talked to Todd on the telephone Wednesday morning and said that they will meet early next week to talk about the highlights of the forum face to face.