Cybersafety Story (Natalie Year 8)
"I'm sorry."
He lowers down the screen and puts his face in his palms.
Where did I go wrong? How did this even start? Such simple questions as these had the most complex of answers – a mix of emotions as well as feelings, along with a side of naivety.
He whimpered and he wailed. He screamed and he shouted, but they never reached the person on the other side of the net, the one who caused the pain in the first place. But for so long they never even managed to reach the owner.
All his true emotions and intentions got stuck somewhere between the back of his mind and the keyboard.
This wasn’t him. He wasn’t doing this.
A tear rolled down his pink cheek, a sign of regret and self-disappointment.
He didn’t even know this anonymous user, so why did he say such things? And then, why did the anonymous user say such things to him?
For all they both knew, they could be anyone at all.
Maybe if he had have listened, or even thought about the dangers he was facing, he wouldn't be here in the first place.
He wouldn't be tangled in a web of unfelt hate and complete stupidity.
In the end, that’s all that it was. Complete stupidity.
He breathed in and he breathed out. He wiped his eyes free of dried tears and slapped himself out of it.
He opened his laptop screen and clicked the text box.
He took a deep breath, and typed something so small you might miss it, but so big you just can’t ignore it. Something courageous as well as brave and something beautiful as well as sincere.
'I'm sorry.’ He wrote, and he smiled.
He knew it wasn't that easy, that just cutting it off like this wouldn't be possible. But he also knew that tangling himself in a mess of cyberbullying was not worth anything at all.
For the first time in a couple of weeks he laughed, and he appreciated the sunlight entering through his bedroom window and the sound of birds singing and the sight of neighbours helping one another.
And to think that in the blink of an eye, his mood and thoughts had been turned around completely.
"I'm sorry."
He lowers down the screen and puts his face in his palms.
Where did I go wrong? How did this even start? Such simple questions as these had the most complex of answers – a mix of emotions as well as feelings, along with a side of naivety.
He whimpered and he wailed. He screamed and he shouted, but they never reached the person on the other side of the net, the one who caused the pain in the first place. But for so long they never even managed to reach the owner.
All his true emotions and intentions got stuck somewhere between the back of his mind and the keyboard.
This wasn’t him. He wasn’t doing this.
A tear rolled down his pink cheek, a sign of regret and self-disappointment.
He didn’t even know this anonymous user, so why did he say such things? And then, why did the anonymous user say such things to him?
For all they both knew, they could be anyone at all.
Maybe if he had have listened, or even thought about the dangers he was facing, he wouldn't be here in the first place.
He wouldn't be tangled in a web of unfelt hate and complete stupidity.
In the end, that’s all that it was. Complete stupidity.
He breathed in and he breathed out. He wiped his eyes free of dried tears and slapped himself out of it.
He opened his laptop screen and clicked the text box.
He took a deep breath, and typed something so small you might miss it, but so big you just can’t ignore it. Something courageous as well as brave and something beautiful as well as sincere.
'I'm sorry.’ He wrote, and he smiled.
He knew it wasn't that easy, that just cutting it off like this wouldn't be possible. But he also knew that tangling himself in a mess of cyberbullying was not worth anything at all.
For the first time in a couple of weeks he laughed, and he appreciated the sunlight entering through his bedroom window and the sound of birds singing and the sight of neighbours helping one another.
And to think that in the blink of an eye, his mood and thoughts had been turned around completely.
"I'm sorry."