Teen Angels

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"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."

A click of the mouse, and suddenly a whole new world appeared before me, bright and brilliant and exciting, displayed on my computer screen. When I was 9 years old, my sister set me up my very own AOL Instant Messenger account so I could chat along with my friends from the privacy of my own home.

Beginning to explore the possibilities of the Internet was fun for me. I was thrilled with the idea that I now had access to all aspects of the Internet. The promising new window the Internet opened up for me seemed too good to be true, and, in fact, it was.

On one particular day, I was home alone, instant messaging my friends on my shared computer. An alert popped up on the screen, asking me if I would like to receive a message from a screen name that I didn't recognize. Assuming that it was one of my friends who had changed her screen name or something, I clicked to accept it. The message surprised me.

Several curses appeared on the screen. Confused and slightly worried, I typed the question "Who are you?" The reply was more offensive comments against me. I asked the person to stop talking to me, becoming more concerned, and it was then that the person chose to send seven words that chilled me: "Hold on. I'm coming to kill you."

The person signed off as if they were leaving somewhere, and I became increasingly afraid. I had no idea who this person was, if they lived across the street from me or in a different country. In my 9-year-old mind, I was convinced someone was coming to hurt me.

Being home alone, I ran downstairs to lock both doors tight. Then I hurried upstairs to hide in my room until my mom came home.

Afterward, I didn't tell anyone for a long time. I was convinced that I had done something wrong by clicking to accept that message. If I told I thought my parents would assume that the Internet wasn't safe and take away not only my computer privileges, but also take away my older siblings' privileges. It remained a secret, keeping me off the computer in fear.

Not every cyberbullying instance is necessarily a death threat. I also have firsthand experience of simple teasing: people posting negative comments about me on their social networking websites or in their buddy profiles. No matter which form it takes, it still hurts the same way. Reading it on the computer screen makes it no less if not more effective than someone saying the words straight to your face.

I felt awful about the things other kids said to me, and that anyone would want to hurt me so badly. In some ways, I think sticks and stones would be much easier to bear.