Instructions
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Kay got another message as she was leaving for school.
unknown number: You’re so ugly.
She put her phone back in her pocket as she walked towards the bus stop. There were more messages every day now and she felt really depressed. Who was it? Why were they doing this to her? Was it more than one person? The names kept changing. The phone beeped.
candybear76: freak!
She was always friendly with everyone and she didn’t know why anyone would do this to her. Now her friends were avoiding her, apart from Becky. She was Kay’s oldest friend. The phone beeped again. It was a comment on her Facebook profile picture.
princesspusheen: No one wants to look at photos of you. Loser!
She turned her phone off. When she tried to delete the posts and block the user they came back with different names. Becky thought it must be a hacker. Kay was sending messages to the sites telling them what was happening but they didn’t reply.
Becky was waiting for her at the bus stop. 'Hi, Kay, are you alright? You look terrible!' 'No, there were more of those stupid messages. I’m starting to go mad. Do you think I should go to the police?' 'Well, you could try,' said Becky. 'But I heard they won’t do anything. And besides, he’s probably using anon.com. Hackers use that site to hide their identity so the police can’t find them. Anyway, I wanted to tell you, I think I know who it is ...' Just then the bus arrived.
There were lots of kids from school on the bus. Kay felt they were all looking at her. Julie McGann was whispering to her friend. They started laughing. Kay and Becky sat down. 'Who is it?” asked Kay. “Shh! He’s sitting at the back. Don’t look!' Kay looked. Ollie Jones was sitting on the back seat, looking at his phone. 'But why?' asked Kay. 'Well, you did just finish with him, didn’t you?' said Becky. 'What? We weren’t going out,' said Kay. 'And I don’t even like him.' 'Yeah, well I heard he really liked you.'
That day at school was terrible. When she didn’t have classes with Becky no one talked to her or sat next to her. She kept getting messages.
anookins2014: What happened to your face?
pixiestar: You make me sick.
bellatricks17: Everyone hates you!
By lunchtime Kay was really upset. She hid in the art room. She couldn’t stop crying. Mrs Gibson found her there at the end of lunch break and Kay told her everything. She offered to go to the police with Kay. She said they were better at finding cyberbullies now. The bell rang. It was time for class.
Kay had IT next. Her class was already in the computer room, but the teacher wasn’t there yet. She wanted to talk to Becky but she was in the top group for computers. Everyone went quiet when she came in. There was only one computer left. She sat down at it and moved the mouse. She looked at the screen. It was a website called hatekay.com. There were photos of Kay, but changed to look ugly or disgusting. There was one of Kay that looked like a zombie. Her address, phone number and emails were there for everyone to see and there was a message at the top of the page:
'Like this page if you hate Kay Granger.'
There were more than 100 likes. Her phone beeped.
unknown number: I’m watching you.
Kay ran from the room and didn’t stop running until she got home. She didn’t go back to school that week. She kept her phone and computer switched off. Becky called a few times but Kay didn’t want to see anyone. On Monday Mrs Gibson phoned. The police thought they knew who the bully was. Kay decided to go and tell Becky.
Becky was in her bedroom doing homework on her computer. She looked surprised to see Kay. They talked for a while, but Kay got the feeling Becky didn’t want her there. Then there was a knock at the door. It was Becky’s mum. She looked very worried. 'Becky, can you come downstairs now?' Kay started to get up too. 'Could you wait here, please, Kay?' Becky’s mum smiled nervously at Kay. What was happening?
Kay waited, but Becky didn’t come back. Then her computer started beeping. She was getting messages. Kay couldn’t stop herself. She pressed a key. She couldn’t believe what she saw. There were photos of Ollie Jones. Some of them had kisses around them. There was one of Becky and Ollie. It looked like a selfie. There was a message at the bottom of the screen. Kay clicked on it and a webpage opened up. It was anon.com. Just then the door opened. It was Becky’s mum. She looked very upset. There was someone standing behind her. 'Kay, this policewoman would like to talk to you.'
Brendan Dunne
What can people do to stop bullies?
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