For some reason, I went to bed very early last night, I forgot to plug my phone in so when I woke up it was dead. I plugged it in and just left for school without it. It’s the tenth week of school of my first year of middle school and I have no friends. Something was off because when I got on the bus, everyone‘s eyes seemed to be directed at me. I decided to sit down towards the back but when I sat down, I saw everyone’s pimpled faces looking directly at me and I slid awkwardly lower trying to hide myself.
I got off the bus and there again, I was the center of attention, someone yells, “Nice Instagraml“ I was very confused because I don‘t even have an Instagramt Something was wrong.
During lunch, I snuck into the Media Center and searched my name on Instagram I found a page that had a picture of me.
I scrolled to the bio that read, “I’m Christopher and I suffer from anorexia” I don’t get it. No one in the school even knew I existed and then everybody knew I existed. I always hoped this would have happened but not like this. I immediately run out of school with tears running down my face, I hear cruel, malice laughs behind me and I keep running, two miles all the way home. I run inside to see my mom home early. She immediately says, “Honey what happened?” I say nothing and run upstairs to my room and slam the door.
I just wanted to roll up into a ball and fall into a pit of nothingness and forget about everything, I am one of the smaller kids at school. Not by height but by weight, I have a muscular disorder in my body that causes weight loss and extreme metabolism.
I hate myself, I thought. I’m ugly and skinny and weird and I wish I was different. My mom runs up the stairs and asks what is wrong “Why does God hate me?” I say to her. She asks me, “Why do you think that?” “He make me look ugly and skinny and gave me so many insecurities. Why me?” Mom asked, “Did something happen at school?” I just shook my head, too ashamed to tell her that I have been cyberbulliedt I sit in my room for two hours just staring at the wall. I decide to torture myself some more and look on that Instagramt Pictures of “my body” are being uploaded on the page now. This doesn’t bother me but when I read the comments I feel pain and agony in my chest and ljust want to die, all I see are things like “freak of nature” or “skeleton“. But the worst of all is one that reads, “I kind of feel bad because no one will ever love that anorexic freak,” ? I want to die and I begin to contemplate suicide.
Just this morning I was getting up ready for a normal day of school and now I’m moments away from jumping out of my window. I open up my window andjust sit there for an hour. Finally, without hesitation, Ijump, and that was the last moment of my life I thought. I wake up in the hospital with a cast around my ankle and a neck brace. My plan failed and at that moment I couldn‘t tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing My mom comes up to me with tears running down her eyes as she asks “Why?” I say, “christopher_duclos398.” “What?” she asks. “Go on Instagram and search Christopheriduclos398,” I whispert “Oh my God You didn’t make this did you? This was people at your school. Oh my God. Honey, it’s gonna be okay”, she says with an uncertainty in her voice. “I hope so,” I say, Two days later, I am finally released from the hospital and in a wheel chair, I am required to go a support group every thursday and am on home rest for the rest of the week.
Monday comes and I don’t know what is going to happen my mom goes in that day to speak to the guidance counselor. I get called in later for one of those sappy, depressing, it’ll be okay speeches and then am released to class. As thursday comes, it is time to go to my support group, I go to sit down and see all kinds of different people, black, white, boys, girls, fat, skinny, gay, straight. Mr, Black, the head of the support group says, “We have a new guest with us today christopher, would you like to share your story?” Ijust sit there and stare at him. He says, “Okay, anyone else want to- I interrupt and tell them all what I’ve been going through, As soon as we finish, my mom texts me and says to check the news.
The news turns on and reads, “Two students expelled for cyberbullyingr” I soon got an email from my principal that said, “We would like you to prepare a speech about the dangers and effects of cyberbullying tomorrow during the assembly. From, Principal Wilden“ “Christopher DuClos will now be sharing a speech to you about cyberbullying,“ Principal Wilder says, I walk on to the stage nervously. The room is silent, “Hello, I know a lot of you probably don’t really care. But I feel what I’m about to share with you is very important, bullying physical, mental, cyber, and emotional. The list goes on and on, this is something that can cause stress, pain, depression, and in my case, suicide, this is not okay and needs to stop. It doesn‘t matter if you are black, white, gay, straight, fat, or skinny, we are all people and we all deserve to be respected and treated equally please join me in the fight to stop bullying. Thankyou.”
The Instagram Incident and My Speech on the Fight Against Bullying. (2023, Jan 14). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/the-instagram-incident-and-my-speech-on-the-fight-against-bullying/