BULLIED

Submission 979

Ah, the internet. We all use it(more or less) and sometimes we meet new people along the way. This was definitely the case for my sister and I when we discovered a pen pal/friend group forum online. The forum was a great place to share interests with other people across the globe, most of them being clubs dedicated to some of our passions: classical music, history, geography, movies, books, and more. There was also a variety of different roleplay games, which we took part in. It was an overall safe and fun community, monitored often by the site's webmaster.

Things were fine and dandy until two girls made themselves known- we'll call them "GIRL1" and "GIRL2" for now. GIRL1 was the ringleader, while GIRL2 was her second-in-command. GIRL2 could be pleasant, and I often felt like sometimes GIRL1 was forcing her into stuff she didn't want to do- something bullies are notorious for doing. Together, they created arguments to cause mayhem between people and break friendships. I, unfortunately, was dragged into the mess. My good friend was being tormented by GIRL1(who was teasing her because she liked classical music), and I decided to come to her defense and told GIRL1 to leave her alone, she was cyberbullying. Maybe not the smartest idea, but GIRL1 had been at it for quite some time, and I was frankly getting sick of it. GIRL1 completely forgot about Friend and lashed out at me, calling me such names as "bitch" and "prick". It was incredibly hurtful, and stuck with me throughout the days. How could someone say such mean things? Most of all, how could someone say that without knowing me personally?

Fast forward a year later. GIRL1 and GIRL2 had taken their usual long hiatus, but were back...and worse than ever. This time, they were bullying each other under anonymous names...and a newly-named GIRL1 was bullying newly-named GIRL2 over Panic! At the Disco of all things. Again, I stepped in to say "hey, you're cyberbullying. This isn't right." Again, I was tormented, called hurtful names...and at the end, they admitted that they were, in fact, GIRL1 and GIRL2. Surely this had all been planned out- their IP addresses had changed, and they had played their parts so well. Basically they started up a club dedicated to fighting so other people would join, and thus they could make fun of these people through their fake argument. They thought it was funny. I didn't.

This turned into an all-out war. Friend urged me not to call them out on it, but I wasn't going to take any more of their crap. My self-esteem had never been very high; they were just bringing it down even more, online and offline, especially by targeting me in particular. Finally, my sister and I left the forums for awhile.

Months later, my sister and I had returned and created a roleplay game along with Friend and Friend #2. Long nights were spent roleplaying and having an excellent time.

...Until GIRL1 came back.

She was different, though. She wasn't calling us out on anything this time, but she was spamming our club in numerous ways, from posting the entire lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody to naming facts about each of the fifty states. She knew what she was doing, and she was doin it on purpose so as to spark another fight. Friend wasn't happy about it. If there was anything Friend hated more, it was spamming and trolling. Friend #2 just wanted to get back to the latest RP mission.

Friend politely told GIRL1 to either join the game or leave. GIRL1, however, was being ultra testy about it, complaining about our characters and how we created too many roleplays on a "non-RP site" (which it was NOT). Suddenly, Friend and Friend #2 started bashing GIRL1. While some of it was kind of funny, I refused to take part in it, for I knew the consequences. Indeed, GIRL1 was trying hard to fight back, but in vain. Friend and Friend #2 were just too good for her...how else can I say it? Pristine bitchiness? You get the point. Meanwhile, I contacted the webmaster, who banned GIRL1 from the clubs once and for all. Peace had been restored. Better yet, the webmaster created an alternate domain especially for roleplay games.

Although GIRL2 has vanished from the site completely, I don't know where GIRL1 roams these days. I still fear the day where she'll come back from going AWOL. The webmaster might have banned her IP address from the site, but she still came online with a different address(I avoided her at all costs).

From then on, life on the roleplay domain was good. My sister and I are still active roleplayers on the site, along with Friend and Friend #2. Through all that turmoil with GIRL1, some good came out of it.

Because of GIRL1, I have had my doubts about being online. She had the advantage of bullying others just because they couldn't see her face, and that wasn't right. Even on Wattpad I have seen some of the same things- users saying things such as "lol f*** you" just because they don't agree on something. When I see this, it saddens me. What you say to someone can impact them greatly. Being called a "bitch" or being told to "go f*** yourself" is extremely hurtful and inappropriate, especially online. Respect each other's opinions, and remember: if you don't have anything nice to say, make the world a better place and don't say it at all! Would you say something so monstrous to someone in real life, like your friend?