Page 17 - Cyber Nightmare

CHAPTER FIVE

Things had changed. Neil had always enjoyed school life.
Okay, Caribou Middle School wasn’t the perfect school,
but it was a friendly place. There was a good relation-
ship between teachers and students and there was a strong

5 school spirit. It wasn’t one of those huge, impersonal
places like other schools he knew of.
But now when he was in school he saw other students
in a new light. One of them had sent the messages, he
was sure. Now he walked through the corridors as if he
10 was walking through a mine field. That was the thing
about cyber-bullying, as it was called. It was like walking
through a mine field. The cyber messages were like land
mines that blew up in your face. In the past, you came face
to face with the bully. He may have been bigger than you,
15 but at least you could see him. You could fight him, or run
away from him. Now, he – or she – was invisible, a sniper
with a long-distance rifle. And Neil could feel that rifle in
his back!

‘We’ve got to ratchet things up!’ Sylvia had a crooked
20 grin on her face.
‘What do you mean?’ said Cora with her mouth full of
lasagna.

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