Truth about Truman School (22 page)

I couldn't believe who was instant messaging me. Lilly!

“can i talk to u?” she typed.

“u r already talking to me,” I typed back.

“right. i saw u took the Truth about Truman down.”

“yeah.” I had taken the whole thing down that morning. Even the “kids at Truman are mean” message. There didn't seem to be much point in leaving it up.

“thanks.”

“you're welcome. but i didn't take it down for u. i took it down because it wasn't what I wanted it to be.”

“what did you want it to be?”

I doubted Lilly would understand. But I told her anyway. “i wanted it to be something that mattered. something where every1 could write about their own middle-school experience. but instead it turned into a gossip website where people talked about everyone else rather than themselves.”

“maybe u could still do something with it that matters?”

“like what?”

“i don't know. maybe it could be a place where people can go to talk about bullying?”

Hmm.

I had to admit, that was an interesting idea. A
very
interesting idea. Even if it did come from Lilly.

I called Amr and he liked the idea as much as I did. He was the one who thought we should start by putting up the story of what happened to Lilly and then have a forum where anyone anywhere in the world (not just kids from Truman) can write in and talk about bullying.

We don't want to approve every message that gets posted, but we'll keep an eye on things. If people start posting nasty things or if they try and turn this into another gossip site, we'll delete those messages. As site owners (and editors!), we've decided it's okay to do that.

Maybe in the end, the Truth about Truman.com will mean something after all.

Once Amr and I worked all this out, I called Lilly. Don't get the idea we were suddenly friends again. We weren't. It's just … it only seemed right to call her. Since she gave me the idea and all. “Hey, do you want to help with this new website?” I asked.

She paused for a second. “Really? You want me to help?”“Sure. It was your idea.”

“Yeah, I guess it was.” I could almost hear her smiling over the phone. “Okay. Hey, maybe I'll meet some kids at Roosevelt who would want to help, too.”

“That'd be great,” I said. “We want this site to really be for everyone.”

S
o that's it.
That's our story. I couldn't get a lot of kids to write about what happened. Big surprise. Some kids will
tell
you anything you want to know, but when it comes to writing … especially something they don't have to write, well, most kids won't do it. I was really surprised Hayley and Brianna were willing to write about it. Sometimes the popular kids will surprise you.


I don't know if our story will help anyone or not, but it's there. For better or worse.


—Zebby Bower, over and out.


General Discussion Guide

1. What did you think of the book? Did you like it? Why or why not? Do you think it was realistic? Why or why not?
   
2. Which character did you like best? Which character did you like least? Why?
   
3. Choose two of the main characters in the book. How are they alike? How are they different?
   
4. Do you think the teachers at Truman School knew what was going on?
   
5. Why do you think things got so out of control on truthabouttruman.com?
   
6. Do you think Zebby regretted starting her website? Was starting it a mistake?
   
7. Do you think Zebby felt bad about what happened to Lilly? What about Amr? Hayley? Brianna? Kylie? Trevor? Reece? Sara?
   
8. Have you ever wanted to drop a friend the way Lilly wanted to drop Zebby and Amr in sixth grade? Why? How did you do it?
   
9. If you were going to start a website, what would you put on it? Would you let other people post to it? If so, would you set it up so that you had to approve other people's posts or would you let people post whatever they wanted? Under what circumstances would you remove someone else's post?
   
10. Do you think milkandhoney had a good reason for doing what he/she did to Lilly?
    
11. Were you surprised to find out who milkandhoney was or was that the person you thought it was all along? What clues led you to believe it was this person? What clues led you to believe it was someone else?
    
12. Do you think it's a good idea for Lilly to go to a new school? What do you think life is going to be like for her there?
    
13. Why do you think the author ended the book the way she did? Why did the author “punish” or “not punish” each character the way she did? Would you have written a different ending? Why or why not?
    
14. Have you ever bullied anyone online? Have you ever been bullied online? Have you ever seen someone else be bullied online?
    
15. Have your views on cyberbullying changed since you've read this book? How?
    

Cyberbullying Discussion Guide

1. Do you think cyberbullying is a serious problem or do you think it's no big deal?
   
2. Do you think the media make cyberbullying look worse than it actually is?
   
3. Do you think people have the right to say whatever they want about others on the Internet? Explain.
   
4. Do you think people present themselves differently online than they do in person? How? Why would a person want to act differently online than they would in person?
   
5. Have you ever bullied anyone online? Why did you do it?
   
6. Have you ever been bullied online? Did you tell anyone it was happening? What did you do?
   
7. Why do you think kids are reluctant to tell anyone if they're being bullied online?
   
8. Have you ever watched a friend of yours bully someone else online? Did you say anything about it to your friend? Why or why not? And if you did, what happened?
   
9. Do you think cyberbullying is worse than any other kind of bullying? Why or why not?
   
10. Why do you think people bully others online? Do you think people who bully others online are the same people who bully on the playground? Explain.
    
11. When does a “joke” become an example of cyberbullying?
    
12. Do you think schools should get involved in cyberbullying incidents? Why or why not?
    
13. Do you think cyberbullying will be a bigger problem ten years from now or do you think it will be a smaller problem? Why do you feel that way? What about twenty-five years from now? What about fifty years from now?
    
14. What can we do about cyberbullying? How can we prevent it? How do we stop it once it's occurred?
    

Cyberbullying Resources

What should you do if you're being bullied online?

1. Don't respond. Any response may fuel the fire.
   
2. Try and identify the bully. Even if he or she is using a fake name, help may be available through a website moderator or your Internet Service provider.
   
3. Block communication with the bully if you can.
   
4. Consider saving the messages and/or images as evidence.
   
5. Tell a friend, parent, teacher, police officer or other adult you trust.
   

Online Safety Tips:

1. Don't post your full name, address, phone number, school name, parents' names, or social security number online.
   
2. Don't say anything online that you wouldn't say to someone's face.
   
3. Don't post anything online that you wouldn't want your grandma to see.
   
4. Don't share your passwords with anyone other than your parents.
   
5. Don't meet someone face-to-face if you only know them online.
   
6. Talk to your parents about what you do online.
   

www.cyberbullying.us/resources.php

The Cyberbullying Research Center is dedicated to providing up-to-date information about the nature, extent, causes, and consequences of cyberbullying.

www.ncpc.org/topics/cyberbullying

The National Crime Prevention Council's mission is to help people keep themselves, their families, and their communities safe from crime.

www.stopcyberbullying.org
and
www.wiredsafety.com

WiredSafety.org
is the largest and oldest online safety, education, and help group in the world.