Letter 8 - Cody Webber

This is the eighth story of the book.

   Inspired by Coby Persin's YouTube Videos The Dangers of Social Media


My name is Cody Webber. I am a fourteen-year-old caucasian boy from Memphis, Tennessee. I lived there in a blue four-bedroom house in Uptown with my parents, older sister, and younger brother. My father Joel Webber worked as a software engineer for a large corporation while my mother Hannah Webber stayed home looking after us. While attending class at North Uptown Middle School, I felt like no one there cared because every one of my classmates bullied me whenever teachers weren't around. The friends that I made at school barely gave up any moment to spend time with me because they would walk the hallways with their significant others. Deep down in my heart, I wished that I would be able to spend time with someone outside of my family.
            One day at home, as I was sitting down in the living room reading a book, I noticed that my father was using the computer. So out of curiosity, I walked over to him. “Hey dad.” I spoke. “Oh, what is it son?” Dad said. “What is that you are doing on the computer?” I spoke. “I'm just checking up with updates on my Face Book page.” Dad said. “Face Book?” I spoke. “Yes, Face Book. It's a social media website that allows you to remain in touch with friends, play games and do all kids of other things.” I spoke. “That sounds like fun. Can I have a Face Book page Dad?” I spoke. “Sure, but please be sure that you talk to people you know. You don't know who's in there.” Dad said. At the assistance of my father, I went on the computer and made a Face Book page.
          Later on that same week, I went on my Face Book page to add all the people that I knew in my friends list. My mind was so ingrained into Face Book, I barely kept track of time of the day. I treated social media as my friend instead of the people I chatted with in real life. As days passed by, I began to search for girls who lived in my area to chat with. While doing my search, I became fascinated by an Asian girl named Mileena Park, so I added her to my friends list. I spent as much of my free time chatting with Mileena as I could. I believed that I had attained a girlfriend even though I never even met her in person. My belief led me to post updates about the relationship I had with Mileena on my status.
         A week later, I messaged Mileena about meeting in person, so we set up a date to do so. My parents became very suspicious about the posts in my profile regarding Mileena so at night they decided to have a private chat with me in my bedroom. “Yes, Mom and Dad.” I spoke. “Cody, we saw all your posts on your Face Book page. Who is this Mileena you're talking about?” Mom said. “No one you should know about.” I spoke. “You don't respond to a question like that Cody. We're having this talk because we care about your safety.” Dad said. “Dad. I am doing okay. Mileena is a nice girl who likes me as much as I like her.” I spoke. “Cody, I have told you not to talk to strangers online. This is going to hurt you overall. I am warning you to just forget about her.” Dad said. “Please Cody. Forget about her.” Mom said. “No, I won't mom.” I spoke. “Okay then. We're taking your phone and the computer as well.” Dad said.
           As time passed, even though my phone and computer privileges were taken away, I continued to chat with Mileena at school during free period. I didn't feel any sense of shame or guilt and I ignored my parents’ warning and agreed to meet Mileena on a Friday night. After days of anticipation and preparation, Friday night finally arrived. Since my phone and computer privileges were taken away, I gave Mileena my home address the day before. Because I believed that we were going on a date night, I thought it was the perfect night for me to sneak out, so I did. As I was waiting on the front porch for the next ten minutes, I noticed a large white van was driving very slowly so I approached it. A strange Asian man in a dark black shirt with a bald head driving the van opened the passenger window, stared right at me, and said, “Hey, are you Cody?” “Who are you?” I spoke. “I'm Mileena's father. Didn't she tell you I was coming to pick you up to take you to her?” the man said. “Okay so you're going to just take me to her. I don’t know why but I feel very awkward getting into this car.” I spoke. “Yes. Just get in.” the man said. The excitement of finally meeting the girl I believed was in love with me led me to step into the van. As I opened the rear passenger door and took one step in, I was snatched by a masked man. I screamed for my life for someone to help me, but no one came as the van drove away. After two minutes of moving me around on the van's ransacked floor, the masked man removed his face covering while the driver stopped the car. “What is wrong with you?!!! Didn't I tell you not to do this on Face Book? Didn't I tell you?!!!” said the masked man who ended up being my father. “Dad? What is going on? Why did you do that?” I spoke. “To teach you a lesson. Milenna doesn’t exist. You were chatting with me the whole time. This man driving the van is my coworker, James.” Dad said. “What kind of lesson?” I spoke. “You have a problem, and you must stop it. You think that no one's going to hurt you because you're a boy. You are not a man you're a child. Act like a child. That is the lesson.” Dad said. “I'm sorry Dad.” I said as I sniffled up to the point of crying now that the shame has seriously affected me. After having the discussion, I got out of the car and went back into the house. I vowed to never touch social media again.
           Three months have passed ever since I gave up using Face Book. I did all that I could to do non-mediated activities with my family, friends, and community. Because I couldn't feel like I could fully forgive myself, sometimes I would sit out on the front porch and keep my face staring at the scenery of the neighborhood. One cloudy day as I would normally sit out on the porch, a girl with long straight hair walked right over to me and said, “Hey there.” I turned my head over and said, “Oh uh hi.” “You must be Cody, right? My name is Mikayla. I live right next door.” Mikayla said. “Oh. You're Mikayla.” I spoke. “Yes. So why are you just sitting out here all by yourself.” Mikayla said. “I did something stupid. That's why.” I said as he sighed. “Is it that bad that you have to just waste time away here?” Mikayla said. “Yes.” I spoke. “Well please tell me what was it that you did if you don't mind.” Mikayla said. “Well, I tried to use Face Book to meet someone I thought I was in love with and ended up being a fake. I almost got kidnapped.” I spoke. The moment Mikayla heard what I said, she silently gasped. “Cody...I understand now because I did the same thing you did. I tried to meet a stranger in person I chatted with online too till my dad knocked some sense into me. I learned that online most of the people on there don't love you at all. They just want to hurt you. Now you need to learn that lesson Cody. I respect you just like your dad does Cody.” Mikayla said. “Oh, I see now. Thanks Mikayla.” I spoke. After Mikayla said what she said, she left me alone and went back home. For the next two weeks, I had chats with Mikayla up to the point where I retained a smile on my face. The meetups led us to become incredibly good friends. Within the next six months, I fell in love with Mikayla, and we ended up dating from that moment on.