your story matters
Share your story
Say it how it really felt. As anonymous or open as you like. Your story sparks the honest conversations we all need around growing up online.
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Help someone else feel less alone
With your permission, we share moments from your story on social media - helping others feel seen, understood, and less ashamed.
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Turn it into change
Every story feeds into a youth-led manifesto that we will take to people in power - pushing for policy and education that actually reflects what it’s like to grow up online.
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Whether it’s one moment that stuck with you or your whole experience growing up online - this is a space to say it honestly, without shame or pressure.
You can just write freely below, or use one of these prompts if it helps get you started:
One thing you wish you’d known sooner
Something you wish your parents or teachers had understood
Something you saw online that made you feel weird, unsafe, or ashamed
One thing you wish was different about the internet
Your voice could help someone feel less alone. And together, these stories can help change what growing up online looks like for the next generation.
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Your Privacy
If you share your first name and age with us, they will be the only details that we share with your story. For more details see our Privacy Policy.
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Do’s and Don’ts
Responses that contain contact details, deeply graphic content, personally identifiable details, abusive submissions or spam won’t be published.
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Trigger Warning
Stories may contain details of abuse or mental illness including self harm and suicide. If you are struggling, please seek support, and visit our Get Help page.
Read YOUR stories
Stories may contain details of abuse or mental illness including self harm and suicide. If you are struggling, please seek support, and visit our Get Help page.
I was manipulated into sending nudes…he was threatening suicide if i didn’t
when I was 16 I was manipulated into sending nudes to a 21 year old man I had met through discord. At the time I didn’t understand that it was manipulation, he was threatening suicide if I didn’t. I felt so much shame around it that I felt as though I couldn’t speak to anyone about it, I called a suicide hotline on his behalf and the kind woman helped me understand that it wasn’t my fault or responsibility. I have friends that have also dealt with suicide threat manipulation and I think it’s especially effective online when you have no idea what is happening to that person in real life.
I watched porn for the first time at 12 years old
I watched porn for the first time at 12 years old. It was at a sleepover with both boys and girls there. One of the boys who had watched it before suggested we should all watch. I remember feeling disgusted and strange. I wasn't even aware of my own body I wasn't ready. The women didn't look like me and they were doing things that I did not understand. The five of us in bed screamed and shut the computer off. I felt sick what had I watched.
Years later I tried to watch porn again. I was 18 and had been sexually active from 17 years old. Porn was different at this age I could choose the category and what I found "sexy" I could learn about my own sexuality and how to express myself in a way that I had not before. I now enjoy watching porn from time to time. It taught me now that female sexuality was positive.
Amelia
THe internet shaped us. now we’re shaping it
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