Ernie's Challenge

Ernie is an 8th grader challenging kids worldwide to give up social media for a time. He explains why in the spontaneous mock interview his mother transcribed in the family’s kitchen.

 

So Ernie, tell us about yourself.

I’m 13, and I play sports like baseball, basketball, tennis  . . . little bit of golf

What do you like about school?

I like PE and the lunches. I’m not real big on the learning part. But my grades are pretty good.

Do you have a lot of friends at school?

Not really a lot. I have some friends who have my back, but others not so much. I guess lately I’ve learned there’s a difference between a friend and someone you just know.

How did you learn that?

From the hard way. I’ve been bullied a lot.

Bullied? You? You’re what – six . . .

6’2”

And you’re  . . .

About 220

Yeah - and you’re 13?

Yes.

So why would a big, athletic guy like you get bullied?

Social media

What happens to you on social media?

I kinda get tricked into things.

Tricked how?

Like I get tempted into saying stuff I don’t mean

What do you mean by tempted?

It takes a lot longer for me than other people to know I’ve said something wrong.

Why?

Talking is hard for me. Like even right there. But it will take me awhile to figure out what the right word should be.

And how does this get you in trouble on social media?

I have a different brain.

What’s different about it?

The part of my brain in front takes a lot longer to process than most people. It’s easy for people to trick me. I hate that because other people don’t understand it. It makes me look bad.

Talk about the bullying.

Well this year I got bullied a lot. People tricked me into buying them things. I did it because I thought they cared about me. But they were just making fun of me behind my back.

It got really bad when I got catfished. I knew right away they were fake, and I thought I knew who. They were pretending to be a girl who changed her mind about me. She said she decided she really liked me. A LOT. Really? No way. That HAD to be fake!

So did you just stop?

No, I wanted to get them in trouble.

What did you do?

I played along and said some really bad things to make them say bad things. But they didn’t say anything bad. I tried to screen shot it, but they blocked me. All the text went away. Later it showed up on social media.

How did you feel when you found out it had been posted?

I felt like really mad, and sad. And sort of violated. Because it was a private thing. And then I felt depressed. It was embarrassing to me. And I couldn’t undo it.

Did people treat you differently after that?

Yes. They thought I was weird and messed up. People threatened to hurt me. I stayed home from school awhile.

What did you do at home?

Well, since I broke my family’s social media policy, I lost all my devices. I didn’t really have anything to do.

What would you have done before?

I would spend time on social media. My parents were always trying to get me to do other stuff, but they didn’t always know I had my phone.

And what did you do without a phone?

I had a lot of time to think.

About . . . ?

I thought about being glad my phone was gone because no one could hurt me anymore. And then I started to do other things I hadn’t done in a long time.

Like what?

Freedom

What kind of freedom?

From cyber bullying and other nonsense stuff.

What did you do instead?

A puzzle. Walked. Hit baseballs.

How did that feel?

It felt good. It made me think about what I had been missing outside.

When did you decide to give up social media?

Right then.

For how long?

Until my junior year of high school

Why did you pick that year?

Because I feel like I need to learn more about it so it can’t hurt me again.

And what are you challenging other kids to do?

Try to get off social media long enough to learn there are other things you can do. And learn what you are too.

So you have vowed to give up social media for . . .

Two years.

You call your challenge “I’m with Ernie“. . . Why?

Because it’s like you’re either with me, in freedom from social media, or you’re against people like me because you’re reading bad stuff online. Even if you don’t mean to. It’s there. You can’t help it.

How does it work?

People go to ImWithErnie.org and copy a graphic. Then they paste the graphic on their profile or banner. Whenever people see the I’mWithErnie logo, they know that person is taking a break from social media to have a better life.

Who do you want to take your challenge?

Every kid. Every where. Around the world. How will we know how to do stuff if we’re just on social media all the time. And most of that stuff is just false anyway.

What are you trying to accomplish?

I want people to get better at being themselves and stop hurting each other. I want to stop kids from wishing they were dead.