A morning assembly speech about “Keyboard Warrior”
Good morning, everyone. I’m Chris Wong, a school social worker. I’m glad to be invited to encourage you to behave positively over the Internet. I would like to share with you all in particular why some people become keyboard warriors and what possible impacts their behaviors can lead to. Also, I will give you some advice on sharing opinions on the Internet. As this issue is aggravating nowadays, I hope to raise your awareness about it. Thus, you may take proper actions accordingly.
To begin with what are the causes that make somebody become a keyboard warrior. The reasons can be two-folded. First, there is the mental factor. Some people are too shy to present themselves in reality. They want to draw people’s attention. So, they choose to share their opinions on the Internet. This is because the keyboard warriors can keep themselves anonymous. They sign up with no real names in some channels. This gives them the courage to speak up. Secondly, there are the benefits they can get from being keyboard warriors. They may wish to defend social justice, or to disclose social evils. However, in real life, they can’t say whatever they wish. They need therefore a channel to express their opinions. The Internet plus their talks behind the keyboard become their best option to avoid having to bear responsibility for what they say.
Yet, there are lots of bad impacts of these keyboard warriors’ behaviors. They lead to cyberbullying. That will cause mental nuisances and disturbances on their victims. This is because when keyboard warriors can keep themselves anonymous, they will say something very bad and make victims uncomfortable. The situation is like giving the victim a punch, but he or she doesn’t know who hits him or her. Sad to say, it’s not something new or unusual in this society. However, some victims cannot accept this behavior. They may even commit suicide after being bullied.
So, here is some advice on sharing opinions when using the Internet. The most important is that you should leave objective comments without personal feelings. There is a tip for you. Before you post anything on the Internet, remember the verb: “THINK”!
The letter “T” stands for true, as in “Is it true?”
The letter “H” stands for hurtful, as in “Is it hurtful?”
As for “I”, it stands for illegal, as in “Is it illegal?”
Next, “N” stands for necessary in “Is it necessary?”
Last but not least, “K” means kind as in “Is it kind?”
These THINKING-steps can help you maintain better relationships with other netizens.
In conclusion, remember that “keyboard warriors” is a bad name for those people who apparently disclose social evils but are bullies on the Internet. Try not to become one; and remember to “THINK”! (Thank you for being such an attentive audience. I hope you can act accordingly after listening to my sharing.) That’s the end of my speech this morning. Thank you.