Sherry dreamt of being a YouTube star. She developed her own channel, which focused on subjects that were of interest to teens. She dispensed local high school news and gave advice concerning fashion, exercise, diet and make-up.

She was moderately successful with 500 subscribers to her channel. But her dream was to go viral. She tried developing a dating site for teens. But no matter how hard she tried; her audience stayed small. Sherry thought she needed more realistic content. She decided to focus on real-life moments in the life of teenagers. She took her iPhone 15 Pro Max and off she went to the mall, the skating rink and to places where teens hung out including lovers’ lanes. Sherry would secretly film what was going on.

She aired her films. Her YouTube audience expanded. She was even able to attract businesses who paid to advertise on her channel. But, in the process, she was hurting students. Some whom she filmed suffered teasing and bullying, others were shunned. A crisis occurred when she aired a film of two football players kissing in a parked car after a game. The result was one boy attempted to take his life. His mother found him in the garage, with the car running. She was able to open the garage door and call 911 and they were able to save the boy, but he was never the same.

Sherry was shocked at what she had done. She never realized what she was doing could have such a tragic outcome. Guilt flooded into her heart. She couldn’t sleep and decided to shut her channel down.

And the moral of the story is popularity is not worth the price of hurting others.