Karishma Attari

Childhood is meant to be an accumulation of new experiences: some set us free, others bring us joy, and there are those that we dearly wish we had avoided. Think about that list of firsts: the first step, first ice cream, first poetry recital, first detention class… somewhere in there lies the kernel of an adult life lesson.

The internet came into my drawing room when I was 17 and it set me free. Once online, I let it all hang out. I typed questions into askjeeves.com that I wouldn’t dare ask out loud to the family doctor. I had no curfew and went where the feeling took me. I chatted up strangers with foreign names and forgot about them just as easily the next morning. The experiences I had online felt like an adventure, not a community-wide scandal in the making.