It's Okay Not To Be Ok

It's OK Not To Be OK is a powerful bullying awareness book from Inspiring Futures Media, exposing the real impact bullying has on confidence, identity, behaviour, and long-term mental health. This emotionally raw story explores emotional harm, isolation, fear, and what happens when bullying is normalised, ignored, or brushed aside—especially when a young person feels trapped in silence. How far can silence echo before someone finally breaks? When fourteen-year-old Kyle begins bullying a quiet classmate online, he thinks it's just a laugh—cruel emojis, taunts, and careless words thrown into the void. But every message lands like a stone in deep water, sending ripples outward. Behind the screen, Jamie is already fighting invisible battles, and Kyle's words tip the balance, sparking a chain of events neither boy can escape. Kyle's cruelty doesn't appear from nowhere. At home, he lives with the weight of absence—a father locked inside his own silence, unable to guide or comfort. Into that void steps Martin, his father's friend, a man Kyle calls "uncle." Martin notices him, praises him, offers friendship, and becomes the steady presence Kyle longs for. To a lonely boy, it feels like the acceptance and guidance he's been missing—but emotional harm doesn't always arrive loudly. Sometimes it arrives through manipulation, quiet influence, and the wrong kind of attention at the wrong time. As one boy is broken by relentless cyberbullying, another is slowly lost—pulled deeper into isolation and hidden pain. Emotional wellbeing fractures, families struggle, and silence breeds more silence until everything finally shatters. It's OK Not To Be OK isn't a story of simple heroes and villains. It exposes uncomfortable truths—that bullies can also be victims, that families can collapse without shouting or violence, and that the most dangerous influences often wear the gentlest smiles. Written to support mental health awareness, safeguarding, and open conversation, this expanded edition deepens Jamie's suffering and Kyle's gradual descent, while building a stronger bridge toward its sequel, It's OK To Struggle. This book lays bare the corrosive impact of bullying and online abuse, the way words become weapons, and how silence and denial allow harm to grow unchecked. It explores emotional neglect, warning signs, and the lasting damage caused when voices go unheard—urging readers to recognise harm, speak up early, and help break the cycle before it's too late.