Almost midnight, Malik is scrolling, and a video stops his thumb: free money, two hundred thousand shares, share this NOW. His finger is already moving. This is the story of the one move that beats every fake: the pause, and the check.
The storyteller reads to you. Just tap the big button!
Bloom is Malik's brain. Every time Malik thinks it through instead of reacting, Bloom grows. That's why Bloom is the perfect coach for the pause and the check.
Word Power
Tap each word. Then, if you want, say one out loud.
Now YOU say it (optional): “Before I share it, I check it.”
Say it like you mean it.
🧠 Bloom Meter
Do each part to grow Bloom. 0/9
The Post That Wanted a Share
Read the scene. Try the move. Train the one move that beats every fake.
Part 1
The Post
“Share this NOW!”
Almost midnight. Malik should be asleep. He's scrolling. Then a video stops his thumb. It looks like a creator he follows, holding up a stack of cash: “First 500 people to share this and tap my link get $100, but ONLY for the next hour!” Two hundred thousand shares already. Malik's heart jumps. His thumb slides toward Share.
Bloom says: Big feeling, fast finger: that's the danger zone. Before Malik taps anything, tap to see what's happening inside him.
What's happening inside Malik?
Say it: “A big feeling wants a fast share. Not yet.”
Part 2
Pause the Thumb
Malik's chest is buzzing and his thumb is itching to tap. That rush (excited, hurried, don't-miss-out) isn't an accident. Whoever made this post wants Malik moving fast, because fast means he won't stop to think. So Malik does the one thing the post doesn't want him to do: he stops.
Bloom says: Pause with Malik. Breathe in slow through your nose… and let it out even slower through your mouth. Put the thumb down. Notice one thing: “Something is trying to rush me.”
Pause with Malik
Say it: “When something rushes me, I slow down.”
Part 3
Fact or Opinion
Now Malik can actually read the post instead of just feeling it. Here's a reading trick that cuts through almost anything online: is this line a FACT (something you could check) or an OPINION, someone's feeling? And watch for the sneaky third kind: a claim dressed up like a fact that nobody has proven yet. Tap each line.
Bloom says: Read each one and ask: could I check this, or is it just a feeling, or a promise with no proof behind it?
Tap each line
Say it: “Fact, opinion, or ‘prove it’? I can tell them apart.”
Part 4
Who Made This?
Every post comes from somewhere. Before Malik trusts it, he asks the most important question online: where did this actually come from, and can he trust that source? He taps the account name and looks closer.
Bloom says: Question the source with Malik. Tap each thing he checks about who posted it.
Tap what Malik checks
Say it: “‘Some account said so’ is not a source.”
Part 5
Run the CHECK
Malik doesn't have to be a detective genius. There's a quick CHECK (three questions) that catches almost every fake. And the best part: it works on a video, a headline, a group-chat rumor, even an answer from an AI. Read each one.
Bloom says: This is the whole skill in three questions. Tap each part of the CHECK.
Tap each part of the CHECK
Say it: “Who made it? Who else says it? Why the rush?”
Part 6
Fakes Are Everywhere
Here's the part nobody tells you: getting fooled online doesn't mean you're not smart. Fakes are built to fool smart people, including grown-ups, teachers, even the news. Tap each one and see.
Bloom says: You're in good company, Malik. Everybody's been fooled at least once. The skill isn't never getting tricked, it's checking.
Tap each famous fake
Say it: “Fakes fool everybody. That's why I check.”
Part 7
Share or Check?
Back to the post. The clock in the caption is still ticking: 47 minutes left. A couple of his friends are already sharing it. His thumb is right over the button. This is the moment. What should Malik do?
Bloom says: This is the whole skill in one tap. Pick the move Malik would be proud of tomorrow.
Choose Malik's move
Part 8
What the Check Found
Malik sets the phone down. No share, no link, no $100, because there was never any $100. Sixty seconds of checking beat two hundred thousand fast thumbs. He even reports the fake account before he sleeps. “I almost sent that to everybody,” Malik thinks. “And then I didn't.”
Bloom says: Look what one check just stopped, and see how much I grew. Tap the receipts.
Tap the receipts
Say it: “Sixty seconds of checking beats a fast thumb.”
Part 9
Pass It On
Next morning, Malik's group chat is blowing up: his friend Deja is about to forward the exact same “free money” video to everybody. “Bro this is real, hurry!” Malik knows that video. He knows that rush. And now he knows exactly what to say. Pick Malik's message.
Bloom says: This is the best part: passing the skill on. Pick what Malik sends.
Pick Malik's message
Say it: “Pass the check, not the fake.”
Story complete
🏆 You ran the CHECK with Malik and Bloom, all nine moves! You earned your Think-Before-You-Share badge, and look how much Bloom grew!
And here's the secret: the CHECK isn't just for one video. It works everywhere information comes at you fast: the group chat, a headline, a wild rumor, even an answer from an AI. Real or fake, ask the source, and decide for yourself.
Want to say it one more time, like someone who thinks for themselves? “Before I share it, I check it.”
Say it like you mean it.
Show someone at home how to run the CHECK.
For Teachers, Counselors & Mentors
What this builds (transformative SEL): Curiosity (“I wonder”) with a thread of Agency (“I can do it”).
Use this as a short SEL and media-literacy activity. Students may pass, write privately, draw, or answer out loud. Malik's midnight scroll gives every move a story to hang on, and the skill (pause before you believe or share, question the source, tell fact from opinion) transfers to the group chat, a headline, a wild rumor, even an answer from an AI.
15-minute mini-lesson
Read the Hero panel so students know Malik's moment, then let Bloom introduce the three Word Power words: REAL, SOURCE, CHECK.
Open Part 3: Fact or Opinion. Sort the three lines together; name that popular is not the same as true.
Do Part 5: Run the CHECK as a group: WHO made it? WHO else says it? WHY the rush?
Invite one private answer to Part 7: Share or Check?
Close with one voluntary share-out.
Trauma-sensitive facilitation
Don't require personal sharing. Let students pass. Frame getting fooled as something anyone does, never as being “not smart.” The person who made the fake is never shown or named; the win is the check, not being un-trickable.
This is a practice tool for rehearsing skills, not therapy, counseling, or a clinical service.
Reinforce the check at home: when something online gets a big reaction, ask “Where did this come from?” and “Who else is saying it?” before believing or sharing it. Model the sixty-second pause yourself: kids copy the calm.
Conversation starters: What's something you saw online today? How could we tell if it's real? What would a fake want you to do fast?
This is a practice tool for rehearsing skills, not therapy, counseling, or a clinical service.
Privacy Note
Nothing is saved to a server and nothing is sent anywhere. If you record your voice for the “say it” moment, the recording stays on this device: it is never saved, never uploaded, and it is gone when the page closes. The Read aloud narration uses a recorded storyteller voice and only reads the comic, never you.
This is a practice tool for rehearsing skills, not therapy, counseling, or a clinical service.