Don’t fall prey to online bullies

I’m a 12-year-old boy. Recently I figured out that a classmate has hacked into my Facebook account and has been sending obscene messages. My parents don’t know that I have an account, what do I do?

Thanks for trusting and writing to us. I can understand how scary and unnerving this can get. Looking at remedying the situation, I feel that it would be absolutely imperative that you inform your parents about it, since there are obscene messages being sent from your email. From what I can perceive, possibly because Facebook guidelines state that children need to be at least 13 years of age to open an account, is one of the reasons why you may have hidden it from your parent. 

I advice your parents to take stock of the situation and help you deactivate your account, since it’s being misused. This would also entail issuing a complaint about a possible hack so that the authorities can look into it. Coming from a place of using the Internet responsibly, it would make sense to abide by the guidelines and wait till the time you are at least 13 years old before you restart your account. Inform all friends, who may have received the obscene content or have seen it, about the hack. It’s most crucial to keep your password private and not share it with others, if that was a reason for the hack. I would also be concerned emotionally how has this situation left you feeling. Please address these concerns with a counselor, or parent who can help you navigate this situation.