Advice Column
Ask Digital Wiz
Three questions students sent in about situations that come up all the time at school.
Wiz says
Trust the fact that you are already unsure. That feeling is information. You do not owe anyone a reply, and being polite to a stranger online is not a rule you have to follow.Start by checking the account properly. When did it join, who actually knows them in real life, do their photos show up anywhere else? Fake accounts are usually thin: few posts, borrowed pictures, following hundreds of people and followed back by almost nobody. If they push you to another app, ask for photos, ask about your school, or say something like "don't tell anyone we're talking", that is not shyness. That is a pattern.What to do: screenshot the conversation first, then block and report the account inside the app. Do not delete the messages before you have saved them, because they are your evidence later. Then tell someone, whether that is a parent, an older sibling, a teacher, or the eSafety Commissioner at esafety.gov.au, which takes reports from young people. You will not get in trouble for reporting it, even if you replied at first. Almost everyone replies at first.
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