Waking up in the morning had never been fun for me. It felt like a torment. Alarms never worked, and I was always late. Today was no different.

I missed my school bus and had to walk. I had gotten late since I was up very late last night, setting up my Facebook profile. My parents had forbidden me from using social media, but I could not resist anymore since most of my friends had accounts on various social media apps.

After receiving a late warning, I walked into the class with embarrassment and quietly took my seat. The rest of the school day passed quickly. Exhausted, I returned home, ran to my room and locked the door.

On logging on to Facebook, instantly a message popped up — a friend request from someone I didn’t know. Curious, I asked who it was. His reply seemed odd: he claimed to be from my kindergarten class, though I couldn’t remember him. As I was naive and curious, I started chatting with him daily. Every message filled me with excitement and joy.

One day, I came home feeling furious. A friend at school had been showing off about all the expensive things he had and really got on my nerves. In anger, I vented everything to my online friend. He asked me questions about that friend, and without thinking, I told him everything — even his address. It was a mistake I would regret forever.

The next day, a robbery took place at that friend’s house. There was a commotion that injured his father.

It felt like any other day when I sat down to chat with my online friend. I tried to message him but found that he had deactivated his profile and I could find no trace of him anywhere!

That’s when it hit me! The person I had been talking to wasn’t who he said he was. He had used a fake identity. After finding more details of the robbery, I realised he was a criminal and I had helped a robber, unknowingly.

Guilt crashed over me like a wave. I felt hopeless and ashamed.

The days that followed were unbearable. I couldn’t eat or sleep. Flashbacks haunted me.

Because of my careless use of social media, a family was going through a tough time. I had trusted the wrong person, and someone had to pay the price, which was too much.

That experience taught me a hard but unforgettable lesson: appearances can be deceptive on social media and one wrong move can destroy a life in a matter of minutes.

Published in Dawn, Young World, June 28th, 2025