Almost two weeks ago a young teenage girl, Anchen Muller disappeared in Cape Town. As soon as it became clear to her parents that she was missing Facebook lit up with requests for help to find her. Luckily the story had a happy ending and the teenager was found unharmed a few days later, however, it was not long before the “blame game” started to happen on Facebook. The reasons for her disappearance were debated, fingers were pointed and it became clear that the young girl was leading a very different life on her social media accounts. Her father looked on her Facebook page and was shocked to see the type of friends that she was associated with and the type of language that she was using.

She had a Facebook account that her parents had opened for her last year (Facebook users have to be 13 to open an account and she was obviously under that age when it was opened) which they monitored and managed. However, she had another Facebook profile which she managed herself that they were unaware of and that is where the trouble started online.

It is not clear whether the people she befriended online were the instigators of her decision to run away. What is clear is that she was determined to keep that part of her life secret from her parents and had blocked them on that profile meaning that they could not search for it.

It is very likely that social media led to the terrible decision of this young teen to run away, however, it is also very likely that it assisted with finding her safe and unharmed. There are two sides of every coin... parents need to realise that teenagers are sometimes too immature to handle what they are presented with online and it can lead to incredible danger. Educate them on the pitfalls.