Tracking a nasty email from Facebook -- need help (Gothicgyrl are you there?)

[Home'scool]

We have a small but (I thought) closely knit homeschool group of kids ages 10 - 15.

Friday night somebody from the group opened a Facebook account, sent out a few very nasty emails (lots of swearing, insults, and a few references to "I hope you die") to 3 kids who also have Facebook accounts, and then deactivated the account. I know it was someone from our small group of kids because the emails mentioned a few details that only kids in this group would know about.

The person who sent them signed the name of a kid that had absolutely nothing to do with this. They just wanted to make him look bad.

The named child's mother, though, is obviously upset that her son's name is being attached to this. The mother of one of the girls who received a very nasty email is also upset that her daughter would receive such a nasty and intimidating message.

Is there a way to find out who sent them? I know you have to provide Facebook with a valid email address to activate your account, and I know when you deactivate your account they do not erase your info. Does the receiving computer have a way to find out the address of the computer that sent the info?

The whole group is shaken up by this, and I feel it is a real trust issue with the kids going forward. I also feel that the innocent kid will never really have his name cleared until we find out who actually did it.

[GothicGyrl]

Contact facebook. Did anyone save any of this? Contact law enforcement as well (last resort).

I'd forward the saved emails on to facebook and ask them if they could provide the information as this person is part of your child group. Chances are they won't, however they will tell you to contact law enforcement.

Do so and show them the saved emails, explaining to them what happened. Tell them facebook sent you and then ask them to get the information from facebook.

The only other option is this: Treat it as I did in the lying thread (without punishing the innocent). If this kid still attends, I'd hold a meeting with parents and kids and I'd call them on the carpet. Immediately. I'd tell the parents that we are now instituting a safety policy due to this issue and encourage the parens to speak to their children.

I'd also show the parents how to check computer history ;) Those that are innocent, the parents will know this and won't do anything to their kids. The guilty one will be found by looking through the computer history (even if they somehow erased the history from view, you can still pull it up in windows ::Evil grin)..

[Home'scool]

Wow! that was fast!

Thanks for the advice. They are considering going to the police, they just didn't want to take it to that level if they didn't have to.

I'm hoping the kid eventually confesses, but the level of premediation that went into this, as well as the violent nature of the email, leads me to believe that this kid has a hard skin and won't crack under a mother's glare.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Wow! that was fast!

Thanks for the advice. They are considering going to the police, they just didn't want to take it to that level if they didn't have to.

I'm hoping the kid eventually confesses, but the level of premediation that went into this, as well as the violent nature of the email, leads me to believe that this kid has a hard skin and won't crack under a mother's glare.

This is the sort of thing that makes me feel leery of giving my kids more access to the internet. It's not that I don't trust them (although there are plenty of places I'd rather they not explore in a curiosity mode). But there are plenty of others out there that I certainly don't trust. Not just the 50 yo guy in underwear (who is undoubtably busy joining homeschool forums anyway) but the thoughtless, hurtful people who will do something self indulgent just because they think it is funny.

The internet is such a powerful tool. But it is so easy for it to be used to hurt other people.