Always be aware that tech can be used against you

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A 17- year-old girl has died by suicide, jumping off her building terrace, after her relationship with a 19-year-old ran into problems.

According to the report, the young man assaulted her on occasion, and threatened to make some private photos public, one assumes viral online if she did not meet him. She may have been petrified that he would make good on his threat and taken her life.

While this is one instance where both were very young, we have seen the mobile and all our high-tech gizmos, become weapons in several relationships.

The most common is using these to blackmail one person when a relationship sours. This operates on the fear of shame, and it usually is all about making intimate acts or even conversations which may have been recorded, messages which may have been exchanged, public. With our society still more judgemental when it comes to women, and they still carry more of a burden of shame, it is usually the women who are the target, but that is not the case always.

It is time young and in fact, all people learn that you never give in to blackmail. When there is that first threat to go public with photos, confide in a trusted one, however difficult that may be. Muster up the extraordinary courage to confront the person threatening one. Take the support of friends or even one family member.

Take wise counsel and guidance and go to the police. You cannot live in fear or under constant threat. You will pay a price with your mental health and the stress will make some go over the edge, that is for certain.

The first point is no fear. That is your most potent weapon in this kind of situation, and then, the right avenue for action. With relationships breaking up, the mobile device is being used in devious, and despicable ways. Do not succumb.