Parenting Perspective 

When a rumour is spread, the harm resides not only in the false content but also in how quickly and widely it multiplies. Your objective is threefold: to stop the dissemination, to care for the person who has been harmed, and to coach your child to rebuild trust through truthful action. You must treat this situation as vital training in digital conscience: verify, pause, and repair. 

Stop the Spread and Stabilise 

You must act quickly but maintain a calm demeanour. Ask your child to immediately stop posting in the thread, capture relevant screenshots for evidence, and list every individual or group where the message travelled. Then, secure the device and disable the forwarding function in that specific chat for the time being. Say: “We will contain it first, then repair.” A steady tone ensures your child remains engaged, rather than defensive. 

Make a Clean Public Correction 

Coach a concise, honest message to the same group where the rumour was forwarded: “I forwarded something without checking. It was wrong to share. Please delete it and do not pass it on.” The point is clarity and ownership, not excuses. Where appropriate, your child should also message any individuals they influenced to repeat the rumour, asking them to delete it too. Praise follow-through, not just promises: “You posted the correction and sent deletion requests. That is responsible.” 

Repair with the Person Harmed 

If a specific classmate was targeted, guide your child to apologise directly. This must include three parts: naming the action, naming the impact, and offering a concrete repair. For example: “I shared a rumour about you. That was hurtful. I have posted a correction and asked everyone to delete it.” If school staff need to be involved, your child should speak first, with you attending only for support. Accept proportionate consequences; they are essential lessons that teach that truth restores lost trust. 

Install Prevention Habits 

Turn this incident into a new, vital routine. This includes: a “verify before share” rule, designating no-phone zones at night, requiring approval for new group chats, and practising a ten-second pause question: “Would I be at peace if this were about me?” Practice a replacement behaviour for the urge to forward: save the item to the Notes app, then review it later with a parent. Close with warmth so honesty feels safe: “You faced a hard truth and helped stop harm. That is how trust grows.” 

Spiritual Insight 

In Islam, a person’s honour and reputation are sacred trusts. Spreading a rumour risks backbiting, mockery, and injustice in a single click. Denial may protect pride for a moment, but truth and repair protect the heart before Allah Almighty. Teach your child that the believer’s phone should serve as a safe place for others: verify, restrain, and if harm occurs, repair quickly and clearly for Allah’s sake. 

Allah Almighty states in the noble Quran at Surah Al Hujuraat (49), Verse 6: 

‘O you, who are believers, if there comes to you a deviant (person) with information, then cross-examine it; as it may cause you (unintentionally) to harm a nation in ignorance; as then afterwards you will become regretful over your actions.’ 

This ayah provides a simple, timeless digital ethic: verification before transmission. Sharing without checking can inadvertently make your child an agent of harm, which is inevitably followed by regret. When they post a correction and ask others to delete the message, they are living this verse in the classroom microcosm, moving from heedlessness to justice. 

The gravity of relaying unverified information is underscored by the Sunnah. 

It is recorded in Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2699c (as cited in Riyadh As Salihin 1547), that the holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: 

‘It is enough for a man to prove himself a liar when he goes on narrating whatever he hears.’ 

This prophetic warning transforms the lesson from one of mere etiquette into one of integrity. Forwarding “whatever we hear” makes us participants in falsehood, even if we did not intend to lie ourselves. Tell your child: the believer pauses, verifies, and speaks only what is true and beneficial. By stopping the spread, issuing a clear correction, apologising to the person harmed, and adopting verify-before-share habits, your child transforms a mistake into Taqwa in action—a heart that loves truth, a tongue that protects dignity, and hands that put things right.