IMessage Frozen on IPad Mini

[josanne28]

I have had an IPad mini for about a month. The IOS is 6.1.3 and is up-to-date. Recently after my son's friends IMessaged him long strings of junk, we have not been able to open IMessage. I have tried the following remedies without success:
(1) Turning the IPod off and back on (I have probably done this about 20 times)
(2) Turning Airplane Mode On and then back Off again 5 min later. Then turning the IMessage Off and then back on 5 min later. (I have done this about 20 times).

IMessage does activate from the settings screen when I turn it on and off.

When I tap on the Message icon, Message opens with a completely blank screen. I am unable to close it with the 5 finger close method, nor get anything in it to appear or work. After maybe 20 seconds the IMessage closes on its own.

I am new to Apple products. I thought maybe uninstalling and reinstalling the app would work, but have not figured out how to do that. PLEASE any suggestions will be appreciated. I have spent hours now trying to "unfreeze" IMessage.

Thanks!

 

[Just_Me_D]

Do the foilowing:
1. Go to Settings-Messages and then turn OFF iMessages.

2. Now turn OFF your iPhone. Wait 30 seconds and then turn it back on.

3. Go back to Settings-Messages and then turn ON iMessages.

4. Under the "Send & Receive" option, make sure the phone number is listed and there's a checkmark next to it when selected. If the person was using an Apple ID for iMessages, add the one he or she was using.

5. Try to send a test message.