When I signed into Facebook this morning, I found a message from one of my favorite people, alerting me to the fact that she found my 14 year old son on a dating site. Of course I checked it out immediately, and sure enough, he shows up as someone who has been to the site, though he doesn't have a profile. I will be asking him about it when he gets home from school, and I might be having to monitor his online activity a little more closely. I don't want to end up finding out down the road that he has been using roulette chat or visiting other "off limit" sites. I understand that he is a curious young man, but he may not understand how these things can gt him into trouble.
I am so grateful that I have friends who look out for me and my family. Had this person not alerted me, I probably never would have known what Ryan has been up to.
And to the person who messaged me; you know who you are. You also know that I love you, and I thank you for trying to help protect my kids.
4 comments:
Ugh, we just went through something similar with my 13 9almost 14) year old son. Apparently kids at school were passing around info about a site where porn was readily available to watch without paying and on a whim, when my husband was using his computer, he looked at the history and discovered it. Talk about shock!
He lost the computer for 6 months as punishment (he was allowed to use mine -publicly in the kitchen- for school purposes) and when he got it back, we had taken advantage of parental controls that come with our internet service to block several things and he is also under instructions not to clear his history, his cookies or anything else. We have been checking it weekly and he is warned that failure to keep his end up will result in permanent loss of his laptop. I hate that we have to be so strict but I guess it's a different world these days- and a scary one!
Kids (or at least mine) need to learn that they are priviledged to have nice things like a computer (even if it's just access to a family one) and that with priviledge comes responsibility. If they don't tow the line, there will be consequences.
Good luck with your son, hopefully a good talking to and some clear cut guidelines will nip it in the bud!
Tara ~ that is what I am afraid of. When Ryan got home from school, I asked him about the site, and he had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. I believe him only because he didn't actually have an account, and it could have been something he stumbled upon while on FB, and didn't think twice about it after he left the site. I know I do that all the time. BUT, I will still be keeping a closer eye on what he does. I mean, he is a teen aged boy. :)
I both love and hate when people alert me to what is going on with my kids. We had a problem where a friend was coming to me to tell me what Nick was doing - but she was getting her info from her child. Well, it turned out that her child was less than honest and my kid was getting in trouble for no reason. It's good that you followed up and checked it out. Just be careful when you cannot double check!
The person who alerted me, well, she doesn't have a mean bone in her body, and I trust her with my life, as well as my kids. I don't think she was trying to get him into trouble (in fact, she told me to go easy on him, because he might have just been curious), and I am thankful that she did tell me, even though it turned out to be nothing. I always have, and always will, give my kids the benefit of the doubt, and I think that is why they are usually honest with me.
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