Monday, October 5, 2020

Seeking some input and perspective re: online safety from my fellow parents


My oldest daughter, age 14, has had a phone for a year or two and we've always set the expectation that there is no expectation of privacy with her phone. My wife regularly reviews her texts and emails and online social media activity. We have had numerous discussions regarding online safety, watched videos and documentaries on online safety for teens, and actually knowing the people in person that you interact with online, etc etc.A few days ago we found our daughter had been having a personal conversation with someone who has said they attend the same school and is in the same grade as she is. During that conversation she shared some specific and some general information about her schedule and such that was a concern for my wife and I so we had another talk with her. During that conversation she admitted that she didn't actually know the person and had no way to validate they are actually who they say they are, and had no mutual friends in common that could vouch for this person so we asked her to stop interacting with this person and unfriend them. She wasn't happy but did agree and gave the impression she understood our concerns.Well, today my wife was checking her phone again and found that her conversation with this person was either restarted or never ended but either way it was still happening. I don't know all that was discussed but my wife tells me that our daughter's conversion included her saying her parents thought they were an online predator and of course they say 'of course not!' and she says 'didn't think so'.Suffice to say my wife and I are pretty pissed. I know that statistically speaking the person isn't likely to actually be a predator but there's no way for any of us to know at this point, she's specifically continued a behavior we told her we weren't comfortable with, etc. In the past when she's made poor online decisions she's lost access to her phone but that hasn't seemed to curtail her. She has previously had phone restriction as long as a month and other occasions a few days to a week or so previously so we're a bit at our wits end.Just looking for some input and perspective on next steps. Thanks in advance! via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/3lh38FU

No comments:

Post a Comment

Popular Posts