I see so many kids with cell phones and tablets from a very early age. I know kids in grade school who are learning to code. A 16yo in Missouri died by suicide in January when he was extorted for $500 and a threat of public humiliation.
What resources have you found to talk to your kids about online predators and sextortion?
I am going to raise my boys (way to young to think this through yet), to be open about everything. I am going to teach them from a young age (elementary) age appropriate words and what to do. As I and my partner grew up without it we turned to porn to learn sex Ed and we realized that is not a good way to learn.
@brit114 Same here. We made a point from day 1 to use all the correct terminology for body parts so there is no confusion. From the start we would tell him what we were doing and why we needed to do it. At 2 years old he knows that mommy and daddy look after his body until he can do it himself and can point and say all his parts.
@setfreeandforgivin Bonus: it's pretty funny to hear my 2.5 yo say "wash wash scrotum! All by myself!!" in the bath, or "bye bye nipples!" when his new t-shirt goes on.
@oikonomia I’m mystified as to the attitude of parentse nowadays as to their children’s “ privacy” Really? As you all know kids’ brains aren’t fully developed and they don’t have the ability to “ see around corners” meaning they aren’t usually aware of people who can possibly hurt them. If your. Child is under 18 yrs old they need to grow up knowing that as their parents you are going to be aware of what they are doing & it’s a parents job to make sure kids know that creating, sending & posting nudes or other things that they should not be doing.
Be a parent instead of your kids pal.
@oikonomia I know this is easier said than done. I hope I can raise my daughter in a way that she will know that no "secret" or "bad" thing is too much for us to handle together. She doesn't have to tell me about sexts - ever - but should anyone extort her I would want to come to me. And that counts for anything. In addition, I will try find a balanced way of explaining that while having nudes out there might seem like a huge drama it isn't. Everyone is nude, Everyone gets nude, done people like sexy time with nude pics. Don't send them outside of trusted relationships but even those can go wrong and even though you'll be immensely hurt from breach of trust and you might feel embarrassed the moment will pass. Don't let someone humiliate you with your own body . I cringe to think what technology is still going to throw at us with regards to what might damage or threaten our kids but hopefully she'll call on me when things hurt her.
@nhacaiuytin123123 I think it’s a little too late for her to come to you at 13-14-15 etc. AFTER someone extorts her. I get it that you don’t want her to alienate you, however thinking it’s ok for her to make the decision to send texts that can cause a great deal of harm because you still want to be her “ Pal “ is strange.
What are all of you parents afraid of that refuse to parent your child so that they don’t end up getting wrapped up in a legal case or worse yet the possibility of unaliving themselves. It’s abundantly clear that these young teens under the age of 18 don’t really see around corners and many of them are unaliving themselves when their being extorted because let’s face it, your “ Pal-parenting “ style didn’t work, did it.
Some of you parents need to wake the f*ck up and stop leaving a child whose brain isn’t fully developed to made such life altering decisions when it comes to sending nudes via cell phone which is indeed illegal.
I’m not being cruel here, you just need to realize what you’re doing before it’s too late.
@enye Firstly, my child is 3. I still have a bit of time to teach her that there is nothing too big or embarrassing she can't come to me with. That messaging has saved many kids from veey bad situations. Secondly, I will do my best to try teach her that sexting should be reserved for safe adult relationships but I was a teenager once and I did some pretty grown up stuff from around 15 and i was raised with very hands on parents with relatively conservative views. Teenagers try things, they get caught up in things. Technology has made it a thousands times easier to try things we simply couldn't as teens. I could cyber in private chats online but that was long before phones could take photos. We have to be realistic. Thirdly, even adults can get extorted and embarrassed by sexts or nude photos. There are criminal creeps out there who literally make a living out of that. There are ex-partners who try to take revenge like thay. People should not be embarrassed about their bodies or sex to the extent that they let those people win. P.S many many children in strict or regular or whatever households also unalive themselves. The risks are not exclusively linked to a parenting style.
@nhacaiuytin123123 First off, did you say how old your child was! F*ck NO you didn’t.
Why you would comment as though your child was a teenager with access to a cell phone is the real mystery.
@enye I never gave the impression my child was a teenager. I stated how I would raise her so that she can hopefully make right choices and to let her I can be available to help her should something (anything) happen. OP asked how one deals with these issues. I replied from my context. It could be applicable from any age. The sooner the better.
