i’m surprised this hasn’t hit my family before.
i know they watch for it.
i just learned, last summer, my grdaughter, still 17, got “into it” with some kind of internet predator.
Not fun.
She has a favorite video game, it’s about horses, she’s played it for years, she’s aged-out, but still enjoys it, the other girls are younger, she enjoys helping and teaching younger ones, in every setting, she’s patient and interested, it’s a good thing.
Somehow, someone joined, we presume a guy, not sure. Also unknown if this is someone known IRL.
My grdaughter is alert, she’s not messing around, when he approached her, she asked him, “You know i’m a minor, right?!”
i can just imagine. “You know these are little girls?!” o.yeah. that’s her.
i’m not sure what happened next BUT ..
it didn’t stop before she called him names, and worse than that. o.no. no. no. no.
When school resumed, somehow, one of her former friends found out about it, spread it all over, my grdaughter tells her mother no one will talk with her. o.no. no. no. no. My grd is in the wrong because of her language.
Now questions of bullying, mean girls, etc. o.my.
The school’s involved, i think they’re doing the best they can to handle it.
A dean spoke with my grdaughter. My daughter asked her, how did you feel about that? “Angry.” o.no. no.no.no.
i think the dean is handling it well. i saw his pic. he LOOKS like he can handle it. to me.
i asked my daughter, “what about the predator?”
he seems to have been lost because my grdaughter used bad language.
my daughter said she doesn’t expect to hear anything about him. nothing. ever.
she told me it appears he was “only” attempting to LURE young girls, which is less than being a predator.
i’ve told her i’m happy with what the child did - up to the point of the language! -
That is, she should have immediately asked for outside help the moment she suspected him, NOT try to resolve it on her own. Parents. School. Police? (Not sure about police.) Esp not in the PNW. Criminals are hapless victims.
One of the main problems with saying NO is, the worst offenders take NO as a challenge, then intensify their actions.
That’s a BIG problem.
i asked my daughter, “do the young girls/their parents know she stepped up to protect them?”
she has no idea.
i’m hoping for these things:
1) the predator/lurer is located and corrected,
2) my grd is appreciated for recognizing a predator problem and stepping up,
3) that she understands to NOT attempt to solve all problems on her own,
4) that she NOT use bad language, even when angry.
She’ll soon be 18. Her legal situation will change. We need another year!!
Anyone?
