I think this is a great transition into our next question, which is, what do you do when you start to see your 13-year-old lying?
This 13-year-old is communicating with strangers of the opposite gender on social media, and they are saying that they are not communicating with strangers. This family is wondering how to deal with this.
All right, so I don’t know the nature of the 13-year-old—is this a boy or a girl? Either way, interacting with somebody they don’t know in today’s technology world is actually quite common when people play games or interact.
I would want to break down who these people are that they’re interacting with because they may not be who they think they are. They might be predators, which would be the highest level of concern, but that’s a real possibility depending on how and where they’re interacting.
In my mind, this is a higher level of concern because the internet is full of individuals who say they’re one thing, but they’re not. The interaction here needs to be approached with caution and education.
For example, last year, I read an article—this is not to scare anyone but to educate. The article was about computer gangs in foreign countries. These gangs create false personas, typically as teenage girls, to interact with teenage boys.
They build a relationship and ask for a picture, eventually requesting a sexual image. Once they get it, they threaten the victim, demanding money—usually between $500 and $1,000—or they threaten to expose the picture publicly, even claiming they’ve hacked into their accounts.
This is a real issue, and it’s essential to educate children about it. I shared the article with my 14-year-old son, had him read it, and we had a meaningful conversation about it. Parents need to make their children aware of the potential consequences of online interactions with strangers.
We need to teach them not to give away private information, including names or locations. Predators use manipulative tactics to extract personal details, and their purpose is harmful.
Unfortunately, in some cases, victims feel trapped and don’t know what to do. This has even led to individuals taking their own lives because of the fear and shame of being manipulated into sending an image and the resulting consequences.
It’s a dark reality, but it’s happening. Educating yourself and your child about these dangers and potential consequences is critical.
