I know as a parent I feel sick reading stories about sexting in seventh grade.
I also feel more informed.
How do I offer guidance when I don't feel informed or clear or totally on top of all that happens during screen time when it comes to online sharing and socializing and bullying and harassment.
My daughter and I talked about this story on the way to school today. It's not easy or comfortable to talk about sexting, child pornography, peer pressure, cutting, consequences of choices that are planned and unplanned and punishments.
These are things middle school kids are sometimes dealing with as well as ACEs or stress or homework. These are topics sometimes I have my head in the sand about because I'm not always clear what's going and can't quite imagine how adolescence is different for kids who are often cyber connected early on.
So sometimes before school talk is about what to put in the smoothies, or how cute the puppy is or what happened on the last episode of that t.v. show. And sometimes, like today, it is about how kids and parents and schools are and aren't addressing topics like sexting, safety, bullying, betrayal and screen time.
She crunched the cookies in her mouth, carefully mashing them into chunks. She spit. They made a plunk sound as they hit the toilet water. The worst, the absolute worst thing had happened, and now, Maureen was sure, this was her only option.
“Moommm,” she called down the stairs. “I puked!”
She could not show her face in the seventh grade. She had to play sick. All day she lay crumpled on the couch, replaying what he’d said to convince her.
You’re so beautiful.
Don’t be ashamed of your body.
I won’t show anyone.
Then, last night, when he admitted he’d shown the photo to a few people:
“Don’t even come to my funeral,” she texted him.
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