My 16 year old son has been dating a girl for about a month. She’s been to our home frequently, and we have grown to like her. She’s well-mannered and from what I have seen treats our son well. We are friendly with her parents, and our son is frequently at their home.
Well- last night while driving with my son, he received a call from his GP. I could hear her screaming and sobbing. My son talked to her and tried to calm her down. Basically, the entire time he was saying, “It’s okay – it’s in the past. I’m not leaving you because of this.”
Well, I don’t like to invade into his relationships, but I figured this was probably a good time to start.
Once he got off the phone, I asked what had happened. He said he could only tell me if I promised not to judge her. I agreed. He told me that during the summer she had been Snap chatting with a guy and he had talked her into sending some nude pics.
Well, apparently those pics made it onto an Instagram Page followed by about 500 people in their school. Her parents soon found out and judging by how many times my son’s phone rang, so did most of their school.
I’m proud of the way my son has handled this whole thing. He feels that it was something that happened before they even knew each other, and she can’t go back and change it. I don’t think I would have been able to handle it the same way when I was a teen.
Obviously, the GF had her phone taken away by her parents, so other than the initial phone call, my son had no communication with her. He texted her mother and told her he wasn’t involved, that they have never sent each other nudes, and that he was going to stand by her no matter how much crap he had to take at school.
When I dropped him off at school this morning she was waiting. He gave her a hug, then took her hand and they walked into the school together.
I don’t envy them. I’m sure today is going to suck.
So anyway – parents, please please please talk to your daughters and sons about the dangers of nude pics / sexting etc. Tell them to assume that any picture they send will end up on the internet. Even if they think they love and trust the person they are sending them to – you never know what may happen – intentionally or not.
Now this young girl has to walk around with the embarrassment of having those pictures seen by hundreds of people. She has to listen to the whispers and endure the stares. She has had to face her parent’s wrath, and will have to try to one day regain their trust. Her parents now have to deal with the social stigma that will emerge from this.
Personally, I can’t even tell you how bad I feel for her. I’m thankful that I grew up in a time where my dumb decisions weren’t broadcast around the globe within seconds. She’s a teenager who made a dumb decision, and I hope it doesn’t hang over her head for too long.
Share this to help spread the message so parents could have a word with their kids & it doesn’t happen to anyone you know.
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