So, Not only do I have to protect her from sexual predators near and far, i's my job to protect her mind too. The filth in the world now has a direct line to my child if I am not careful. A friend recommended I always have the password for all devices that plug in. Sage advice. And I know how sneaky teens can be...I was one once.
Things have gone along well so far until recently, when I became suspicious of the hours of "reading" she was doing on her phone. She had been asking me to get the app too and read things I am interested in. She told me she was reading fanfic about her favorite boy band and described what that was, no I didn't know. I put her off, thinking all was good, not taking her up on her offer or checking into this further. Was she trying to ask me to check on her? Making sure she was abiding by the conservative rule of thumb of our home?
Not long ago She got a Facebook account because she became of legal age, but I knew that medium was passé. Instagram and Snapchat were the next new apps teens were into. I made myself aware of these foto apps by having accounts and sending out pix on them too. ( No I'm not trying to be a hip mom). Thank God I had worked with the youth at church to observe the changing trends of the next best app. I would have been focused on watching the wrong app for insight into my daughter's developing social media habits.
That is just it, these apps trend in and out faster and faster and a parent can have a difficult time keeping a good grasp on their teens safety let alone protect their children's innocence. But I
won't be fooled or left behind in the uploading dust of my daughter. I have relied on other mom's advise and always welcome yours! Dad's too.
Now to my latest catch, the wattpad app. It has a worthy description and it seems like a great reading and publishing resource. Ya, right! I finally took our girl up on her offer to try it and immediately became alarmed. I was able to read some pretty racy stuff and there is even easily accessible rated R literature on this sight. Along with real authors, anyone can publish graphic pieces of a story and get immediate feedback by world hungry teens. There are no rating filters in place, that I saw. If you are reading other teens writings the format is very alluring. The reader is left hanging chapter by chapter, until the "author" publishes the next excerpt. I imagine the feedback gives the young authorship more incentive to create a more adult text each time they post more of their fiction. And some start out with lusty scenes I never want my teen to read.
Needless to say, I have been awakened to the increasing intensity of this job of protecting my daughter's innocence. We both deleted our wattapps and from now on I will take her up on her offer of checking out the true content of an app she asks to download.
What experiences have you encountered that might aid me in keeping some of my girl's innocence intact?
