PSA: Check your kid's Discord servers NOW

Dec 241 min read

Didn't even know my 13yo had Discord til I accidentally saw it on his laptop. He's in like 15 servers with randoms. I'm not trying to helicopter parent but some of those communities are... sketchy. Had a real conversation with him about it instead of just shutting it down (his words: "Dad, you're not understanding internet culture") and worked out some rules. But honestly, Discord seems like it's where all the kids are these days and parents have NO idea what's happening there.

12 comments166 views

Comments(12)

AArchie M.RegularDec 26

good catch. I found my 12yo in a server that was supposed to be about Minecraft and it turned into just people sending NSFW stuff. Literally no moderation

DDustin P.New DadDec 25

"helicopter parent" vibes but also like... you're not wrong to be concerned. These platforms have basically zero actual moderation. Have you talked to him about it or just doing recon?

AAdam J.RegularDec 26

yeah discord is a trip - i found out my 12yo was in some gaming servers that seemed fine until i actually looked at the mod team. some sketchy accounts for sure. did you talk to him about it yet or still investigating?

SStan D.RegularDec 25

15 servers is actually wild though. do you know if his friends are in them too or is he just deep in the algorithm?

BBrian L.RegularDec 25

the accidental discovery is always how it goes. my rule is now i spot check without snooping everything - i think that's the balance? full transparency about what i'm doing tho

CChuck M.RegularDec 27

i'm torn on this stuff. don't want to be the parent that breaks trust but also... there ARE predators. how'd you approach the conversation? i'm about to have this talk

JJoel F.RegularDec 27

"sketchy" how though - like weird adult dudes or just kids being edgy? because those are two very different problems. the second is annoying but manageable

CCarl W.RegularDec 27

lol this is why i check the apps on my son's phone monthly. found out he had omegle (which terrifies me) and we had a come-to-jesus talk about randos online. it sucks but necessary

VVic G.RegularDec 27

the sketchy part usually isn't even the nudes stuff, it's the radicalization pipeline servers. seen kids get pulled into some weird political extremist stuff through Discord gaming communities

NNick J.RegularDec 25

Yeah man I did the same thing last month. Ended up deleting 8 of the 12 servers he was in because they were just cesspools. He was mad for like a day but got over it

GGreg M.RegularDec 27

15 servers is actually not that bad - the real question is which ones. Gaming servers are usually fine but yeah some of those anime/meme communities have some... questionable people

PPete D.RegularDec 27

This is the move - checking without being obvious about it. My kid knows I know about his Discord but we agreed I'm not lurking constantly, just spot checks. He seems cool with that balance