Had to have a serious conversation with my 9 year old about not giving out personal info online. He got invited to a private Discord server by someone he met gaming and had no idea it could be dangerous. Turns out my talk about stranger danger only applied to real life in his mind. Feeling pretty shaken up. How do you make this stuff sink in for kids who grew up with the internet?
Good on you for having that talk. So many parents avoid it because it's uncomfortable. Did he understand why strangers online might be interested in his info? My kid kept asking 'but why would they care'.
The tricky part is balancing keeping them safe without making them paranoid or scared of the internet entirely. Like they need to use it for school stuff anyway. Did you go through specific scenarios with him or just general rules?
Good on you for having that talk early. I had to do this with my middle kid after she almost gave her full name to someone in a Discord server. Now we do regular check-ins about who she's talking to online. It's ongoing education honestly, not a one-time conversation.
This conversation is so important and honestly kind of scary to think about. How did he react when you brought it up? My son is 11 and I'm trying to figure out the best way to have this without freaking him out or making him feel like he can't talk to me.
Sign in to join the conversation.
We had this conversation at 9 too and man it was awkward. The hardest part was explaining why it matters without scaring him into thinking the whole internet is evil.
This is one of those conversations that keeps me up at night. You did the right thing bringing it up. How did he react? Was he defensive or did it sink in?