Do your teens use ask.fm?

[Anonymous]

Some of the stuff on there is absolutely horrible. And completely open to the public. I can't believe these kids are posting half this stuff. Do they not know they can be googled by their parents? Do you know if your tween/teen is using ask.fm? Do you monitor it?

[Anonymous]

What is it exactly?

[Anonymous]

It's like Formspring, I think - one of these forums where kids register (often using their real names) and then respond to whatever questions, comments or insults are lobbed their way by others who can either identify themselves or remain anonymous. Great if you want attention, but can be vicious, Mean Girl Central.

[Anonymous]

You create your own page and people can ask you questions completely anonymously. Googled my child's name, and it came up. So his friends....or anyone...can ask questions anonymously. Or just post threats or insults. Anonymously. There is talk about drugs, denigrating talk about women in general, classmates in particular, calling each other gay, etc.

His 14 year old friend (girl), who has a steady boyfriend, has been asked how often she gives boyfriend blow jobs. Calls her a pedophile because her boyfriend is one year younger. Most of his high school friends are on there. Linked together by "likes" . They are all answering a combination of nice questions and fending off verbal attacks. Then they come to each other's defense.

And again, this is all open to the public. These kids don't think their parents are searching, and maybe they aren't. I just started looking into it myself.

[Anonymous]

Oh goody, another Formspring.

[Anonymous]

i had never heard of it until the media reported that the kidnapping victim, hanna anderson, used it as an outlet

[Anonymous]

I googled my daughter's name and it came up on someone else's ask.fm (as in, What do you think of Isabella Jones?) Luckily, the answer was nice, but I can see where it'd get ugly really fast.

[Anonymous]

My teen is NOT using it and I monitor it all the time. It's awful and I'm shocked by the number of parents allowing their teens on it or that they're not aware.