Would you let your 16-17 year old do this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nope. I wouldn’t even support this trip if they were a young adult. Zero chance for a teen.

Online friends?
Travel to meet in a city?

Nope

+1 the level of stupidity by OP is beyond.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My concern would be less the travel logistics and more the online "friends"

This more or less.

+1

[Anonymous]

Think of what went down at Sarah Lawrence; teens are impressionable.

[Anonymous]

I should say I am shocked how many won’t and go immediately to worse case scenario

And we wonder why kids have so much anxiety, no street smarts, little to no common sense, and just can not handle transitioning to adulthood.

Parents never let them. The generation of be home when the street lights are on, out all day without any phones or ways to contact anyone - somehow kids 1 year away from college can’t do anything without fear mongering moms crying no way! The irony is astounding. And if you say the world was safer then you are in fact wrong and there are plenty of citations to show that.

The OP has seen these kids online on zoom/FaceTime. She can contact a few parents. Said they have a niche group which the OP’s kid can trust would know at the age of 16 or 17 if she is being catfished the last year. I mean come on.

You have to let these kids transition to adults WHILE STILL AT HOME to help them feel confident, smart, and safe, before they leave the nest at 17/18.

[Anonymous]

I'll not worry about travel logistics, i'll worry about meeting strangers. Unless you have someone who can chaperone her there, you should go with her, make it a parent-daughter fun trip on top of doing her thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You want to let your female child fly to another city to meet strangers she met online alone? Isn't that like the first thing we tell kids NOT to do?

+100. It’s on line friends that yiu haven’t met at all and so no way would I send her.

Exactly!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would go with your daughter. You don’t have to accompany her throughout the event, but it is good for the group to know, and for your kid to know, that you are there for her. Even if you are just chilling at the hotel with dcum and a Dunkin’ coffee.

Plus you guys can stay overnight which might be more fun than flying up and back in a day.

Yes, that's the alternative and probably what we will end up doing. I don't at all mind a day to myself to wander around Boston!

Good.

[Anonymous]

No, becaus one-day-flight-trips for leisure are unecological and a pure waste of resources. A 16 year old should know that, and her parents also.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, becaus one-day-flight-trips for leisure are unecological and a pure waste of resources. A 16 year old should know that, and her parents also.

Ridiculous. Good that parent is going with her child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I should say I am shocked how many won’t and go immediately to worse case scenario

And we wonder why kids have so much anxiety, no street smarts, little to no common sense, and just can not handle transitioning to adulthood.

Parents never let them. The generation of be home when the street lights are on, out all day without any phones or ways to contact anyone - somehow kids 1 year away from college can’t do anything without fear mongering moms crying no way! The irony is astounding. And if you say the world was safer then you are in fact wrong and there are plenty of citations to show that.

The OP has seen these kids online on zoom/FaceTime. She can contact a few parents. Said they have a niche group which the OP’s kid can trust would know at the age of 16 or 17 if she is being catfished the last year. I mean come on.

You have to let these kids transition to adults WHILE STILL AT HOME to help them feel confident, smart, and safe, before they leave the nest at 17/18.

So, I think actual adults would be naive morons if they flew to Boston alone to meet up with people they only met online, so, tell me why it would help a 16 year old girl grow up and be independent?

You’re confused about how to instill independence, it isn’t allowing your kids to be stupid.

[Anonymous]

OP, you do understand that teens can find and post on these forums too, right? Only someone naive would tell you that it is totally fine for a teen to fly on her own to meet up with total strangers from the internet?! If you think this is NBD then you are a child predators dream.

[Anonymous]

I (and adult woman) had a group of mom friends I met online. We shared our experiences as new moms for years, we were really intimate. I met three of them in person, everything went ok. But one of my “closest” friends didn’t exist LOL. She (he?) was a person who made a whole fake identity online as a mom of 4. Blog, multiple social media accounts, lots of pictures, very active. We shared a lot of intimate details with this person and it was like 4 years later we discovered the truth. She fooled a group of adult women. We grieved her loss because she was a real friend to us.

All this to say: try to meet your online friends in a controlled and safe environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I (and adult woman) had a group of mom friends I met online. We shared our experiences as new moms for years, we were really intimate. I met three of them in person, everything went ok. But one of my “closest” friends didn’t exist LOL. She (he?) was a person who made a whole fake identity online as a mom of 4. Blog, multiple social media accounts, lots of pictures, very active. We shared a lot of intimate details with this person and it was like 4 years later we discovered the truth. She fooled a group of adult women. We grieved her loss because she was a real friend to us.

All this to say: try to meet your online friends in a controlled and safe environment.

How did they fool you on live zoom and FaceTime calls?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD has online friends from Kpop fan groups. We were in California and she wanted to go meet up with a couple and go to K-town. I let her. She took pics, they looked like nice girls. I'm glad I trusted her. She was 18 BTW.
Can she tell you any more deets about the online friends?

+1

As they get older, you give them many more choices for freedom. It’s hard, but needed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I should say I am shocked how many won’t and go immediately to worse case scenario

And we wonder why kids have so much anxiety, no street smarts, little to no common sense, and just can not handle transitioning to adulthood.

Parents never let them. The generation of be home when the street lights are on, out all day without any phones or ways to contact anyone - somehow kids 1 year away from college can’t do anything without fear mongering moms crying no way! The irony is astounding. And if you say the world was safer then you are in fact wrong and there are plenty of citations to show that.

The OP has seen these kids online on zoom/FaceTime. She can contact a few parents. Said they have a niche group which the OP’s kid can trust would know at the age of 16 or 17 if she is being catfished the last year. I mean come on.

You have to let these kids transition to adults WHILE STILL AT HOME to help them feel confident, smart, and safe, before they leave the nest at 17/18.

So, I think actual adults would be naive morons if they flew to Boston alone to meet up with people they only met online, so, tell me why it would help a 16 year old girl grow up and be independent?

You’re confused about how to instill independence, it isn’t allowing your kids to be stupid.

+1