Anonymous wrote:

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

This more or less.

+1 no way

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you seen these friends with your own eyes? The traveling part is fine - Boston is super to easy to navigate via public transportation.

Yes. She has zoomed with them (cameras on). It's a really nice group of teens and young adults who have bonded over a very niche interest.

Young adults??? Hell no.

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?

I am absolutely flabbergasted that OP would even consider this.

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

Slightly different scenario, but a few weeks after she turned 16 my DD went off for a week long training program with a student run environmental group in the middle of the country that I had never heard of. All of her contact with them was online. She organized the whole thing herself, was getting picked up by one of the student trainers and shuttled to their site, navigating Transfers at various airports, etc. I’ll be honest the whole thing made me nervous. But when she came home and talked about what it was like to figure this all out on her own, she said “I felt like my own person“ and it was actually a pretty powerful experience. It really opened my eyes to the value of lengthening the leash when you can, even though it can feel scary as a parent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No way. And this is a good time to teach your young adult safety for when you don’t have a say.

In this situation in the future, they should do all the things others mentioned to make sure they are who they are. First meeting should be in a public space. She should take a friend with her (you should go now since she’s a minor). Make sure someone knows where she is and when she is supposed to be back to her room.

Just rolling up to Boston with a bunch of randoms she met on the internet is insane!!

+1.

Assuming you have a kid that is mature enough to navigate travel alone, at a bare minimum I would need to "meet" these people on a zoom so I could see they are actual people - I assume they are also teenagers? Also, I would want their contact/parents contact info in the event of an emergency. Also lots of expectations around keeping me informed about itinerary and plans and frequent check-ins. Then, maybe.....

I thought OP had already met the friends via zoom? And they were meeting for an event which I assume means a public space, etc. I mean, if I were OP, I would still fly up with the DD just to be available in a extremely unlikely event anything went wrong but I would definitely let DD spend the day hanging out with her friends in public without her mother hovering.

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.

They could all be 1 old man. No way.

Anonymous wrote:My 16 (almost 17) year old is going to Boston for a one day event with people she met on line several years ago, who have since become good friends. Would you let her fly up by herself, take public transportation to the venue, and then fly home that evening? She is very comfortable with DC public transportation and good at finding her way around. The alternative is that I'd fly up with her.

No, I would go with her.

Anonymous wrote:No way. And this is a good time to teach your young adult safety for when you don’t have a say.

In this situation in the future, they should do all the things others mentioned to make sure they are who they are. First meeting should be in a public space. She should take a friend with her (you should go now since she’s a minor). Make sure someone knows where she is and when she is supposed to be back to her room.

Just rolling up to Boston with a bunch of randoms she met on the internet is insane!!

+1.

Assuming you have a kid that is mature enough to navigate travel alone, at a bare minimum I would need to "meet" these people on a zoom so I could see they are actual people - I assume they are also teenagers? Also, I would want their contact/parents contact info in the event of an emergency. Also lots of expectations around keeping me informed about itinerary and plans and frequent check-ins. Then, maybe.....

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?

No way. And this is a good time to teach your young adult safety for when you don’t have a say.

In this situation in the future, they should do all the things others mentioned to make sure they are who they are. First meeting should be in a public space. She should take a friend with her (you should go now since she’s a minor). Make sure someone knows where she is and when she is supposed to be back to her room.

Just rolling up to Boston with a bunch of randoms she met on the internet is insane!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes I would, but I let my kids live normal lives and are teaching them to become independent adults before heading off to college.

Most DCUM mommies want Life 360, their kids near them 24/7, and filled with meds for the anxiety they subconsciously caused.

You sound like the serial rapist who lures kids to his basement. What you have written sounds like the koolaid sex traffickers give to neglected youth.

Your anxiety is insane. I hope you don’t have kids.

Your own biological kid or just some orphan you adopted?

Watch "catfish" on youtube.

Anonymous wrote:My 16 (almost 17) year old is going to Boston for a one day event with people she met on line several years ago, who have since become good friends. Would you let her fly up by herself, take public transportation to the venue, and then fly home that evening? She is very comfortable with DC public transportation and good at finding her way around. The alternative is that I'd fly up with her.

Are you a troll inCel sex-trafficker?

No, you do not let your kids go away from you with people you do not know.

Also, we teach them not to get roofied or be in shady circumstances.

Anonymous wrote:Yes I would, but I let my kids live normal lives and are teaching them to become independent adults before heading off to college.

Most DCUM mommies want Life 360, their kids near them 24/7, and filled with meds for the anxiety they subconsciously caused.

You sound like the serial rapist who lures kids to his basement. What you have written sounds like the koolaid sex traffickers give to neglected youth.