Sunday, January 11, 2015

You want to send what to my 11 year old kid?: Policing your child's cell phone messages

Last August we bought my son his first cell phone for his birthday. We did this more for practical reasons pertaining to his diabetes. I wanted to be able to communicate with him regarding his blood sugar levels when he was at his friend's house, school, or just out with other family members. This special gift was also conditional on his making and keeping good grades. So far, so good. No complaints and no negatives.

Fast forward to today. I'm in his room tidying some things up while he checks his phone and to his delight he has several text messages. Then he says, "I don't know these people." Now I'm three shades of curious and I ask to see them. The contact name of these texters are a series of letters that resemble a cat walking on the keyboard: dzldjmgskgjgjagnk. I open them to find someone offering to send naughty pics to my 11 year old kid.  

What in the holy hell??

Now, I realize that these  buttheads are unaware that they've messaged a minor. But you know what, I really don't care. I would be just as pissed off if that message was sent to me. And I'm in my 40s! I hate unwanted solicitations. I hate pornographic unwanted ones even more.

Most people would probably have just deleted those messages. But I'm not most people. So I replied with a text of my own that said: This number belongs to an 11 year old. Do not text this number again or I will contact the police.

Then I told my son that if he received another text from either of these numbers or any other questionable texts/voicemails that he should let me know immediately. So far it's been quiet.


No comments:

Post a Comment