MOM: “Sites like the prom site would be the perfect place for a
sexual predator to troll around for his next little victim.”
VANESSA: “Oh, Mom, you always worry. That won’t happen!”
MOM: “Well, it’s something to think about.” (Mom continues to ask
questions — not in a “cross-examine-your-kid” way but with an
attitude that reflects curiosity and interest.) “What kind of
information do you give the other girls that you get to know?”
VANESSA: “Nothing.”
MOM: “Nothing, honey? Not even your school?”
VANESSA: “Well, maybe the school and stuff like that.”
MOM: “Do you think that if some sneaky, nasty guy learns what you
look like or what you are wearing to a prom that he could identify
you on prom night, sort of hang around after that, and nab you?”
VANESSA: “Well ...”
MOM: “I have some thoughts and observations. Can I share them
with you?”
VANESSA: “Sure.”
MOM: (setting the model, giving choices) “I’m thinking that if I
were you, I’d sleep a lot better at night if I never sent one little bit of
information about myself to anyone, and I mean anyone, whom I
hadn’t met face-to-face, because the more dangerous the man, the
more he can sound fun, sincere, friendly, caring, and like a great
teen.”
VANESSA: “Oh ...”
MOM: “So what’s your take on this, honey?”
VANESSA: “You’re right, Mom. I’m not going to talk about even
my school or anything from now on.”Throughout life, the happiest of people rely on internal controls and
self-discipline. The unhappiest of people must rely on external controls to
keep their behavior in check. No one sits beside the teen every time he or
she drives. Sometime, someplace, somehow, our children must learn to
rely on internal checks. Lucky is the child who has parents who