Please tell me if I am overreacting....

[AirForceRocks]

I think you did the right thing. Whether the father follows up or not, you did your part by letting him know that there *might* be an issue.

 

[mrsv98]

I would rather have five minutes of feeling foolish and calling than a life time of regrets if, heaven forbid, something happened and you hadn't called. Good Job.

 

[KingsFanInRI]

The only thing that would have angered me is if my DS would have made such a threat to your DD and you DIDN"T tell me.
Props to you Karen.

 

[CindysGusGus]

Ebay,
While I am no expert on IMing I have done it for several years on AOL. To me the only way someone can "find" you without knowing you first would be through a profile that you have on your screenname. For instance,...she could be Mary Jones from Anywhere USA. If she puts her location on her screenname someone can do a search for people in that area. When they do the search it will show who is online. Then they can look at the profile and decide if they want to strike up a conversation. What I would suggest doing at the age of 10 is letting them have a screenname with no profile. That way only the people that they know can have the name and no others can intrude. Also if they enter any public chats people can IM them from the learning their screen names that way. Hope this helps.

 

[CBRorBust]

Just wanted to add:

There is an option on every IM device that allows you to block users who are not on your buddy list from IM'*** you.

I'd suggest clicking on that little button to avoid this in the future.

It will most likely be found under Privacy in the Edit Preferences section.

 

[Rajah]

Nope, you did not overreact at all. You absolutely did the right thing, and furthermore I think you should really praise your daughter for doing the right thing, too.

 

[gshoemate]

You did the right thing. If it was reversed....you would want to know right? I just can't believe that the father wasn't a bit more concerned. You can never be to careful with your children these days!

 

[nativetxn]

I would have called J's father, too. If something happened to that girl and you <i>hadn't</i> called her father, can you imagine the guilt?

I hope this girl stays safe. How scary

 

[IloveDMB]

Originally posted by CBRorBust
Just wanted to add:

There is an option on every IM device that allows you to block users who are not on your buddy list from IM'*** you.

I'd suggest clicking on that little button to avoid this in the future.

It will most likely be found under Privacy in the Edit Preferences section.

I was going to say this is the way to go also. This also prevents some spamming from people trying to direct you to an adult site.

(also, why is *** starred out?)

 

[ebaynut31]

I can't thank all of you enough!!!

Jes is home now and told me that this girl E doesn't like the girl S and used S's screenname to write all of this stuff. I am very glad that it was some stupid little girl but upset with the fact that she wrote she would kill J, see her at her grave, etc.

I stick my nose in Jes's business everyday. Not too long ago a few girls in my DD's school went in drunk or drank in school. They stole the alcohol from where I work. I look at Jes's backpack eveyday before she goes to school.

I sit here with this scary feeling in my chest because of what could have been. I am glad he is upset with me. Maybe now he will pay attention to who his daughter is communicating with.

Oh being a mom can be scary!

 

[ebaynut31]

We are going to go thru the buddy list tonight and see who is there. I believe I N G is the name of some company or sponsor that used to be advertised here and is no longer wanted.

Thanks for the IM advise everyone. That will be my job tonight.

 

[Robinrs]

Just last week the news was reporting about the parents who told about the threats the two boys who committed the Columbine murders said to their son. They were totally ignored and we all know the tragic ending to that story.

ITA with everyone, you did the right thing.

 

[Jockaroo]

It is great that you are involved enough to monitor your daughter's computer use. Unfortunately there are some really bad things out in cyberspace. A few years ago hubby's brother was in high school. He forwarded a chain email to us. It asked a bunch of really silly questions (fav. color, fav. food, etc.), but every so often it would have some very direct questions (what kind of car do you drive, where do you hang out, what city do you live in, etc.). Also, there were some questions that had some sexual overtones. This really freaked us out. BIL filled out the email and sent it back to the person---THAT HE DID NOT KNOW and forwarded it to all his friends! There was enough information on this form to allow a preditor to track down a person in a smaller town. Hubby discussed his fears with both his bro and parents. It was a simple case of something teens were sending to friends to get info. But it could have been much worse. Warn your kids about these things and monitor their computer use.

And you did the right thing. Sounds like you are a fantastic mom!

-Jockaroo