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This is my first time posting on the forums. I have been listening to Keith and the Girl just over a year now. I'm 41, female, single, straight, not drunk and care about this post.
I am a single mother of two teenagers (13 y.o. girl and 16 y.o. boy) and am currently back in college as a biology major.
Even though I listened to this episode several weeks ago, I still think about it. My 13 year old daughter was talking to a guy online who she thought was 15. He turned out to be closer to 50. He lived across the country and she never met him. I found out because I made sure her chat logs were being saved, and I read them. There were things that were said that did not add up. I got very suspicious, and when the chat turned sexual, I started checking.
I have spent countless hours talking to both my teenagers about online predators, and I was totally surprised that my daughter almost fell for one. I have since learned from talking to psychologists and from my college courses that a child's brain physically changes during puberty.
The hormones and growth cycles that a child experiences during this important time causes the brain to redirect synapses, and to actually change in size and shape. Doctors have found that adolescents actually lose their ability, at times, to reason. They don't have the ability to see the big picture. They don't have the ability to see all the consequences of their actions. They have even said that that same child at 8 years old would be able to understand certain things but once they hit puberty, they no longer have that same understanding or mental reasoning. That's scary.
The worse part is, the kids think they know it all and both of those factors make it easier for a predator to manipulate and take advantage.
The nonability to reason is not constant during puberty but all a predator has to do is catch them at a vunerable point and devastating consequences can occur.
I just thought it was a good point to make. There is no way a teenager is informed enough to make their own decision to "date" older adults, and adults who think a child is mature enough, is screwed up.
Thanks for reading my first post.
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