Did anyone else see the Dateline that was on last night? It was about teenage girls that are harrassing each other via text messaging and emails. My girls are only 2 and 6 now, but I am still scared to pieces over what will happen to them when they hit adolesence. I think about the horrible things that happened to me when I was a teenager and I get freaked out about my girls going through the same thing. Do any other moms go through this fear? I know we're to give our children up to the Lord and not worry, but it's so hard sometimes. Just knowing what is out there really freaks me out. Part of me wants to just keep them home and never let them out of my sight, but then how realistic is that? They will eventually have to be out in the world anyway. I have also thought about sending them to a Christian school hoping that the kids wouldn't be so mean to each other, but is that always the case?
Have any of your kids ever been harrassed by their peers? If so, how did you deal with it? Is there any sure way of protecting our children against this kind of abuse? I know my children are still young, but they are going to be teenagers before I know it and I just want to be prepared.

Hey-I watched part of it, and I also have 2 girls, almost 5 and 1 year old (today!) :D It was awful. I know how you feel. Your heart just breaks when someone is unkind to your kids. There is so much evil out there, and kids probably start stuff younger than when we were that age. You wish you could protect them.
Hollie

I'm glad I grew up over a decade ago now!

I did have a girl after me in JH (she spread about 12+ rumors, if not 20, and would try to insult or exclude me at times). Then, I could go home and at least have hours of peace. I shudder to think what she could have done if then were now. Photo of me changing in the locker room? Better rumors she could spread, finding ideas on Google? Internet harassment? Text messages? MySpace post after post making fun of me. And I felt suicidal then! What if it had followed me home?

No wonder.

It's insane!

Mean girls (or guys) better not bother any of my neices and nephews.

Karin - I so hear you on this one even though I didn't see this piece (being in Australia), however there was a report on Sunrise about "Teenage girl gangs" - it all freaks me out too.

It's not like we can remove our kids from the world and I guess, sometimes I do feel the only option available to us (and it is a good one :wink: ) is to teach the kids to pray to put on the full armour of God everyday as in the Bible.

There was a girl gang at my highschool (which I was pulled out of when I was 15 due to the violence, and satanism etc) - and they'd randomly beat up other girls for no reason, or imagined misdemeanours. Of course the school couldn't care less and many of the girls were too afraid to "tell" incase they suffer a reprise beating (I was one of their victims at one time)

The thing that most worries me about the mobile phone issue, is actually the easy acess to pornography. There is a reported problem in lower school and upper school of kids downloading porn on the phones and showing it around to other YOUNG children. Can someone not invent some sort of "phone nanny" or junior phone service?

Girls are a lot crueler than guys and perhaps this is just another way they can "bully" others - they play so many horrible games with each other in the teenaged years!

Not sure that a Christian school would be any better as not all the kids that attend them are actually Christians, even though their parents "profess" and I went to a Christian School where the "Christian" teachers were more worse and diabolical in their behaviour towards students than the non-Christians.