A Mommy Moment

[faymar]

We were talking about online communities and how *some* teenagers can be really annoying and that on the one hand, adults didn't like to feel they had to watch their words or, worse, babysit but on the other hand, it's not like kids suddenly turn 18 and maturity flips on like a light bulb over their heads

Comments

[faymar]

It's kind of odd. He seems to have claimed 18 on two occasions but he's not trying for access to adult content, just trying to get taken seriously.

Unfortunately, although he totally accepted my argument that adults like me want protecting from children (I put it somewhat more tactfully) he very firmly sees that as "other people" because obviously he's all-mature-all-the-time. Obviously, he *does* get treated differently when he says he's 18, but it's a question of reasonable behaviour.

I hadn't thought about the difference in simply saying 17 (so he's not crossing psychological barriers / legal barriers). I don't think I can say that though, as it is an implicit approval of lying about who you are on the internet.

[faymar]

(which actually, I don't have a huge issue with but as his mother, I don't think it's my place to OK it either)