Would YOU want to know?

Say that you're on line surfing the net. Say that you go on to a MySpace or FaceBook page. Just looking or maybe you have a page yourself. Now imagine that as your checking things out - and maybe checking in to what your teen is looking at - and you happen upon a picture. Not a picture of your child (thank the Lord!) but of a friend's child and it's not a good one. Or a wholesome one. Or one that you'd feel comfortable showing at any gathering of people that you know. No, it's not porn or anything that extreme but it's offensive enough that you're uncomfortable seeing it. Do you go to the parent? If so, how do you approach it? Do you say, "Oh, by the way, I saw this picture while on line..." or do you say something like, "Hey, guess who I saw with a boy on top of her?"

This is just a typical example of what my life is like. I don't WANT to find these things out about my son's friends and yet in the age of the internet, things like this get out there. I would want to know if it were my child posting inappropriate pictures of himself on the web. You know how I know he hasn't? Because NO ONE had come to me and told me! And believe me, Nick had some sort of chip inbedded in him where parents everywhere seem to know when he says or does something wrong and then they run and tell me. At times, I appreciate their openness and how they care about my child enough to want me to know whenever he slips up, but there are times that his actions really aren't as upsetting to me as it is to them. And because I've been on that side of the coin, dare I cross over and become one of those parents that goes to another parent and shows them where they've failed? And yes, that is what we're doing, we're showing the parent not only where their child has messed up but where they failed as a parent to raise their child properly. Harsh, I know.

So, do I print out the offensive pic and show it? Do I secretly e-mail the mom the link to it? Or do I sit back and do nothing? Ahhh...life really needs to come with some sort of manual.