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Grandparenting

To betray or stay quiet

(90 Posts)
Samcav Thu 23-Feb-23 12:11:58

I do not have a good relationship with my son but he’s a wonderful father and we do see our grandkids. Our 9 y.o. Grandson recently mistakenly sent me a video link from his discord app which was vile and vulgar in content. I never interfere because I’ve been shut down on the few things I’ve tried to discuss. Basically told to “butt out”. This was very serious stuff and my grandson begged me not to tell. What to do? I need thoughtful advice, not criticism. Thank you

VioletSky Sun 26-Feb-23 19:54:38

It's a safeguarding concern

You pass it on straight away.

You don't reply to it and give grandson the chance to delete it

You don't have a conversation with grandson about it before the parents giving the opportunity for them to beg

You don't run to an Internet forum for it to be discussed

You don't send a message to son that contains your personal description of something he can't see.

What you do is forward the video with a "grandson sent this by accident and I thought you should know

Because otherwise you just started a big drama in an already problematic relationship with someone who already doesn't trust your word

Madgran77 Sun 26-Feb-23 20:03:38

VioletSky

It's a safeguarding concern

You pass it on straight away.

You don't reply to it and give grandson the chance to delete it

You don't have a conversation with grandson about it before the parents giving the opportunity for them to beg

You don't run to an Internet forum for it to be discussed

You don't send a message to son that contains your personal description of something he can't see.

What you do is forward the video with a "grandson sent this by accident and I thought you should know

Because otherwise you just started a big drama in an already problematic relationship with someone who already doesn't trust your word

Well yes I agree with uou VS

However by the time the OP posted she had already had a discussion with grandson and, it appears, deleted the video. She can't go back and redo her initial response, therefore going forward the answer to her question "Do I tell, or do I keep quiet" is "Tell"

VioletSky Sun 26-Feb-23 20:05:43

Yes and she has done that and it hasn't gone well Madgran

But if this happens to anyone else, there is a lesson to learn

Madgran77 Sun 26-Feb-23 20:26:41

Yes there is.

It not going well is the parents responsibility, she did what she had to do. Up to them

VioletSky Sun 26-Feb-23 21:01:45

Idk about that

This sort of thing isn't drama

welbeck Sun 26-Feb-23 21:15:50

be wary of forwarding anything offensive; you may commit an offence thereby.

Madgran77 Sun 26-Feb-23 21:43:16

VioletSky

Idk about that

This sort of thing isn't drama

Certainly isn't, it is real life

Madgran77 Sun 26-Feb-23 21:43:49

welbeck

be wary of forwarding anything offensive; you may commit an offence thereby.

A good point welbeck

MerylStreep Sun 26-Feb-23 21:53:01

welbeck

be wary of forwarding anything offensive; you may commit an offence thereby.

The OP told us that she doesn’t have the video.

AmberSpyglass Sun 26-Feb-23 22:40:15

Discord is basically like a chat room - so it could have been a closed group chat of just his friends, or with strangers. He may not even have interacted with them, someone just shared the link and that’s where he got it from. It does sound like he needs a conversation about internet safety, but it sounds unlikely that your son wants to discuss any of this with you.

I certainly think MerylStreep is over-dramatising things - while that level of grooming does happen, there’s no reason to assume it’s what is happening here.

welbeck Mon 27-Feb-23 01:49:17

surely parents should be closely supervising, checking on internet/phone usage at this age.

Sara1954 Mon 27-Feb-23 06:16:28

I have a nine year old grandson, and I’m pretty certain he wouldn’t go looking for anything unsavoury, everything is football related.
If he did receive something inappropriate and sent it to me, I would assume he wanted me to see it and do something about it.
Which, would be to tell his mum, at no point would he be in any trouble.

Madgran77 Mon 27-Feb-23 08:13:08

I certainly think MerylStreep is over-dramatising things - while that level of grooming does happen, there’s no reason to assume it’s what is happening here.
The point is it MIGHT be happening and it is for tge parents to establish that! That is shy the OP is right to tell the parents

ExDancer Mon 27-Feb-23 09:55:30

Thanks Madgran - yes I missed the hidden message there, so this discussion is now pointless as she's told. She did the right thing imo is it was indeed a really nasty video