WWYD if your 10-year-old's friend was sending her a lot of email forwards?

[mirage1]

I have Cassie's gmail account automatically copying me on email she receives. The emails from this one friend invariably end with something along the lines of:

AND SEND THIS to ur 7 BEST

>>>
>>>FRIENDS

>>>DOn't brake the chain OR YOU"LL

HAVE

>>>BAD LUCK FOREVER.

The most recent one, the one that prompted me to check in with MY 120 best friends (LOL) is this: This is really sweet...

When a boy is quiet ... millions of things are running in his mind.

When a boy is not arguing ... he is thinking deeply.

When a boy looks at u with eyes full of questions ... he is wondering how
long you will be around.

When a boy answers ' I'm fine ' after a few seconds ... he is not at all
fine.

When a boy stares at you ... he is wondering why you are lying.

When a boy let you lays on his chest ... he is wishing for you to be his
forever.

When a boy wants to see you everyday... he wants to be yours 4eva.

When a boy says ' I love you ' ... he means it.

When a boy says ' I miss you ' ... no one in this world can miss you more
than that.

Life only comes around once make sure u spend it with the right person....

Find a Guy .. who calls you beautiful instead of hot...

Who calls you back when you hang up on him...

Who will stay awake just to watch you sleep...

Wait for the guy who ...kisses your forehead...

Who wants to show you off to the world when you are in your sweats...

Who holds your hand in front of his friends...

Who is constantly reminding you of how much he cares about you and how lucky he is to have you...

Who turns to his friends and says, ' That's her!! '

If you open this you have to
repost it, guy or girl, or you will have bad luck for the rest of
your life!!!!!

If I don't get this back I guess your not my friend....

If you have a lot of love for someone, copy and send this to your whole
list.

In 5 minutes your true love will call or message you.

Tonight at midnight your true love will realize they like you...

Something good will happen to you at approx. 1:42pm tomorrow, it could
be anywhere.

So get ready for the biggest shock of your life.

If you break this chain, you will be cursed with relationship problems for
the most important time of your life.

Send this to 15 people in 15 minutes to carry on the chain...and spare
yourself the emotional stressI cleaned up all the extra spaces (because it's apparently only cool if you have to scroll down 1000 times) but left the rest. So it's bothersome because it's such crap, but it's also a bit mature for ten, AND I suspect that if you polled 100 ten-year-old boys about what they mean when they are quiet, or when they say they're fine, or when they're not arguing, none of them would give the answers here. :rolleyes:

I've talked to Cassie about NOT forwarding things like this, but should I talk to her about maybe talking to her friend? Should I talk to her friend's mom? I know her pretty well, but I'm not entirely sure how I'd bring it up with her.

[macaquinha]

I have Cassie's gmail account automatically copying me on email she receives. The emails from this one friend invariably end with something along the lines of: [Dreck removed...]

I'd cut off email from that friend for a while -- or threaten to, since I don't actually know how to do that. :-P I've told my kids that I can and will read their email, and that if their friends are using email inappropriately I won't allow emails from them anymore. Endless stupid email forwards definitely come under my "inappropriate" heading -- especially stuff like that second one, which is too "old" for 10. I would have my kid tell the other kid why -- and I'd probably tell the mom, as well, just because I'd want to make sure that she understood what I was doing. (I can see that not going particularly well with some of Girl's friends' moms, but I'd try, anyway. Probably I'd terminally piss the other mom off, but you're more socially skilled than I am, so you probably won't. :-P)

I'd also have a conversation with (read: lecture) Girl about the inherent sexism and utter stupidity of the email in question. Consider it a teaching moment....

[mirage1]

I'd cut off email from that friend for a while -- or threaten to, since I don't actually know how to do that. :-P I've told my kids that I can and will read their email, and that if their friends are using email inappropriately I won't allow emails from them anymore. Endless stupid email forwards definitely come under my "inappropriate" heading -- especially stuff like that second one, which is too "old" for 10. I would have my kid tell the other kid why -- and I'd probably tell the mom, as well, just because I'd want to make sure that she understood what I was doing. (I can see that not going particularly well with some of Girl's friends' moms, but I'd try, anyway. Probably I'd terminally piss the other mom off, but you're more socially skilled than I am, so you probably won't. :-P)

I'd also have a conversation with (read: lecture) Girl about the inherent sexism and utter stupidity of the email in question. Consider it a teaching moment....Ah, I didn't think of cutting off the email, I know how to do that, actually.

And definitely, this is worthy of A Talk. LOL.

Thanks!

[indigo]

I'd talk to my dd, but not the other parent, unless we were friends. One thing that I stressed with K is to NOT forward these mass forwarded emails. And I'd discuss the content as well. I wouldn't cut off email contact with the other kid or anything. I'd just teach K about the judicious use of "delete."

[libbylibbylibby]

That and how to spell "you're" correctly.
I don't know how susceptible Cassie is to this kind of stuff, but I was a big believer (until the age of, oh, about 28) in the "forward to ur 120 closest bff's or u will have bad luck 4eva" phenomenon. Then I realized that a diversified 401(k) and a good insurance plan, along with a well stocked pantry, were probably better deterrents.

[gfrach]

C's very first email friend did this. The emails came to my inbox, but 99% of what he sent was forwards (some age appropriate and some not) and rarely any real email. I just stopped telling C when he had email and deleted them.

I would definitely talk to her about it. I would put it in the category of picking up a book to read and finding out you're not interested or it's about a subject that's too old for you. You just put it down and move on. For email, putting the book down is deleting the message. And like with a book you didn't care for, you won't be recommending it to all your friends (i.e., you won't be forwarding it along).

[mirage1]

That and how to spell "you're" correctly.
I don't know how susceptible Cassie is to this kind of stuff, but I was a big believer (until the age of, oh, about 28) in the "forward to ur 120 closest bff's or u will have bad luck 4eva" phenomenon. Then I realized that a diversified 401(k) and a good insurance plan, along with a well stocked pantry, were probably better deterrents.Ha!! Yes, good health, money management...not 4-leaf clovers or email forwards.

[Bonny]

we've had some issues like this w my oldest. At first, we talked w B about NOT fwding the crap that her friends fwd to her. And then we encouraged her, that if they were annoying her, to let the other person know to please not fwd her emails. In once instance we (dh) emailed the kid (our neice) and re-explained it to her, letting her know that we would need to block her email address if it continued.

I'd much prefer to coach my kid through dealing with it, than take care of it all myself.

[indigo]

By the way, I think that this is SO a rite of passage for kids around this age, especially girls. Kyla received (and, ugh, sent) a number of these dumb forwarded emails. We did get her to eventually understand and stop with them, but it wasn't really a big deal while it was happening.

I just received an email from a 10yo girl who is a friend of the family, a former classmate of C's, and a former student of mine. It was sent to about 20 people and said, "Just have a good day!" So it begins.