Do you have any idea what’s on your teen’s phone?

Sometimes I just shake my head at work. I still get amazed by what people do to get themselves into bad situations.

The other night I went to a head-on collision involving a wrong way driver. There were seven occupants between the two vehicles and I was surprised only one person went to the hospital.

There were five people in the wrong way car. Three of the occupants were males who were twenty-three, twenty and eighteen years old. The two females in the car were fifteen and seventeen years old. The fifteen year old ended up being transported to the hospital.

The driver was arrested for various charges and the two other males got to leave. The only person left was the seventeen year old girl.

During the investigation I asked her to point out who the driver was. She said, “I’m ninety nine percent sure it was him,” as she pointed to one of the males.

I asked, “How come you’re only ninety-nine percent sure?”
“I just met them an hour ago.”
“What do mean you just met them an hour ago?”
“They just picked us up.”
“Where were you going?
“To a party.”

The males were adults and from Los Angeles County. I asked, “How did you meet them?”

“I met them on an app,” she said.
That was when my jaw dropped and hit the floor.
“What’s the app called?
“Meet Me.”
“You let complete strangers pick you up at your house?”
“No. It was in front of an apartment. We gave them a different address, but it wasn’t where we lived.”
“Don’t you think that’s dangerous?” I asked.
“It’s never been dangerous before.”
I pointed to the two vehicles and said, “Until tonight.”
She shrugged and said, “Yeah.”

She went on to tell me there was another friend, who was sixteen years old, that was also supposed to go. When the males arrived, there was only room for two passengers, so the sixteen year old went home.

It makes you wonder how many other teenagers are meeting adults on apps like this and going places with them. Makes you also wonder how many are being abused.

This is just something to think about if you’re a parent of a teen. You might want to check their phone to see what they’re doing and who they’re doing it with.

There’s a chance you have no idea.  That should be a scary thought for any parent.