My 21st Century Problem

So I have 2 kids. A 21 year old daughter going into her senior year at BU, and a 17 year old son (18 at the end of August) going into his freshman year at Northeastern. Both in Boston, good for me since I’m the car service.

We’ve been dealing on and of since my son was a sophmore in high school with a girl that just wouldn’t take no for an answer.

The thing is, back when we were all growing up, there was no way, other than the family phone that somebody could contact you (other than in direct proximity, of course) if you didn’t want them to.

When they were “dating”, she would text him on average 100+ times per day. Once we convinced him to end it, it went up to like 300+ per day. He finally got her to stop, but they were both in marching band, which went all over the state and out of state all season. Turns out, she didn’t stop, she just moved on to other media and also started texting under an alias.

I really feel for my son; at that age, it doesn’t take much to get “interested”, but this little bitch is really dragging him through the ringer. At one point, I said, “why are you so sympathetic?” He said, “Dad, she has no friends, she feels so alone, she even tried suicide.” When I heard that, I kind of felt, “Oh, shit, we’re fucked.” Turns out, she has been in therapy for years, and she has taken all she has learned and is using it to guilt my son into being her boyfriend (meaning her fuck pony; not just the body, but the mind too).

Right after they graduated from high school, her family moved to California. Great for us! Wrong! She used to call and facebook and text my son until 2 in the morning when she lived here in CT. Now she can go until 5AM if she wants!

Also, just found out she’s going to go to some little liberal arts college in Cambridge, MA. Just a few miles away from Northeastern.

I’ve tried to talk to him, as has my wife and my daughter. Seems the boy has inherited my extreme dislike for being told what to do.

I know part of being young is making mistakes and learning from them, but this new information / access web we’ve weaved may catch young learners like him and never let go.

I hope he pulls through and sees her as she really is, but it is almost frightening how much power someone like her can gain over somebody like him using the information / connectivity systems now in place.