12 year old ds disturbing Google search

[SusanSHelit]

I have just checked my voicemail this evening and had a message from 12yo ds head of year (y7) about 'something offensive which was picked up by smoothwall on the school laptop while he was logged in'. In the voicemail the hoy said that no requirement for a set of educational sessions and that he assured her it was a one off.

The message didn't detail what was picked up. I obviously had a conversation with ds about this and first he said he didn't remember what he typed. Then a few minutes later he revealed that he typed in 'is it illegal to put an animal in a blender?'

Im honestly really shocked and very disappointed. I would never have expected this from him. His father and I are separated and have been for a few years and he has pets in both houses (gerbils in his dad's, a cat at mine).

I've spoken to his dad about this, we have a pretty good coparenting relationship. Ds is going to his dad's after school tomorrow as I'm working nights for three nights from tomorrow. I'm going to call the school in the morning obviously but I don't even know where to begin with this.

Ds said he was just messing about with his friends but that he would even think about this has really disturbed me. He's a good kid at home, and this seems very out of the blue. He didn't say his friends typed it in, he said he did.

He's been banned from his PlayStation tonight and I've taken his phone too. I don't know if he will be allowed these in his dad's tomorrow

You need to calm down and get some perspective OP. Everyone has bizarre and alarming thoughts from time to time. I’ve googled all sorts of odd and macabre things over the years, from teenager to adulthood. You can’t police him having the occasional bonkers and disturbing thought. He sounds like he’s a good kid who just had a moment of morbid curiosity.

He does need to know that searching for freaky shit can land him in trouble and he could end up viewing something by accident that he really regrets. But don’t go overboard with him.

All my most bizarre searches are formed by an argument on this site.

Think back to when you were a teen @SusanSHelit

If you had had Google…. Do you not think you might have googled something on a silly whim. I’d have googled loads of weird stuff about sex because i was a virgin and it seemed so alien to me!

Exactly in the old days we had encylopedias and could look up any weird thing and pore over the gory details.

I'd suggest you toughen up now, otherwise you have a rough few years ahead.

Some of the stuff I google out of curiosity would horrify some of you! It doesnt mean I want to do it.
Isn't the internet there for stupid questions?

If he was looking for videos of it or how to clean a blender after putting a hamster in it, or showing other scary signs then yes, deal with it.

Curious- did anyone google if it's illegal? 🤣

Curious- did anyone google if it's illegal? 🤣

I considered it!

He knows animal cruelty is abhorrent and illegal, why on earth would he need to Google it? And no, it's not something I would have searched up at any age

Agreed
but think back to yourself as a teen…. What were your issues that you think you might have googled?

I got as far as 'is it illegal to'

And the top search was 'drive in flip flops'

Think yourself lucky OP he isnt thinking of driving in flip flops

Both from a style perspective and public safety.

Oh my god hes just a 12 year old boy googling random thoughts with his friends, this is too much! It doesn't mean hes actually going to do it

I wouldn‘t worry about this at all. It’s not like he was looking for images of it. It’s a bit of a stretch to think he’s interested in blending his dad’s gerbil in real life.
He‘s learned the lesson that searches aren’t private or free from consequences.

I used to love rotten.com but would never try and copy anything. Sad to see it’s gone now but might look for alternatives…

Does nobody remember the "frog in a blender" website? I suspect someone found it or a reference to it. No it wasn't a real frog and it was way before AI, it was just a cartoon....or so I was told, just the thought of it made me nauseous.

Someone had probably told him about the Netflix show ‘Don’t Fuck with Cats’.

If he’s not showing any other worrying signs then I wouldn’t take it too seriously. I’ve often searched things that out of context would seem weird. Have you asked what made him think of that?

Jesus Christ. So sorry OP.

Oh dear. Unless he has a stash of blenders and caged animals in the shed, calm the fuck down. Poor boy will never open up to you again if you continue to overreact

There was a cat in a blender video about a year ago. Maybe he heard of that. It was disgusting.

I would be very surprised if this were anything more than boys being boys and messing around. Apart from the obvious, he must have known that activity was being recorded.

Try not to worry. Get a good nights sleep.

I mean this nicely OP but what you should do is go and give him a cuddle, return his phone and Xbox use. Say you were just a bit surprised and embarrassed that school called but on reflection you are confident he won’t liquidise any local living creatures. Say sorry and then you tell him it’s ok to make mistakes - you still make them too. Then try and do a bit of something together so he can talk if he wants to. And go to bed knowing that you can listen and respond and are building a relationship based on his trust in you. you want him to be able to talk - about mistakes, about feelings and about getting things wrong. Making a mountain of some silly teen boy daftness is not helpful to this longer term objective.

Unless he has some form for hurting animals I'm not sure I would be massively worried at this point.

To be fair, he could have picked that up from Tom&Jerry or similar retro cartoons (which seem very popular with the age group).
I would keep an eye out, but not panic!

I would also be extremely concerned, he obviously has thought about it sufficiently to Google. He also has access. What does he engage with online? Are you aware of anything else of concern? What you do next would depend on your thoughts.

Eh? It's just a sillt Google search with friends. They like to talk about gross, weird and smelly things.