Found this bloody weird note….

[Radicalpiloti]

Bit of a strange one. I finally got around to emptying my son’s schoolbag and amongst the utter rubbish (including a Batman figurine he insists isn’t his!) there was an envelope tucked inside with just “For You” written on it.

Inside was a list of instructions. Things like:

• “Don’t forget to lock the back door at night.”
• “Children should never sit on cold floors.”
• “The blue cup is for milk, not juice.”
• “Be careful who you trust with secrets.”

I asked DC where it came from and he just shrugged and said, dunno. Asked on my parent friends WhatsApp and they had no idea.

DH says I’m being dramatic and it’s probably nothing, but I feel really weird about it

i don’t even know what I’m asking but, wtf!

Sounds like a set of clues that could have been part of an English lesson. The paper then ended up in the scrap paper tray and your son took the paper out to draw/write on. He didn't have time, so he stuffed it into his own drawer and when they emptied their drawers at the end of term, he stuffed the whole lot into his bag without looking at any of it. That's what would have happened in my classroom anyway.

"Things like..."

So there are more? Give us all the instructions, might be more of a clue in there.

Sounds like they relate to a game of some sort.

Obvious answer is paranoid female relative or carer who think she is helping.

Does either grandma do after school care? An older aunt or great aunt?

Does he attend after school club or go to a childminder?

It screams older lady to me (the sitting on a cold floor thing particularly), rather than predatory person trying to do harm

I just googled the phrase about the blue cup and the one about the cold floors, and the only thing that came up, in each case, was this Mumsnet thread. So it doesn't look as if it is an excerpt from an internet fanfiction or anything of that sort.

Do kids not have any privacy anymore? If I did read a note like this I wouldn't even mention it. Also why aren't you getting the 10 year old to clean out his own school bag?

I was thinking a classroom game as well, one where they take turns writing an instruction, probably nothing. 💐

"Do kids not have any privacy anymore" no they fucking dont or they shouldnt. Not at ten years old. And for very good reason. Why on earth do you think that any decent parent has full control over their kids phone? Because the world is full of horrible people, adult and child aged, and we need to protect them.

"Dont tell anyone our secret" is exactly what abusers say to their child victims. Cleaning out a childs school bag is hardly invading their privacy (and the idea that a ten year old boy would do it himself upon being told is nothing short of hilarious).

Do you even fucking have kids?! If you do, you need to educate yourself about the risks to them.

Could be a handwriting exercise - some other kids?

Actually no, the envelope doesn’t indicate that … could be some weird childish prank

But the envelope title …

I'm with @InWalksBarbarella

Children need some mental agency, freedom, playtime, privacy, silliness.

A darkweb paedo isn't lurking in the schoolbag or the blazer pocket.

Yes teens now. And of course I made them clean out their own bags - not saying it didn't take a few back and forths of inspections and try agains at that age. Why wouldn't I?
I don't agree with monitoring every aspect of their lives, we have open communication about what they are doing on their phones and we agree what limits they need. And I trust in my ability to know what they are going through based on that communication. I think anyone that thinks they know everything their children are up to by combing through the random bits and pieces of paper they find and by monitoring their phone closely are fooling themselves. The more closely kids are montiored the better they are at hiding things. Much better to equip them wirh the tools they need, which includes giving them privacy to develop.

It reads like the sort of stuff we had to take down and read back when I was learning shorthand.

I can’t believe how dramatic some people are being lol!
It looks like a silly game they were playing and probably can’t remember. Kids have the best imaginations. Chill out.

It screams 10 year old child who has heard all these things and is repeating them during a silly game. Kids come home with all sorts of shit at that age.

You’re overthinking this.

He stole the figurine and the note from some other kid who splits time between two houses.

That Is odd. It’s probably nothing so try not to worry but it is a bizarre note.

An average 10 year old will have notes, adventures and plans with their friends at school that a parent will know nothing about. It's a normal part of development. I remember going away with a group of friends with kids all about this age and the first thing they did was find their hiding place and started developing their secret codes and passwords.

Perhaps you aren't familiar with the kind of silly rules-based horror stories kids love to read?

In them, people have to meticulously follow lists of rules that mysteriously appear in their house/car/washing machine ... or they die.

No Sleep on reddit has dozens and dozens of these corny stories.

Goosebumps books (remember those? Silly horror novellas for kids) would also have mysterious rules, coded letters, or newspaper articles where the first letter of every paragraph would spell out some terrifying warning about your imminent demise.

Unlike this post. In this post, if you read the first initials of every paragraph, they spell out the name of your murderer.

🐧

Yes, I suspect that’s exactly what it is. A classmate playing a horror game off of Steam and copying out the note from the game. It sounds like instructions from one of those games where the player is trapped in a house and has to do or not do certain random things in order to survive the ghost/murderer/other antagonist.

My younger brother went through a stint of playing these (and telling me about them 😂). They’re usually “indy” games made by a couple of people and with very little info available about them.

How is it not.relevant - you said a 10 year old doesn't have privacy from their parents - which i assumed extended to their communications? If your child develops a secret list of codes with their friends do you read it? Or do you respect their privacy?