Left DD (8.10) happily playing some CBBC game on my computer while I did some boring gardening yesterday. When I came in she seemed unusually keen for me to go out and do some more gardening which is unusual and also spontaneously said 'I haven't been doing anything naughty' which of course made me suspicious.
When I checked the browser history later I discovered that she had done a search for 'naked women' which would be a fairly innocuous but slightly naughty thing in her mind. Unfortunately this is the internet and what she found was a whole series of hideous stuff. I clicked through some of the pages in the history and felt utterly sick at some of the stuff she'd seen. Even now thinking about it I get weepy and panicky.
She didn't really do anything very naughty. (We used to look up rude words in the dictionary when I was her age.) The problem was that she was using my computer which has no 'child proofing' on it - her computer (which is child proof) was having problems getting an internet connection so I said she could use mine and it never occurred to me that she would try anything like this. [I'm a bad mother]
Obviously I've now child proofed my computer as well. I've told her that I know what she's been doing and that I'll know if she does it again. I also said that I think she might have seen some frightening things and asked if she's OK. She is v embarraseed and doesn't want to talk about it.
It's not that I think she's been naughty it's more that I'm appalled at what I've inadvertantly let her be exposed to by my nonchalant attitude.
What effect is this likely to have on her? I don't know how to handle this. I'm hoping that some of the images she just wouldn't understand and just be amused that they were naked.
Anyone have any advice?