Teens on e-dating

Hmm. This article in Silver Chips Online, Montgomery Blair High School's "Official Online Newspaper," is a little unnerving for a parent, but also very insightful. For example, Raquel, a 10th grader at Montgomery Blair (in Silver Spring, Md.), started an online relationship with a boy in Nebraska three years ago. "After two years of logging on for love, the two decided to become an online couple," reports Silver Chips, though not explaining what that means. It leads with an account of how Alyssa, a senior, flew to Chicago on her own to meet "Jeff, the boyfriend she knew only through phone and online conversations." Alyssa and Jeff are now planning to attend the same college in Pennsylvania, at least with Jeff's parents' blessing. Raquel was smart, according to Silver Chips. She "grew to trust [the Nebraska boy] because he kept the same personality [over the first two years] ... and she spoke with Parker and his mother on the phone." The student writer cites the advice of an assistant professor of communications at the University of San Diego that online teenagers "perform identity checks like [Raquel's] ... and talking to their online love interest's parents on the phone, before they reveal too much about themselves." An advantage to these relationships, the writer says: Raquel "can be sure things won't get physical with her online boyfriend as long as their relationship remains strictly on the Web." The article also reports on the downside. Another senior, Heather, "now realizes that she never would have let her [online] relationship with Bryan [in Mich.] become as destructive as it did had it developed out of face-to-face interaction." She found it hard to recognize "the warning signs of an abusive relationship when they took shape on the Internet."