It's something we all face now- social sites and email providers who have age requirements for their subscribers. If you have kids or are you, yourself, too young to be on some of these sites, you are faced with the dilemma of "Do I fudge the year a bit? Is that okay?"

Excellent question. I've asked it myself- of myself- many times.

I think, "What's the big deal, really? I've checked out the site myself (and most likely use it) and I know the privacy settings, etc. Why shouldn't my kid/tween/teen be able to have this? Their friends do (which means their parents - my friends - have not been honest about their child's age) or that the child/tween/teen did it without their parent's knowledge of the age requirements.

Then begins the internal mental battle- To Fudge or Not To Fudge- that is the question...

It's not the question that's the issue, it's the answer

So, let's think about this for a bit:

*Yes, you can get away with it
*Sure, you can tell yourself it's "cyber-safety" not using your child's actual age
*Okay, your friends are doing it (seriously? how old are we? lol)

Then the kicker:
*No one else may know but God Will.

Whoopsie!

Yep- God will know and sin is sin. Dishonesty is sin. Putting a stumbling block for other believers is also a sin. (What 'stumbling block' am I talking about? Hmmm... re-read my 3rd thinking point in the asterisks above)

And, the cyber world is a very dangerous world for people, especially children and teens. That's why predators love the internet so much. They prey on those who share too much and are looking to that world and relationships to fill a need. The age requirements are there for a reason.

I have to conclude with this: that I am really proud of my kids. They do ask me if they can subscribe to various social sites and email providers, and it is an internal struggle for me when we come across that block "Too young to meet age requirements". They are disappointed and they complain, but one time when I did consider fudging a birth year, my kids looked at me like I had grown 3 heads and said, "Mom! That's crazy! It's like lying!" haha! Great kids!

So, not only does that prove that kids, even though they will complain, beg and whine, they really do find security in boundaries. They also help us to stay strong in our own convictions and teachings.

As the last thing, which truly is funny, at the time I was trying to do this- I could NOT no matter how many times I tried, I simply, unintentionally, could not enter an incorrect year! haha! So, it seems even my subconscious would not allow me to lie!

Guess we answered our own question about "To Fudge or Not To Fudge"

For me and my household, we choose: "Not to Fudge".

And that's just yet another way "I Rock My Halo" (lyrics from "Halo" by Manic Drive).

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