An Open Letter to All My Daughter's Facebook Friends

Dear Facebook Friends of My Daughter, Arianna… Wow, there’s a lot of you suddenly! She’s been making friends for a long time now. Some of you are from England, some are from New York and some of you are brand new from here in Louisiana. She’s got a quite a plethora…young and old. So this is for all of you who find yourself under her “friends” tab. I, her mother, am going to delete you. Not all of you…just the ones of you who can’t find their clothes. And just the ones who think vulgarity is funny….and cool to repost for her eyes to see and her ears to hear. Some of you are mutual adult friends and some of you she’s just discovered at school…no matter…young or old, if you’re inappropriate, I’m deleting you from her Facebook friends. She’s 13. I’ve already been told that I can’t shelter her forever….I know this. But I can shelter her for now. I can shelter her for as long as I can, as hard as I can because that’s what a mom should do. Teenage life is tough. Peer pressure is horrible. Vulgarity suddenly surrounds her on every front….on TV…on the internet…on the Middle School BUS. She hates it. She runs from it…so today, I’m going to do all that I can to help guard her heart…and we’re starting here, on her friends list. So, if you love to show your cleavage in your profile selfies (or any other part of your body that should be covered) or you love a good laugh at the obscene, you’ll be deleted by the time you finish reading this post. If you find yourself suddenly blocked from her page – KNOW THIS: You have value. And that value does not rise and fall on your clothing or lack thereof. But until you realize that, I cannot let you have access to my daughter. Her heart is pure. It’s gold. It’s tender. It’s worth guarding…and so is yours.