h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My youngest sister is 14 years old, and she's admitted to a 17-year-old guy she fancies him. She doesn't have a mobile, and because the said guy was going to have to go away for a few months, he said he would give her money to buy a phone so they could still talk to each other. All very sweet. She didn't take him up on the offer, and it's since turned out that he can't go away yet, he's now got to wait until the summer. But my other sister has bought a phone, and now my youngest sister is borrowing it to send and receive a few texts with this guy every night. Tonight is the second or third night they've been doing this (mobile was only very recently acquired) and he's.. well... what he wrote does not belong here and should be moderated if it were, but what he was suggesting is illegal for another two years. I've talked to my sister about this, and apparently he's been making lewd comments to her for several weeks now. She says she's asked him not to and told him that she isn't going to do anything about her fancying him. She's also told me that he is far stronger than she is, and as they only see each other at ATC - Air Training Corps - which is often spent wandering around a woodland or open grassland in the dark... I dunno... I guess just reassurance that he won't do any either would be nice, but I've learnt not to trust reassurance...

¦M¦

H'mm, hah...

*Thinks about this.*

Truth be told, I'm not sure what I should say. Just don't be /too/ worried about it. I share your concern - whether it's my place to or not - but... Sorry, I can't think of anything.

.. not a nice thing for sisters to have to discover, but it has to be said that it isn't entirely un-teenager like behaviour; my sister (who's also 14), shall we say, caused text messages sent to her by her (first) boyfriend to come into a rather more public domain than I think she might have liked (although the parties concerned were diplomatic enough not to text her), and the contents of them were.. similarly illegal, and similarly moderation-worthy. He's also older than her.

I think it's a natural function of males in this country being far too confident at early ages and having hormone-induced libidos the sizes of which are far in excess of what they should be. If you ask me, they're not disciplined enough. .. but anyway, to get back on track.. I don't think that it's anything overly unique (which doesn't necessarily mean it isn't something to worry about). As long as the male in question is reputable (is he?) and there are people around (which at an atc meeting, there should be), I'd say that she should be safe, as long as she's a responsible girl (is she? ..since girls are maturer at earlier ages than males, this is at least to a degree likely, I guess).

If not, just remind her that the most effective way to get rid of uninvited attendance is to go for the face with your weak hand and strike a nice sharp blow to the solar plexus. Or failing all else, legs have strong muscles which cause knees to be extremely effective when propelled in certain directions.

- njan

.. that should have read '..diplomatic enough not to TELL her'.

*looks at her post in confusion*
My sister's 15. How did I manage to say she was 14? That's obviously what a day's worth of stats revision does to you... And why doesn't that smiley work?

Anyway... I don't know this guy, I don't go to ATC, and all I've seen when collecting her is a collection of other people hanging round in greens. She is a sensible type, yes, but she also tends to trust people perhaps more than she should...

¦M¦

It sounds a bit dramatic, but it may be worth getting her a personal attack alarm

Or of course, you could just tell the people that run it that you're a little worried...

.. don't tell them! that would be, like, totally embaressing. man. .. I doubt she'd appreciate that.

And as evil as those attack alarms are, they aren't an entirely bad idea. I know that my sister wouldn't bother carrying one, though..

Yeah, I think if I did that she wouldn't listen to me at all.

And... well, it's worth a try I guess. I suspect she also wouldn't bother carrying it though...

¦M¦

The fact that you're concerned about her is a good sign. .. if anyone did /anything/ to my sister, they'd have me to contend with.. ..which I suppose makes her a little safer than she'd otherwise be.

Same with me... but they don't know it and if I get it right still won't afterwards. They'll just be damaged.

Unless someone does anything whilst I'm actually there. Then I'll probably end up damaged as well...

¦M¦

If I got it right, there'd never be any need to protect my sister, because as much as she annoys the bejesus out of me, I'd really rather not have to do nasty things to people.. .. but if I had to, I'd opt for the same strategy.

Although if I were there, I doubt I'd get damaged; as you may have noticed in southampton, I'm quite big.

That's very true...

Yes, I had noticed that. But then, most people are tall from my perspective...

¦M¦