A young lady took her own life yesterday evening after something she sent via social media to one person (who she expected to keep private) who then re-shared on social media.

We, as a society, have to do better! We are failing God's greatest gifts.

The following was posted on Facebook last night and is being re-shared on Facebook in our area.

Chase Alyse Fowler
13 hrs
I'm about to post something that's going to offend some of you. If it offends you, please read this post over and over and over and over and over until you are honest with yourself and realize it applies to you, too.

Parents, WAKE UP!!!!!!! Your children are NOT perfect.

It's my understanding that tonight, a child took her own life because a nude photo she took of herself was shared by the recipient. It's also my understanding that one of the people who shared the photo attempted suicide as well.

Not even a month ago, I had to defend a young lady in criminal court for creating and disseminating child pornography because she took photos of her bare breasts and shared the photo with a boy who then shared it with his friends.

Did you know that if your child is convicted, even if that "conviction" is in juvenile court and the child is adjudicated as delinquent, that child will have to register as a SEX OFFENDER. Yep. You read that correctly.

Yall are trusting CHILDREN with a MINI COMPUTER more powerful than most of our actual computers. Yall are trusting these children whom you can't even trust to clean their rooms the first time they're told to responsibly use a piece of technology that gives them access to the entire internet and a whole host of consequences they never saw coming.

Yall are trusting your children to understand adult humor and treat as such... but your children don't understand adult humor and instead try to recreate adult humor in a way that becomes bullying.

Yall are too busy to spend time with your children, teach them new skills, or let them use their imaginations... so you allow a tiny pocket computer to babysit them.

You allow your CHILDREN to communicate with complete STRANGERS online.

Game consoles count, too! KIDS talk filthier on those first person shooter games (Call of Duty, etc.) than any adult. They can message strangers that way, too.

If you DARE think your child hasn't misused their cell phone in SOME way, bring me their phone without them knowing. I'll prove to you they have and are doing things they have no business doing.

If you think your child would never take or send a nude photo... let me remind you that peer pressure and the exteme desire to fit in and be liked FAR exceeds a child's respect for rules and themselves.

If you think your child would never share a nude photo of another child in a cowardly bullying act, let me remind you that yet again, the desire to fit in and be liked FAR exceeds a child's respect for themselves, the rules, and other human beings. See also my statement about adult humor and juvenile minds.

Your children are NOT immune to this. Your children are not the exception. Your children are not better than the next. No matter how much you think little Susie wouldn't send little Johnny a picture of her bare breasts, she will. No matter how much you think little Johnny wouldn't send that picture to 45 of his closest SnapChat friends, you best get a grip on reality because he absolutely will.

These kids have NO understanding or respect for the consequences created by such unfettered access to the internet and material they have no business seeing or sending as CHILDREN. It is YOUR job to appreciate that the world wide web is too damn big for your children to roam alone. It is YOUR job to appreciate that once something is posted on the internet, it is there FOREVER!!!!!!! If you don't believe me, I'll be happy to show you a Google search that yields my PRIVATE LiveJournal from TWENTY years ago. It is YOUR job to parent your children, not give in to their desires because they want to fit in. It is YOUR job to protect your children from the evils of the world. I know you can't protect them from everything, but you damn sure can try harder than allowing CHILDREN unfettered access to SnapChat, Instagram, Whats App, Facebook, Kik, TikTok, Likee, etc.

Before you jump in the comments telling me all about how your parental controls prevent this, I can guarantee you that your child has watched you type that code enough that they can get around it and you have no idea.

Before you jump in the comments and tell me your child doesn't have this app, ask yourself has your child ever been alone with a phone with internet connectivity? If so, yep, they have these apps. They just delete them or hide them in locked folders that you aren't tech savvy enough to find. They have accounts you don't know about, too. They share passwords amongst each other and create group accounts that almost always lead to bullying.

I'm as sad as anyone about what happened to these children... but I'm angry, too. I'm angry that we, as parents, are failing our children.

This has been shared a lot, so I wanted to add: Parents, don't be embarassed that your child has been involved in nefarious acts using their smart phone. Don't sweep it under the rug after you catch them and punish them. Speak up. Share your experience with other parents so THEY can learn from it. It takes a village to raise a child, and it takes ALL of us to stay on top of the wide world of dangers at our children's fingertips.