PSA to teenagers and young adults

I have just seen something I have been predicting would happen for a while and I am ENRAGED.

An over-25 adult just convinced a high school student that dating someone in their own age range was pedophilia. (Implication: they should be dating older adults instead.)

The predatory adult has convinced the teenager that they’re right and the teen should cut off contact with other teens.

I’m utterly livid.

I don’t make callout posts here. I would make an exception for this kind of situation, except the teen has now been gaslighted into supporting the older adult, which suggests they expect retaliation if the older adult faces any consequences.

So I will instead ask that people please circulate this post that warns about behavior without naming names, as a warning to other teens.

If you’re a teenager or young adult, and someone gets in your face and tries to tell you that you’re too mature to be dating other people within a few years of your age,especially if they try to suggest that this makes you predatory, block and report them and talk to a trusted adult about it. Please.