A local family that believed it was taking the right steps to keep its 14-year-old daughter safe online said it discovered troubling conversations on her iPad after a disagreement over a messy bedroom led them to check her Discord account.The father said the family had approved Discord because they thought it was simply a way for their daughter to message friends, and he said she did not even have a cellphone. But when they looked through the app, he said they found adults interacting with their child.“We noticed that there was some people that were clearly over the age of 18…and they’re talking to a 14 year old,” the father said.He said they also found additional chat rooms that raised concerns.“And then some of the other rooms, which is what, what really like just kind of sent us over though the edge there was, there was, uh, like 2 or 3 um, chats that she had going on with people that were, uh, from what we could tell, they were around her age group,” he said.The father said some of the conversations involved teenagers discussing suicide, including messages in which some responded positively to claims of attempts. The family contacted their daughter’s doctor, and after she disclosed thoughts of self-harm, she spent several days receiving inpatient mental health care.“And that, that’s what we’ve been working on now and it’s, it’s made some, some improvements in definitely the right direction,” the father said.The family’s experience comes as Florida’s attorney general filed a lawsuit against Discord over alleged child safety failures.The Leon County Sheriff’s Office said changes in a child’s behavior can be a warning sign. Rachel Buell, a sergeant with the sheriff’s office Human Exploitation and Trafficking Unit, urged parents to watch for shifts in how their children act.“Pay attention to your kids behavior. No one knows their kid better than that parent, right? And so when that child starts acting secretive or starts withdrawing or starts talking about things that you haven’t heard them talk about, start asking questions,” Buell said.The father said he hopes other parents can learn from what his family went through.“Be vigilant. But also, um, Let’s say you, you have to, to learn to let your kids fail a little bit as well, so that way they can grow. Um, and this stuff is. Kind of new grounds for a lot of people. Um, so you just kind of got to be patient. And on your toes. I guess,” he said.FOX 49 reached out to Discord for comment on Friday and had not received a response. The father said his daughter is doing better and continues to receive therapy. The family’s identities are being concealed to protect their privacy.
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