The ethos of “Stranger Danger” has shifted considerably in recent years. The generation that once warned against conversing with people you don’t know is now leading the charge in fraternizing on social media.

But, what would you do if your special needs child wanted to meet up with a mysterious “internet friend” halfway across the country? One mother recently shared her conundrum like this with Reddit. Here’s what happened.

AITA for not letting my 16 year old daughter fly across the country alone to meet an online friend?

My (41F) daughter (16F, we’ll call her Sierra) is on the spectrum and has ODD.

She’s been angry at the world since she was born.

She didn’t cry as a baby, she just SCREAMED.

Doesn’t sound like an easy upbringing.

There was no medical reason, just anger.

And not much has changed since then.

I do have 3 other children so I do have a baseline LOL!

Sounds like she’s the expert then!

Her last meltdown was a week ago when we took her phone away for one day… she wailed for 4 hours straight.

Yes, she is in therapy and has tried a plethora of different medications.

She also has worked with social workers, special education teachers, autism specialists, psychiatrists, even a work-readiness program.

Her parents are doing all the right things.

Her stepdad (45M) and I are doing everything we can to help her navigate a difficult journey.

Like many autistic kids, Sierra has always struggled with social relationships.

So she’s turned to online friendships (at the encouragement of her therapist).

As long as she’s supervised!

Her “best” friend (we’ll call her Amy) is 12 (which is about the social developmental level my daughter is at), and lives 1500 miles away.

They FaceTime CONSTANTLY (there really isn’t a chat history for us to check in on, so we just try to supervise as best we can without being intrusive).

Amy wanted to come visit last summer, and had told Sierra that she’d gotten her mother to agree to fly out with her.

That’s a safe, healthy way to bridge the gap.

Obviously that fell through.

We think it was just a fabrication.

This brings us to yesterday, when Sierra found out that her favorite singer is going on tour.

Already can see where this is going.

Amy convinced her mom to purchase VIP tickets to the concert where they live, and even offered to purchase Sierra a plane ticket to fly out there.

ALONE.

Her stepdad and I both told her we weren’t comfortable with the situation, and we’ve gotten PAGES of angry messages from her, and she won’t even speak to us in person.

An unfortunate but unsurprising response.

We got the mom’s phone number and are going to contact her today.

If she’s the one encouraging this, we think she’s the AH here. Right?

But am I being overly cautious?

Certainly not.

Am I preventing her from having a good social experience that she can learn from?

It hurts to be hated so much by a human that you’re just trying to help and keep safe.

This has to be an impossible feeling.

I’m so tired.

Do I just ride out the storm and accept that when she turns 18 she will probably never speak to me again?

This woman’s heart is definitely in the right place, she just needs her execution to be also.

Let’s see if Reddit could offer any sage wisdom.

A few folks focused on the logistical aspects.

But others jumped straight to the worst case scenario.

Some people came up with their own game plan.

Many were horrified by the prospect of the whole thing.

However, many offered the reassurance the OP was seeking.

Parents just don’t understand…but these ones are trying!