ZH, thank you so much for bringing this up to the top! :your_rock:

Sarah, you're so right! There comes a time when we have to take things into our "own hands" when it comes to safety, online or anywhere.

Something I would always tell my kids, after I learned to practice it myself was "Consider the source... then FORGET it!" This was usually when a school mate had given them/me a hard time about something or had made fun of them/me for whatever reason... or when my ex had tried yet again to convince me that *I* was the crazy one! In a public place like the Internet, I find myself doing a lot of that.

Something else that works for me is a line from a song "Things are only as important as *I* want them to be." It's MY choice whether to keep reading posts from an offending poster or not. It's MY choice whether I take in a flame or a dis from someone. The "Ignore" button here on the site doesn't work for me because I can always see the name of the poster and curiosity gets the best of me. However, I DO have an "Ignore" button in my brain. All of us do. If I come across a post that I KNOW can set me off, I leave the option open for myself to either scroll right on past or read and laugh or and keep going. Somehow, leaving that option open is enough to satisfy my curiosity. "I'll read just enough to prove to myself that I don't take this person's posts seriously."

Something else to remember here, on this site, is that we ALL live with some form of mental illness or another. Some present with more acute symptoms than others. If we don't particularly care for a post, then maybe we should find out, if we can, what illness the poster lives with. Most of the time, it's THEIR MENTAL ILLNESS doing the talking. That is part of what we need to "consider" before we REACT.

I don't know why, maybe because of my upbrining where it didn't do me any good to say what was bothering me, or for some other reason, I don't keep secrets about myself. My own attitude is "like it or lump it, I don't care." Maybe it's that rebelious teenager in me, I don't know. So if I put something out there, I pick and choose what I will/can accept... or not. Again, "Consider the source..." Like Sarah pointed out "It's in MY OWN HANDS." MY choice... MY control. MINE!!!!!!!!!! (that came up from my socks!!! LOL)