What I Found On His Tablet Changed Everything

My twelve-year-old son begged to stay home, claiming a stomach ache. Sensing something off, I checked his tablet history at noon and froze: he’d searched “how to fake being sick,” “how to erase texts,” and “what if my friend dies from a dare.” In his room, he was faking sleep, clearly scared. Gently, I got him to confess: he and Riley dared their friend Gavin to bike down steep steps. Gavin crashed, hit his head, and wasn’t moving much. Panicked, they left him; Riley said he’d handle it but told my son to stay quiet. I called Gavin’s mom—no answer.

We drove to their apartment, finding an ambulance. Gavin’s mom said he’d collapsed that morning but was stable with a concussion and fractured wrist. Riley’s mom later revealed my son tried to help but was silenced. My son confessed to the principal, sparking a school assembly on peer pressure. He joined an anti-bullying group, learning to stand up. Gavin recovered, and his grandmother thanked me for raising a boy who owned his mistakes, teaching me courage starts with facing the truth.