I can never resist a challenge and this one, posed by a mischievous friend, was a humdinger: could I befriend one of my own children on one of those ‘social networking’ websites for teenagers without being caught out? Could I make a convincing youngster and engage my son in online conversations?

While it was an intriguing idea, a little like a scenario from a Shakespeare comedy in which a character disguises himself to try to discover his lady’s true character, I felt torn. After all, no challenge is worth jeopardising one’s relationship with one’s children. —Anne Atkins —Fooled by Cybermum!Mail on Sunday (London))

This is well written, but very creepy.. . the kid this mom is snooping after sounds like the worst thing going on in his life is, well, that his mom impersonated a teenager in order to flirt with him.

This has been copied in several places online… I can’t seem to find the original source.