If anyone young here experiences any kind of uncomfortable situations with especially way older men (obviously cases of older women grooming exist as well, I haven't been a victim to that yet though), always remember:

1. They are not entitled to your time and attention

2. You don't owe them an explanation for ghosting them, they are the ones in an implicit subconscious power position, only not feeling good about the contact, even if you can't really put it into words, is reason enough to stay away.

3. It's not something special or to be proud of or something if a way older man gives you special attention, you may think that it would be, but that's societal grooming...

4. No, you are not "more mature for your age than others", if he says that to you, that's a grooming red flag.

5. Talk about every conversation that makes you feel uncomfortable with someone you can trust, be it close friends, or your parents, or a guidance counselor, maybe a teacher from school that offers guidance usually as well. Just someone like that. Don't keep it to yourself.

6. You did nothing wrong. There is nothing you need to feel ashamed of. It's hard to convince your feelings of that, I myself still feel a lot of shame about certain things that happened to me online when I was 12 or when I was 14 or 15 or 16 or ...
To deal with that feeling of shame, you need to be very mindful and conscious of it. The worst it can do is it can keep you from talking about your experiences. Please try to be very mindful about that and try to, in worst case, force yourself to talk despite those feelings. I wish I would have talked about my experiences more back then.

Please stay safe, and others, please take this topic serious and take care of each other

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@sugarbell Being a relatively asocial old man (55 years), I have a similar problem with younger women usually craving for my attention. This seems like good advice either way, so thanks.

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