Ian Wright

I dropped my daughter off at a sleepover and went home to finish some work. Around 11pm, she texted me: "Dad, did you feed the fish?" We don't have a fish. That was our code. "Fish" means: "Come get me, don't ask questions here." I grabbed my keys and drove straight over. When I got there, I told the other parents she'd forgotten she had an early appointment tomorrow morning. She grabbed her bag, thanked them, and got in the car. On the way home, she told me what actually happened. The girls had started passing around someone's older brother's Instagram messages, planning to prank call a boy from their grade and record his reaction to post online. She didn't want to be there when it happened, and didn't want to explain that to a room full of girls who thought it was funny. I told her: "You don't owe anyone an explanation for leaving," and she fell asleep in the car before we even got home. Kids should always have a way out of a situation that doesn't feel right, no interrogation required, no story owed to anyone but the parent picking them up.