Dear mamabear01~
I think as a parent if I was in the same situation as you then I'd be just as worried (and just as lost as to what to do)
On-line gaming and activities are a fact of life and not all bad, but as you are aware they do create opportunities for young people to be taken advantage of.
The Australian Federal Police have a website that goes part way to educate people about signs of various behaviors and does offer some advice
https://www.thinkuknow.org.au/find-advice
While it was excellent your son was able ot talk to you about regarding himself as Bi and also the reason for it I"m not sure there is much you can do except try to keep his confidence. Teenagers can be very good at finding ways around outright bans and blocks which simply means their activities are more secret.
It must be very tempting to lay out examples of what can happen to people, and how predators operate, however these are basically logical arguments, and you are dealing with emotions -so I'd be surprised if they did anything other that distance your son.
Perhaps simply educating him the one of the favorite tricks is to get a hold of some sort on a person to make them do what they want, be it undesirable images, using a parent's credit card or actual meetings and should you son ever be faced wiht these situations you are a safe person to go to.
A very frustrating and worrying time, I'd arm myself with as much knowledge as is reasonable about on-line undesirable activities to be able to recognize danger signals and if possible try to encourage your son to have non computer related activities and friends he can enjoy. (No, no easy at all)
What may seem obvious to an adult (16 yo wiht 4 yrs military service??) may not seem so cut and dried to a person who is too close.
Please do come back and say how things are getting on.
Croix
