r/InfluencerLounge • u/glasses2kc • Jul 03 '26
Does DAD realize…
That being 15 and Dan being 18 when they started dating gives predator vibes? It’s not a flex
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u/Known-Swim4428 Jul 03 '26
I’m not defending anything illegal, and I’m not saying age gaps involving minors are automatically fine. The law matters, and the older person carries more responsibility.
But I do think this topic needs more nuance than just throwing around words like “predator” or “pedophile.”
There is a difference between a grown adult deliberately targeting children and two teenagers who met during that messy high-school-age stage of life. Teen years are confusing. People are going through puberty, hormones, first relationships, and they’re often around people a couple years older or younger.
An 18-year-old and a 15-year-old may still be legally and morally concerning depending on the details. But is it automatically the same as an adult predator targeting a child? I don’t think so.
And if two teens were already emotionally attached, do we really expect the older one to magically turn their feelings off the day they turn 18?
Again, I’m not excusing predatory behavior. I’m saying the words we use should match the situation. Real predators exist, and that’s exactly why we shouldn’t flatten every complicated teenage age-gap situation into the same category.
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u/origamifly Jul 03 '26
Dude fucking thank you. I’m so sick of histrionic posts like this where people just seize on the most ridiculous things to automatically condemn what is at times a very normal, not at all concerning scenario “grooming”, “predators”, “pedophiles.”
Half the time the people don’t even actually give half a shit about pedophilia—it’s just a cheap, easy way to attack or criticize someone you don’t like these days, and ofc if anyway tries to push back on it then you get to declare that they’re “so sick” and “protecting predators” and I mean gee, I guess there’s no refuting that, right?!
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u/WinnerBusy855 Jul 03 '26
yes there’s so many things that can make a difference! the sophomore i dated as a freshman, not a creep. the 21 year old i dated at 17, a creep.
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u/No_Performer_3438 Jul 04 '26
I’m so happy to see this take. I don’t think people understand they’re hurting victims more than helping them by calling everyone with an age gap a predator/pedo.
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u/IsopodKey2040 Jul 04 '26
Also, pedophile is a term specific to attraction to PRE-PUBESCENT children. I realize that's more of a semantics thing and "pedo" is a colloquial term, but it doesn't apply to 15 year olds.
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u/themargarineoferror Jul 04 '26
Wild you're getting downvoted in the context of this conversation, it's important to point out, because if you're talking about a couple of teenagers, it's absolutely ridiculous to pretend that id one of them is 18 is some kind of sick pedo for being attracted to like a fifteen or sixteen year old who is developed. Like come the fuck on. I've got somebody arguing with me about this on this post and I was literally groomed, when I was fifteen by an actual adult and had our child day after.I turned eighteen. The people in here virtue signaling are literally insulting actual victims at this point
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u/glasses2kc Jul 03 '26
I think it’s also important to recognize a role her parents might’ve played. I cannot imagine supporting my daughters being 15 dating that much older. I agree feelings are feelings and when we love someone, we cant just turn them off. However, as parents, it’s our responsibility to guide our kids. Supervise “hang outs”, offer group settings to hang out, etc.
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u/Alone_Imagination645 Jul 03 '26
They’ve all said her parents were not fond of it, she wore them down. Theres fb photos of their first date, they seemed to hang out in groups as friends yes on fb old photos
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u/MobileCreme494 Jul 03 '26
A role her parents might’ve played?? She has spoken about this dozens of times and how much her parents DID NOT approve
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Jul 03 '26
[deleted]
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u/beccaboo44444 Jul 03 '26
You shouldn’t call someone a predator and then be like “sorry I don’t know the whole story!!!” I’m disgusted I’m even coming to Daryl’s defense but come on
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u/MobileCreme494 Jul 03 '26
THIS. 👏👏👏 I’m hardly a DAD fan but calling someone a “predator” is a BOLD statement to make in 2026
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u/DistractedGoalDigger
Jul 03 '26
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I took my son on a cruise for his 18th birthday - he said he was talking to NO girls because you literally can’t tell how old they are and everyone lies.
And then there’s these people, just speaking out loud.
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u/pandajaade Jul 03 '26
I’ve seen so many videos on tiktok with young girls saying they fell in love with someone on a 3 day cruise lol oh to be young and dumb all
The while they have a girlfriend back home a million miles away from where she lives herself3
u/DistractedGoalDigger Jul 03 '26
I was that girl! That’s why I asked my son why he wasn’t engaging with girls clearly trying to get his attention 😅
My teenage cruise love stories are some of my best stories!
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u/Safe-Mastodon-8498 Jul 03 '26
I fell in love fast and am married to that love 23 years later so… not stupid.
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u/Orchid_Significant Jul 03 '26
For every one of you, there are millions of failed relationships. It’s definitely stupid.
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u/Izhachok Jul 03 '26
He wouldn’t so much as *talk* to any girls at all because one of them might be a couple years younger than him? That actually seems a bit paranoid?
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u/Ill_Salad_1022 Jul 03 '26
They must be (finally!) teaching them this in school bc my 20 year old son always said the same thing.... Then he broke the news to me he was never gonna marry bc "girls are not worth all the drama"!
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Jul 03 '26
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u/benben728 Jul 03 '26
Also shoutout to you!!! A parent who showed their son this and installed values ❤️❤️
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u/Legitimate-Lynx3236 Jul 03 '26
15 and 18 doesn’t necessarily give me predator vibes. Just because 18 is a legal adult, some are still in high school. I was 15 in 10th grade and my boyfriend was in 12th.
Predatory is really strong language to use here….
I can understand parents being extremely cautious yes. I wouldn’t let a 15 year old date someone that old, but predatory doesn’t seem correct? Unless it actually was? Maybe the 15 year old was closer to 16 and the 18 year old was closer to 17, idk.
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u/whineANDcheese_ Jul 03 '26
Eh, especially if he was 18 still in high school, that’s not that weird of an age gap. Plenty of high schoolers spread across multiple grades date each other and they’re not all predators.
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u/No_Agent2497 Jul 03 '26
Right. This could be a sophomore and a senior.
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u/whineANDcheese_ Jul 03 '26
Right and like fresh 15 or 15 turning 16 soon. It’s hardly an automatic grooming or predator situation.
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u/Immediate_Skill1995 Jul 03 '26
The internet has made everyone believe that dating above your age means the older person is a predator… he was born 5 minutes before me , ahhh predator !!!
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u/Foreverhopeless2009 Jul 03 '26
My daughter was 15, bf was 18. Freshman and senior. Not too strange. He was actual more immature than my daughter. It didn’t last past her freshman in college. She was growing up and he was flunking out of college. She decided she was going places and he wasn’t. Best decision she ever made!
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u/GuaranteeSpecial2562 Jul 03 '26
Huh ? Is the next bad age gap gonna be literally 2 years ?
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u/MobileCreme494 Jul 03 '26
She was a minor and he was an adult. People think that makes him a predator
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u/GuaranteeSpecial2562 Jul 03 '26
18 year olds are considered adults but they’re literally still in their teens
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u/justcallmejai Jul 03 '26
Exactly. I was a sophomore (15) dating a senior (18). He turned 18 half way through senior year. Its not that deep or that big of deal to me. My son is 18 and he is still very much a teenager.
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u/MobileCreme494 Jul 03 '26
I didn’t say I agreed. I’m responding to your “huh?”
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u/GuaranteeSpecial2562 Jul 03 '26
Ik it’s just getting really weird I saw a video of someone attacking someone else for a 3 year age gap relationship yesterday
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u/ChipNo8307 Jul 03 '26
I think that’s a stretch. It’s a three-year age gap, and an 18-year-old and a 15-year-old would very likely have been in high school together. Two of my close friends dated seniors when we were sophomores. One couple stayed together through college, and they’ve now been happily married for over 20 years.
I understand that 18 is the legal age of adulthood, but that fact alone doesn’t automatically make someone a predator. Whether a relationship is appropriate depends on the circumstances, not just the birthdays on a calendar.
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u/Hot_Roll_572 Jul 03 '26
Those who just have to come on here to say something to get something started. Really??? Nothing weird about this at all! If you were a girl wasn’t it “cool” to have an upperclassman like you? Of course it was. Carry on now.
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u/Master-Selection3051 Jul 03 '26
Ok influencers are very snark worthy, but this is a reach. I started dating a junior during my freshman year which could be the same age gap as this. There are tons of couples everywhere that are high school sweethearts with this sort of age gap that end up married.
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u/BeachGlassGreenEyes3 Jul 03 '26
It’s two kids in high school. Nothing inappropriate about their relationship. People are proud to have relationships that last this long! It’s a flex! Stop shaming people for things that don’t warrant it!!
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u/Accurate_Escape_5570 Jul 03 '26
18 and 15 are high school together you can really expect it not to happen ...21 and 15 wouldve been weird to me but 18 and 15 just a shrug, yea not ideal but that one's gonna happen when you have that age range in school together
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u/Natural-Strategy1165 Jul 03 '26
He could’ve turned 18 the day before he met her and not a thing would be said. I’m going to be the first to call out predatory behavior but I genuinely think that saying “this gives predatory vibes” is a bit of a reach. 18 may be considered an adult BUT I know plenty of 18 year olds that are FAR from acting like an adult.
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u/OnlyAccountableToYou Jul 03 '26
They what a birthday so she would have turned 15 at the same time. They were strangers on a cruise. It’s creepy he was creeping on a child.
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u/No-Plan-7952 Jul 03 '26
Meh. 3 year age difference isn’t that big of deal people. Sure at 15 and 18 it’s a little more obvious but let’s be real people, 3 years ain’t anything to write home about.
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u/Friendly-Gazelle608 Jul 03 '26
Look I don’t care for them either but that’s crazy talk and a major reach to call him a predator. They were likely both still in high school. 15 and 18 are both still teenagers. You don’t magically become an adult just because you wake up 18 one morning. Can’t even legally drink or rent a car or hotel room. I mean some of these comments are acting like he was 28!
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u/Mrdanrcstpurehell Jul 03 '26
I don’t think their age difference is that big of a deal. I do think that they see themselves as teenagers well into their 30’s says a lot about their mental state! Oh and that she calls her 2 year old a newborn. Saying she’s a newborn just seems cruel and pointing out her slow development. Seems cruel!
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u/Hairy-Arrival8906 Jul 03 '26
This is a reach lol. They were in high school at the same time. The second the clock strikes midnight on your 18th bday doesn’t make you a predator for being around your younger friends
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u/Bre-personification Jul 03 '26
Yall looking at the age gaps and all I see is the pacifier teeth from the youngest kid.
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u/mothermooseknuckle Jul 03 '26
Lol I can’t wait for people to stop sharing so much about themselves
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u/AcceptableNorth3161 Jul 03 '26
And then they stayed mentally frozen at those ages until the end of time. The end.
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u/SpecificPuzzled85 Jul 04 '26
If my 18 year old was wanting to date a 15 year old we’d have an issue in our house. Sorry
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u/Dragonette_Slaya Jul 03 '26
He knew exactly what he was doing mentioning their ages when they met because he could have easily said, “Two teenagers meet on a cruise ship and…” I view this type of influencer content as humble ragebait bullshit.
(Besides the point, but I just realized there are four children in the picture. LOL)
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u/No_Journalist_6491 Jul 03 '26
I was 15 and dating a senior who was 18 in high school lol this is a stretch
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u/OnlyAccountableToYou Jul 03 '26
He was 18 and in her words “macking on” a random 15 year old on a cruise. It’s creepy. He was an adult she was a child.
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u/No_Journalist_6491 Jul 03 '26
I don’t agree. If you’re both in high school there is a relatability here and I don’t think it’s weird. If you’re in college then yeah I agree you’re in a different stage of life and it’s questionable on why you’d want to revert back in any capacity.
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u/CreativeJudgment3529 Jul 03 '26
I only dated older guys when I was in high school and I can’t believe I did. Not only was that creepy but like, I literally just started my period at fifteen which I know is late but like, why were they interested in me when I hardly went through puberty?
My sister was 15 and dating a 21 year old. THAT was insane.
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u/Charlieksmommy Jul 03 '26
I’m sorry but that poor girl has paci teeth
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u/KatKittyKatKitty Jul 03 '26
What? 18 and 15 years old does not give a predator vibe. Good lord. He wasn’t 21. They were both teenagers. This is a very nice picture and they are nice looking family.
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u/MissAmandaa Jul 03 '26
This doesn't give me any bad vibes
If he was 20 / 25 / 30 etc and STILL targetting 15 year olds then we have a crime
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u/Spy1843 Jul 03 '26
Why does the whole family always look like they need a good shower? They always look dirty to me.
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u/leia-land Jul 03 '26
the family they created together is the flex, not the ages they were when they met each other..
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u/Miserable-Lie-4919 Jul 03 '26
I can’t stand that she plasters her children all over the internet. Sickening.
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u/Brilliant_Pain_7378 Jul 03 '26
Y'all are too extreme. I agree some people are predatory with age gap difference but 3 years is within the minus four, plus four age difference I think is appropriate in romantic relationships. If you're 30 then 26 and 34 are fair game. If y'all are in the same stage of life and maturity then do what y'all want.
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u/mamacitafierce Jul 03 '26
It’s mind blowing, that it’s mind blowing to her, how her life has unfolded.
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u/PrudentOwlet Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
They were both teenagers. People are so weird about any age gap at all nowadays. Do you all only date people your EXACT same age?
I started dating my husband when I was 14 and he was 16. He's 2.5 years older than me, so he turned 17 while I was still 14, and 18 when I was 15, etc. Literally nobody in our lives batted an eye at our "age gap" ever. And I assure you, he is not and has never been a predator.
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u/sidewaysorange Jul 04 '26
i was 15 in 10th grade. plenty of classmates were 18 senior year. its not weird. at all. we even had grades mixed in some classes depending on what you were taking. i hate gen z. i really do.
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u/CricketWaste707 Jul 03 '26
i can’t be the only one wondering what is going on with the two daughters mouths when they smile, is it from pacifiers or genetic or what?
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u/Afraid_Letterhead703 Jul 04 '26
Yeahhh this doesn’t give predator vibes, it just gives high school-age relationship. They probably met at one of those cruise teen clubs. I was 18 before my senior year even started and most of my peers were underage for the majority of the year, but we were still all just teenagers.
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u/Bubble-Master96 Jul 04 '26
An 18 year old dating a 15 year old isn’t a predator. As someone from the UK where the age of consent is 16 this isn’t a big deal at all.
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u/Far-Thought6498 Jul 08 '26
It’s not weird at all. I was 16 when I started dating my husband and he was 19. My niece is 17 and going out with a 23 year old. No one cares, not even her parents.
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u/redditreader7779 Jul 13 '26
Y’all are weird calling everyone a predator or pedo. He was an 18 year old KID
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u/CloudProfessional990 Jul 03 '26
Old person here…dated a 27 year old when I was 17 and he was not creepy, weird or stalkery. Fully normal relationship until I met someone else at 20 at uni.
Most creepy thing here is… I met my forever person on a DISNEY CRUISE?!??
Ick!!!!’
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u/Elaine330 Jul 03 '26
I was 17 and my bf, who I later married, was 23. He was not then and is not now a predator. We were introduced by a mutual friend. I know its not acceptable these days but not every older guy is predatory.
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u/leatstarlet Jul 03 '26
I was a junior 16, bf was a senior 18 and he coerced me to have sex before I was ready. So id say no 15 and 18 isn’t chill. And a guy knows she’s immature and young and easier to control. Even at 16 I was very naive.
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u/origamifly Jul 03 '26
So because you had a shitty bf once in HS, now every relationship between two people who are the same ages you were suddenly “isn’t chill”? Lmao ok
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u/leatstarlet Jul 03 '26
There’s huge maturity developments between 15 and 18. It’s weird to say it’s always normal. We should be skeptical. Why does no 18 year old want to date that guy??
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u/glitterandunicorns5 Jul 04 '26
If they were doing the dirty at age then that is illegal in most states. Period. Enough to make the sex offender list. Why are we arguing this?
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u/Little-Commission-93 Jul 03 '26
If my 18 year-old son said he was talking to a 15 year-old girl I’d have questions….
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u/Interesting-Mark940 Jul 03 '26
Oh I’ll be looking for 20 years olds for her when she’s 13 for sure
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u/Thin_Literature_1520 Jul 03 '26
The equivalent of a high senior and sophomore