He Wants to "Protect" Cousin from Fandom

Dear Papabear,

My little cousin is getting involved in the furry fandom. I loathe to think of him joining it. My reasons for not wanting to join are because of some things that happened to me when I was a furry back 2-3 years ago. These things include being blackmailed into giving dick pics, getting into a relationship with someone whom I can only assume may have been a grown man, and countless other things. I don't want things like that to happen to him, because I have to protect him; I'm his older cousin, it's practically my duty to protect him. Another reason I really don't him becoming a furry is because I'm scared he might fall in with a group he really doesn't need to be a part of (ie: zoophiles, pedophiles, et cetera). I don't want him thinking that shit is okay. I want to know how I can stop him from becoming a furry, and if not how I can stop him from interacting with the degenerate fucks.

Sincerely,
Davis Butler

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Dear Davis,

Furry is what you make of it. I'm sorry you had bad experiences in the fandom, but, frankly, that's really your fault and not the fandom's. You can find "degenerate" people everywhere online, including pedophiles (just look at the Catholic Church—maybe you should protect your cousin from the dangers of being around Catholic priests?) and zoophiles (there are far more outside the fandom than within it). If you got "blackmailed into giving dick pics" whose fault is that? How the hell do you get blackmailed into giving dick pics unless you did something, well, stupid that made you blackmailable?

You are also incorrect in assuming it is "your duty" to somehow protect him from furries just because you are cousins. It is actually the parents' responsibility to keep their child safe not yours. As a concerned relative, you can certainly talk to him about your bad experiences, and hopefully he can learn from your mistakes, but don't just assume that he will make the same mistakes you have. 

You are 15, and you say your cousin is younger, so he might not even know what a pedo or zoo is. It's good to educate him on these things and to also warn him that people are not always what they seem to be online—but, again, that should come from the parents and not you.

You are wrong to condemn the entire furry fandom for your mistakes. The vast majority of furries have very positive experiences within it (otherwise there wouldn't be hundreds of thousands of furries in the world). 

Your cousin can have a wonderful time in the fandom, and I hope he does. And I hope you don't stand in the way of that.

Papabear