Online Predators

MY SPACE: A Must Read for All who have children or grandchildren

EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ ALL OF THIS and HAVE YOUR CHILDREN READ IT TOO!

After tossing her books on the sofa, she decided to grab a snack and get on-line . She logged

on under her screen name ByAngel213. She checked her Buddy List and saw GoTo123 was on. She sent him an instant message:

ByAngel213:
Hi. I'm glad you are on! I thought someone was following me home
today. It was really weird!

GoTo123:
LOL You watch too much TV. Why would someone be following you?
Don't you live in a safe neighborhood?

ByAngel213:
Of course I do. LOL I guess it was my imagination cuz' I didn't see
anybody when I looked out.

GoTo123:
Unless you gave your name out on-line. You haven't done that have you?

ByAngel213:
Of course not. I'm not stupid you know.

GoTo123:
Did you have a softball game after school today?

ByAngel213:
Yes and we won!!

GoTo123:
That's great! Who did you play?

ByAngel213:
We played the Hornets. LOL. Their uniforms are so gross! They look
like bees. LOL

GoTo123:
What is your team called?

ByAngel213:
We are the Canton Cats. We have tiger paws on our uniforms. They are
really cool.

GoTo123:
Did you pitch?

ByAngel213:
No I play second base. I got to go. My homework has to be done before
my parents get home. I don't want them mad at me. Bye!

GoTo123:
Catch you later. Bye

Meanwhile......GoTo123 went to the member menu and began to search for
her profile. When it came up, he highlighted it and printed it out. He
took out a pen and began to write down what he knew about Angel so far.

Her name: Shannon
Birthday: Jan. 3, 1985
Age: 13
State where she lived: North Carolina

Hobbies: softball, chorus, skating and going to the mall. Besides this
information, he knew she lived in Canton because she had just told
him. He knew she stayed by herself until 6:30 p.m. every afternoon
until her parents came home from work. He knew she played softball on
Thursday afternoons on the school team, and the team was named the
Canton Cats. Her favorite number 7 was printed on her jersey. He knew
she was in the eighth grade at the Canton Junior High School. She had
told him all this in the conversations they had on- line. He had
enough information to find her now.

Shannon didn't tell her parents about the incident on the way home
from the ballpark that day. She didn't want them to make a scene and
stop her from walking home from the softball games. Parents were
always overreacting and hers were the worst. It made her wish she was
not an only child. Maybe if she had brothers and sisters, her parents
wouldn't be so overprotective.

By Thursday, Shannon had forgotten about the footsteps following her.

Her game was in full swing when suddenly she felt someone staring at
her. It was then that the memory came back. She glanced up from her
second base position to see a man watching her closely.

He was leaning against the fence behind first base and he smiled when
she looked at him. He didn't look scary and she quickly dismissed the
sudden fear she had felt.

After the game, he sat on a bleacher while she talked to the coach.
She noticed his smile once again as she walked past him. He nodded and
she smiled back. He noticed her name on the back of her shirt. He knew
he had found her.

Quietly, he walked a safe distance behind her. It was only a few
blocks to Shannon's home, and once he saw where she lived he quickly
returned to the park to get his car.

Now he had to wait. He decided to get a bite to eat until the time
came to go to Shannon's house. He drove to a fast food restaurant and
sat there until time to make his move.

Shannon was in her room later that evening when she heard voices in
the living room.

"Shannon, come here," her father called. He sounded upset and she
couldn't imagine why. She went into the room to see the man from the
ballpark sitting on the sofa.

"Sit down," her father began, "this man has just told us a most
interesting story about you."

Shannon sat back. How could he tell her parents anything? She had
never seen him before today!

"Do you know who I am, Shannon?" the man asked.

"No," Shannon answered.

"I am a police officer and your online friend, GoTo123."

Shannon was stunned. "That's impossible! GoTo is a kid my age! He's
14. And he lives in Michigan!"

The man smiled. "I know I told you all that, but it wasn't true. You
see, Shannon, there are people on-line who pretend to be kids; I was
one of them. But while others do it to injure kids and hurt them, I
belong to a group of parents who do it to protect kids from predators.
I came here to find you to teach you how dangerous it is to talk to
people on-line. You told me enough about yourself to make it easy for
me to find you. You named the school you went to, the name of your
ball team and the position you played. The number and name on your
jersey just made finding you a breeze."

Shannon was stunned. "You mean you don't live in Michigan?"

He laughed. "No, I live in Raleigh. It made you feel safe to think I
was so far away, didn't it?"

She nodded.

"I had a friend whose daughter was like you. Only she wasn't as lucky.
The guy found her and murdered her while she was home alone. Kids are
taught not to tell anyone when they are alone, yet they do it all the
time on-line. The wrong people trick you into giving out information a
little here and there on-line. Before you know it, you have told them
enough for them to find you without even realizing you have done it. I
hope you've learned a lesson from this and won't do it again. Tell
others about this so they will be safe too?"

"It's a promise!"

That night Shannon and her Dad and Mom all knelt down together and
thanked God for protecting Shannon from what could have been a tragic
situation.

*****NOW*****

Please send this to as many people as you can to teach them not to
give any information about themselves. This world we live in today is
too dangerous to even give out your age, let alone anything else.

EVEN FORWARD THIS TO PEOPLE WITHOUT KIDS SO THEY CAN SEND IT TO FRIENDS THAT DO HAVE CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN.