MYSPACE FACEBOOK: A Must Read for All

[M.D. Holloway]

EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ ALL OF THIS and HAVE 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 Listand 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.

GoTo1 23:
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 toShannon'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.

[stomachmonkey]

Hmm,

Seems completely plausible to me.

It's why my kids computers are in the den with us and they are not allowed to sign up for any interactive sites.

Thanks Mike

[onewhippedpuppy]

I occasionally visit FB. The stupid personal crap I see people post, especially teens, is seriously scary.

[rouxroux]

A fellow Porsche owner here in town is the City Marshal...they have a great on-line team tracking down internet pervs. There was a faculty meeting at one of our middle schools where someone on the task force was showing the teachers the dangers...In less than 5 minutes, they had a perv make a proposition. Was pretty unreal as most of the teachers' jaws dropped.

[cl8ton]

Yea that is pretty sobering to parents (like me) and a lot of others here!
I have 2 daughters I love and would go to the extreme to protect them.

I always make it a point to watch NBC Dateline “To Catch a Predator” with Chris Hanson.

These pervs need to meet a baseball bat!

[Brian Cameron]

This particular story is actually a myth - see Snopes:

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/parental/shannon.asp

Doesn't make it any less effective as a cautionary tale, however.

[svandamme]

my 9 year old kid sister, once registred on netlog as "xxxhorsegirl"... aged 20..

luckely she sent me an invitation to join as well

It's scary how fast kids can get in trouble online these days.
When i was young, all i could do was screw around in command line , load tapes with games... worst case screw up the OS...
When i first went online, everything was to damned slow to do much risky things

[Schumi]

Birthday: Jan. 3, 1985
Age: 13

that doesn't quite workout anymore..


Well you guys know my name, where I live, what I drive, etc etc.
I've bought things from many members on this board so quite a few people have my actual address.

I could figure out, through about an hour's worth of profiling, where any number of PPOT'er live. Even if you don't have a facebook.

It's not just kids.

If you aren't doing anything to attract creepy psycho types then you've probably got nothing to worry about. If you're a 15 year old girl with dozens of risque party photos all over the internet... then maybe.

A bunch of old farts whining on about spoons and how their 911's heat doesn't work-
who the hell would want to stalk them!



Obviously there is a very real threat out there, especially when dealing with adolescents. Theres kids who are 11-12 years old with facebook profiles now. Discretion isn't exactly your biggest thought when you are 12 on the internet I'm sure..

[svandamme]

well, Rick V might get in trouble with his new avatar though

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I honestly don't see the attraction of sites like those (facebook, myspace, etc.) There's absolutely no good that can come of participating in them. They seem to be a haven for narcissists who have nothing better to do than waste their time bragging about themselves and their own lives, which most other people don't care about anyway. Not to mention the obvious increased vulnerability to identity thieves, scam artists, con men, stalkers, child molesters, etc.

I dunno, it just seems like a mega time-suck that no good can come out of anyway. At least forums like this one give me some knowledge and occasional entertainment. I don't bother with those kinds of "personal sites" - I don't understand the attraction at all.

[berettafan]

such sites will be locked out in our home when my kids are old enough to make stupid choices.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

I honestly don't see the attraction of sites like those (facebook, myspace, etc.) There's absolutely no good that can come of participating in them.

These sites get ya laid bro.

A lot.

[Schumi]

Originally Posted by m21sniper

These sites get ya laid bro.

A lot.

With profile pics like Sniper's, you have to beat the chicks off with a stick...

[m21sniper]

Not my profile pic, but yes, i get a spit load of compliments on it.

"You look like sebastian bach" is a very common compliment i hear. Works for me.

[TechnoViking]

Originally Posted by m21sniper

These sites get ya laid bro.

A lot.

Any particular strategy you can suggest here?

I did contact one of my friend's friends recently. The little tiny pic you can see before you become friends looked like a hot chick in a bimmer roadster. Sweet.

So she becomes my friend, and now I can see the rest of her pics...she's freakin 50, and my friend's aunt. Next thing you know I get a message "so are you picking up on my aunt?"

Yea, now I've got aunt "Dawn" asking me out for coffee. So yea, I guess it works

[BK911]

What's the difference between somebody randomly choosing Angel from an online source, and randomly choosing somebody walking down the street? Or at the mall? Or playing in a high school softball game? Do you stop your kids from doing all those too?

[m21sniper]

Martin:

It's a matter of volume. If i use myself for an example, i get lots of attention and messages from women on the sites i use. 90% of them are either ugly, fat, too old, or too far.

But the other 10% aren't, and 10% of that 10% are quite hot and eminently doable.

And honestly even the ones that are not doable can make you feel desired/wanted, etc, etc. I've met some really nice girls online that i wouldn't date, but that were into cars or shooting and were a lot of fun to hang out with.

[Schumi]

I recently used facebook to my advantage in the mid-20's hookup scene.

It's a social tool. Just like calling on the phone and getting drinks at a bar... it's not a replacement, but a definite advantage.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Maybe. I guess if that's your thing...

I stopped chasing skirts a long time ago. It's pretty funny how differently women treat you when they realize they can't simply manipulate you with the "power of the pussy". Like, night-and-day different.

[m21sniper]

I agree with that Jeff. I let them chase me.