Kids, Internet and dangers

[RRK]

One of the r2iclub member sent me this story, asking me to publish.

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: N! orth Car olina

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.

Sh! annon wa s 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! GoTo123 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 f! rom 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 thanked God for protecting Shannon from what could have been a tragic situation.

--------------------------------------------

[youngmom]

Excellent Article.....I was wondering what is the right age for a kid to be allowed to chat/facebook/twitter online(of course under supervision!!). Sometimes parents just have to give in and allow them do it due to peer pressure. How do we handle it when your kid says everybody in her class has facebook account or chats online?

[sumachechi]

Facebook- says they are set up for 13+
Orkut- 18+
The others I do not know.
However, its very common for kids to lie about their age and get accounts. My kid in 7th std did the above because everyone in her class was doing it- thankfully I found it real fast- she didnt have a clue that what she was doing was wrong, then I explained to her and she cancelled her account. Wrote a letter to the school headmistress asking her to alert the other parents which she has done in the form of a circular as well.

[ana]

what's the age when kids stay alone? I have seen neighbors/other people in US doing it as early as age 9. Seems too early for me.

what do you guys think?

[My Roots]

Suma, don't know about orkut.facebook. I myself don't have account:)

But for email account, it is not easy to lie about date of birth. It requires a parent consent form. They take your credit card information and small amount of transactions are made to ensure you are the parent and authorizing them to have account.

I don't know how it works in India though.

[RRK]

I have the same pressure from my daughter to join face book. I have been resisting. She also wants a forum ! Too bad..

[My Roots]

what's the age when kids stay alone? I have seen neighbors/other people in US doing it as early as age 9. Seems too early for me.

what do you guys think?

Per law in NY , I think it is 13 yrs

[amaran18]

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree"

One day she may start "R2A Club Forum" :)

I have the same pressure from my daughter to join face book. I have been resisting. She also wants a forum ! Too bad..

[youngmom]

Suma, don't know about orkut.facebook. I myself don't have account:)

But for email account, it is not easy to lie about date of birth. It requires a parent consent form. They take your credit card information and small amount of transactions are made to ensure you are the parent and authorizing them to have account.

I don't know how it works in India though.

This is only yahoo mail. Gmail lets you create an account without any parental consent and if I remember right, they don't even ask the age.

[Plan2010]

Good article, very scary as a parent.

My son in first grade already knows to search google to find what he wants - hotwheel games etc. This gives him access to you tube too. We'd set parental control once and found that it blocks many of his games but does not block some adult content. Stopped using that and made sure we are always around when he is on computer, computer being in living room helps too.

I'm pretty sure in another 5 years, maybe less he'll be searching for other stuff which as a parent I would find objectionable. And I'm pretty sure if not in my house he'll have access to this at some friend's house. I was under the impression we could always stop our kids from doing stuff that are not right. But several people told me thats not possible after a certain age, they start rebelling or just wont listen.

Making sure you spend a lot of time with kids and keeping the communication line open seems to be the only solution.