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swapnil90 · 03-02-2007

Quote:

ALL kids chat online. If they aren't yet, they will be soon . . ..

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, 1993
Age: 13
State where she lived: North Carolina
Hobbies: softball, chorus , skating and going t o 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 tea m 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 t hey 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 T hursday, 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 o n 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," Shanno n 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 m ake 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. Will you 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.

ISNT THIS LITTLE PIECE OF INFORMATION I FOUND ON THE NET STUNNING??