How easy it really is......

[minerva]

to get information out of your children

 

 

Adults make the VERY SAME mistake... feeling safe because of geographical data.

That may or may not be true... they could live 2 doors down the street & be the opposite sex...

 

Shannon could hear the footsteps behind her as she walked toward home. The thought of being followed made her heart beat faster. "You're being silly, she told herself, "no one is following you." To be safe, she began to walk faster, but the footsteps kept up with her pace. She was afraid to look back and she was glad she was almost home. Shannon said a quick prayer, "God please get me home safe." She saw the porch light burning and she leaned against the door for a moment, relieved to be in the safety of her home. She glanced out the! window to see if anyone was there. The sidewalk was empty.

 

 

 

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:

 

 

 

By Angel213:

 

Hi. I'm glad you are on! I thought someone w! as 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 neighbourhood?

 

 

 

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 eight 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 ball park 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 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 find 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. Your name 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!"

 

Let's not pass any more "things you didn't know about me" emails...

 

*****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.....

[justamom]

OMG thats so scary... We had a situation with a "email friend" dd had, it was a pen pal thing and she spent 3weeks talking to this "girl megan". Our computer is in the study and i iron alot in the study so thought i was keeping an eye on things. My dd has had lessons at school about computer safety and when this "Megan" said lets meet up in a park near your house alarm bells rang and my hubby and i wrote back and said not to contact us again and we blocked her. I said we would go to the police....

 

The scary thing is that this "megans" response was i am not a old man preying on young girls you know, my skin went cold because a kid of 11 would not say something like that...and the text was not like a kid would write like, pls and kk and things like that all internet slang. I am EVERY careful now...

 

Thanks for that and i am going to get my kids to read that story...

 

Justamom

[Suze]

...........ooohh I,ve gone all cold

[Paula]

Last year we had a nightmare with our NT daughter and online chat.

 

 

She was constantly going into so called childrens /teenage chatrooms and although i warned her not to give out any information about herself and was constantly met with "YEA YEA i aint stupid" boy was i in for a shock.

 

 

One day i logged onto the pc and shed slipped up and i was able to access one of the sites she visited.

 

Quick as a flash someone contacted her and started to chat.They knew her name and other details.I pretended to be her and said where are you today.They announced they were at work !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Now she had either lied about her age or this person didnt give a toss ill never know.

 

I quickly pointed out that my daughter was a 13 year old school girl i was her mother and he was a sick pervert.Wo i would report to the police if he ever contacted her againe.

 

I then hacked into her msn hotmail sight and read her emails.I was utterly shocked and sickened.

 

I confronted her she reacted badley like any teenager would.I put a block on the pc for a month and re drummed it into her about the dangers and people pretending to be someone there not.

 

I now periodicly pry and moniter her emails she doesnt know this.I feel bad but its better to be safe than sorry.

 

Like you say you can tell by the language if its a child a teen freind from school as an adult you can smell a rat but a young teenage girl isnt as savvy.

[mel]

I do the same as you Paula, i also set the pc up so anything she deletes on her account goes straight into a folder on my account., i read every chat conversation she has and all her emails. i know its intrusive and some people would say its invading her privacy but kids dont always think and we as parents have to protect them. One bloke she was chatting to was about 22. i couldnt believe it! she was only 13. what can a 13 year old and a 22 year old have in common? Thats why she has no internet privacy.

[Paula]

I also search her room as well.

 

I feel bad but it is in order to protect.

 

Im not bothered about her writing things like i fancy this or that boy at school hes fit ect thats normall stuff.

 

Im on the look out for and i know this sounds bad but drugs,contraceptives signs of sexual behaviour or drinking other stuff.

 

It was whilst searching her room a while back that i came across a suicide note shed written saying she wanted out due to school bullies.I know nothing until this point.I was torn if i confronted her shed know id been on the snoop if i didnt god knows what might happen.So i did confront her and she broke down and we sorted the bullies out.

 

Perhaps as the mother of a teenage boy you wouldnt be as fussy but a teenage girl my daugher is only 14 and could easily pass as 20 years of age.She doesnt realise the dangers of this and as a 37 year old woman and her mother its ultimatley up to me to make sure shes safe.

[minerva]

Thanks for that and i am going to get my kids to read that story...

 

 

no worries, i got my son to read it as soon as i'd finished too....he made me send it to a friend of his who is even more naive than him!

[justamom]

I got my dd to read this and she was so shocked how easy it is to give information out without even realising it... I've have forwarded it on to as many people as i know.

[Brook]

Hi Minerva,

 

I'm really glad you posted this, I read it somewhere before and have tried looking for it.

It really makes you think about not giving too much info away and I am always aware of

this article when I'm posting.

 

Thanks

 

Brook