Internet safety

[Guest guest]

This was mailed to me. Don't know if anyone has seen it or not. Pass it

on.

Kathleen

> 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. She saw the porch light

>burning and ran the rest of the way to her house. Once inside, 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:

>

>ByAngel213: Hi I'm glad you are on! I thought someone was following me

home

>today. It was really weird!

>GoTo123: 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 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. Their uniforms are so gross! They

look

>like bees.

>GoTo123: What is your team called?

>ByAngel213: We are the Canton Cats. We have tiger paws on our uniforms.

>They are really kewl.

>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:

>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 seventh 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. 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, 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 '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

>'s house. He drove to a fast food restaurant and sat there until

time

>to make his move.

>

> was in her room later that evening when she heard voices in the

>living room.

>

> " , 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. "

>

> moved cautiously to a chair across from the man. How could he tell

>her parents anything? She had never seen him before today!

>

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

>

> " No " , answered.

>

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

>

> 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

>

>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 give out too much information 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. "

>

> 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. "

>

> " I won't, " promised solemnly.

>

> " Will you tell others about this so they will be safe too? "

>

> " It's a promise! "

>

>Please send this to as many people as you can (ADULTS as well as KIDS) to

>teach them not to give any information about themselves. This world we live

>in today is too dangerous to even give out our age, let alone anything

else.

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 4/16/00 1:10:18 AM Eastern Daylight Time,

lyme-aidegroups writes:

<< Message: 24

Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2000 23:28:39 -0400

From: " Kathy Nash " <fyikat@...>

Subject: Internet safety

This was mailed to me. Don't know if anyone has seen it or not. Pass it

on.

Kathleen >>

Thank you Kathleen, I sent this to my girls as a remeinder. We are very

strict about their usage of the internet, but they don't always think about

what they are doing and that it could be unsafe. So, hearing it from someone

else ( instead of mom repeating her speech for the ten millionth time) will

make a bigger impact.

Your Lyme Friend,

in VA

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 4/16/00 1:10:18 AM Eastern Daylight Time,

lyme-aidegroups writes:

<< Message: 24

Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2000 23:28:39 -0400

From: " Kathy Nash " <fyikat@...>

Subject: Internet safety

This was mailed to me. Don't know if anyone has seen it or not. Pass it

on.

Kathleen >>

Thank you Kathleen, I sent this to my girls as a remeinder. We are very

strict about their usage of the internet, but they don't always think about

what they are doing and that it could be unsafe. So, hearing it from someone

else ( instead of mom repeating her speech for the ten millionth time) will

make a bigger impact.

Your Lyme Friend,

in VA