A friend sent me this email
>Subject:
>A MUST READ FOR THOSE WHO HAVE CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN ONLINE...
>
>Date:
>Fri, 18 Aug 2006 20:29:58 -0400
>
>A Must Read for All who have children or grandchildren
>
>EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ ALL OF THIS and HAVE YOUR 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 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: 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 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 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.
>
>*****NOW*****
>
>
>Please send this to as many people as you can to teach them not to give any
>information about them
>selves. 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.

There are a lot of trained police officers working on the issue of tracking down on one predators. This is not something that someone should engage in unless they have both to training and the authority. If you come across material on the Internet that you think may be illegal, reported to the cybertipine. That's www.cybertipline.com.

--
Larry
Co-director
BlogSafety.com

I was wondering how would I go about helping to catch online predators. I have a son who is only 3, so I dont have to worry about him on the Internet yet, but I would still like to help. Does anyone know how I could do that?

Thanks

Kel