|
Chat Rooms
Rating:
Quality: (Quality: Unrated)
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 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: 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 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: 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 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.
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 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 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 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."
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
here 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," Shannon promised solemnly.
"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 prayed.
They thanked God for protecting Shannon from what could have been a tragic
situation.
********************
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
Submitted by 10
Print this forward
Rate this forward:
Bored.com
- Tons of fun stuff to do when you are bored.
MakeWebsites.com
- Free tools for creating your own website.
LifeBets.com
- Win a $100 prize by correctly predicting real life events.
Free Stuff For
Teens - Teen Freebies: video games, cd's, magazines, contests,
beauty products, posters, and more. Only lists free offers that
don't have minimum age requirements.
SearchCactus.com
- A search engine where you get money for each search that you do.
Must be at least 13 years old and a U.S. resident.
Adoptme.com
- Adopt a virtual pet.
Digitalfilms.com
- Make your own movie online for free
CheapFlowers.com
- Buy flowers online for $29.95 with no extra delivery charge or
other fees.
|
|
