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
anonly 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
suddenfear 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 i! t is to talk to people on-line. You
told me enough about yourself to make it easy for me to find you. You
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 en! ough 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.
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