My Space.Com?

To:      Dr. Kent McClain
            Heritage Schools Superintendent

From:  A concerned parent at Heritage Christian School

I think this is an issue that should be circulated as I know many children at Heritage . . . friends of my daughter's in the 5th grade who are on all kinds of chats . . . and bad enough their favorite site is myspace.com. Some of her friends are online in their bedrooms with no supervision. That is SO scary . . . This was a true wake up call for my household. Tammy Morin


This was forwarded by a good friend and I think we should all be reminded that the internet is another "door" that our children should not open unless a responsible adult is around. Therefore, if you take the time to read this email, you will quickly learn how easy it is for an online sexual predator to "pick up" information about our children from the Internet. It might help after you read it to share it with someone who has kids on the net. It’s from a young Cleveland cop who works in the field.


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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 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?

By Angel213: 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! Got 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!"