ATV Florida Forum

For those of you with children and/or  grandchildren, please take note and pass on to friends.  !!!!!

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?

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 & nbsp;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 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 & nbsp;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!  Go To is a kid my age!  He is 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  hey 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!"

*****NOW*****
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 THAT DO HAVE CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN.....

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WOW!! thats was powerful!!! :o it was good though!!  :)

I hope it makes you stop and think sweetheart.

It can happen just as easily as that. My 6 year old son just doesn't understand why I won't let him ride his bike in the yard without me or mom outside.

 :o ..................no coment lol luckly i only talk 2 my friends from skool and da site

my ex wifes' daughter who is now 17 ,  she was 15 then,was chatting with someone who she thought was 17 also wanted to pick her up and go out she said not now , months passed by it got a little sicker as time passed until he started exposing himself online and wanted to pick her up she said ok and gave a time and date which was about a week from then so she told her mother she called the sheriff dept. , an investigator showed up started chatting with him got him to meet her earlier it happened he was arrested and is in jail now ,still, he was actually 30 at the time and went to school with me now that was a little close to home for me .