Facebook - A Scary Fact

A friend forwarded this e-mail to me.

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EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ ALL OF THIS and HAVE 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****
EVEN FORWARD THIS TO PEOPLE WITHOUT KIDS SO
THEY CAN SEND IT TO FRIENDS THAT DO HAVE
CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN

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Everyone needs to learn about online safety. Teach your children about the hazards of being online. Don't post your address, telephone number or date of birth online. Chat only with your friends and don't give out personal info to people you don't know.

Keep computers in the common areas so you can monitor your child's online behavior. Don't keep it in their rooms.