The power of myspace, scary

After tossing her books on the sofa, she decided to grab a snack and geton-line. She logged on under her screen name ByAngel213. She checkedher 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 hometoday. 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'tseeanybody when I looked out.GoTo123: Unless you gave your name out on-line. You haven't done that hav eyou?ByAngel213: Of course not. I'm not stupid you know.GoTo123: Did you have a softball game after school tod ay?ByAngel213: Yes and we won!!GoTo123: That's great! Who did you play?ByAngel213: We played the Hornets. LOL. Their uniforms are so gross! Theylooklike bees. LOLGoTo123: What is your team called?ByAngel213:We are the Canton Cats. We have tiger paws on our uniforms. Theyarereally cool.GoTo1 23: Did you pitch?ByAngel213: No I play second base. I got to go. My homework has to be donebeforemy parents get home. I don't want them mad at me. Bye!GoTo123: Catch you later. ByeMeanwhile.......GoTo123 went to the member menu and began to searchfor her profile. When it came up, he highlighted it and printed it out. Hetook out a pen and began to write down what he knew about Angel so far.Her name: ShannonBirthday: Jan. 3, 1994Age: 13State where she lived: North CarolinaHobbies: softball, chorus, skating and going to the mall. Besides thisinformation, he knew s he lived in Canton because she had just toldhim. He knew she stayed by herself until 6:30 p.m. every afternoon until herparents came home from work. He knew she played softball on Thursdayafternoons 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 theeighth grade at the Canton Junior High School . She had told him all this inthe conversations they had on- line. He had enough information to find hernow.Shannon didn't tell her parents about the incident on the way homefrom the ballpark that day. She didn't want them to make a scene and stopher from walking home from the softball games. Parents were alwaysoverreacting and hers were the worst. It made her wish she was not an onlychild.Maybe if she had brothers and sisters, her parents wouldn't be sooverprotective.By Thursday, Shannon had forgotten about the footsteps following her.Her gam e was in full swing when suddenly she felt someone staring ather. It was then that the memory came back. She glanced up from her secondbase position to see a man watching her closely.He was leaning against the fence behind first base and he smiled whenshe looked at him. He didn't look scary and she quickly dismiss ed thesudden 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 shesmiled back. He noticed her name on the back of her shirt. He knew hehad found her.Quietly, he walked a safe distance behind her. It was only a fewblocks to Shannon 's home, and once he saw where she lived he quicklyreturnedto the park to get his car.Now he had to wait. He decided to get a bite to eat until the timecame to go to Shannon 's house. He drove to a fast food restaurant and satthere until time to make his move.Shannon was in her room later that evening when she heard voices inthe living room."Shannon, come here," her father called. He sounded upset and shecouldn't imagine why. She went into the room to see the m an from theballparksitting on the sofa."Sit down," her father began, "this man has just told us a mostinteresting story about you."Shannon sat back. How could he tell her parents anything? She hadnever 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's14. And he lives in Michigan !"The man smiled. "I know I told you all that, but it wasn't true. Yousee, Shannon , there are people on-line who pretend to be kids; I was oneof them. But while others do it to injure kids and hurt them, I belong toa group of par ents who do it to protect kids from predators. I came hereto 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. Younamed the school you went to, the name of your ball team and the positionyou played. The number and name on your jersey just made finding you abreeze."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 Iwas 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 aretaught not to tell anyone when they are alone, yet they do it all the timeon-line. The wrong people trick you into giving out information alittle here and there on-line. Before you know it, you have told them enoughfor them to find you without even realizing y ou have done it. I hopeyou've learned a lesson from this and won't do it again. Tell others aboutthis so they will be safe too?""It's a promise!"That night Shannon and her Dad and Mom all knelt down together andthanked God for protecting Shannon from what could have been a tragicsituation.