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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!"



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Message from MTA:

So think about what "you" say on the internet. Predators are not your friends they will hurt you. I pray that those who read this will learn something from this story as I did. God Bless.