|
Readers' comments on any of these resources are alsways welcome! Do email us via feedback@netfamilynews.org.Detective Williams's Tip No. 7 - Kids might meet Net 'friends' on school sports trips
"If a young athlete at your house travels to different cities or states for sports competitions, parents should be aware of potential risks. There have been cases reported regarding athletes meeting online 'friends' (predator) on these trips after telling them where their teams are staying.
"I first learned about this risk from reading a book entitled 'Katie.com: My Story,' by Katherine Tarbox (Plume, 2001). Miss Tarbox was 13 when she met 'Mark,' who told her in a chatroom that he was 23 years old. A nationally ranked swimmer, Katie lived in a town in Connecticut and traveled to Texas for a swim competition. 'Mark' turned out to be 41-year-old Frank, a pedophile with a criminal record. I applaud Tarbox for writing this book so parents and other teenagers can be informed.
"A similar incident was investigated by my department. A high school cheerleader living in a nearby state was surfing the Web for information to complete a school assignment about cheerleading. She came upon a distasteful photograph of herself at a cheerleading event on a Web site. She told her parents, who notified their local police. A check of the registered owner of that site indicated that he was residing in our jurisdiction. An investigation was conducted which showed that the Webmaster was a teacher/coach in a local school. The end result was that he had hundreds of photographs of teenage cheerleaders in his collection of child pornography.
"So as I complete the last safety tip of this series, I would like to reinforce my first tip: 'There is no substitution for parental supervision.' I also would like to thank editor Anne Collier for this opportunity to contribute this series of Child Internet Safety Tips for Parents. Stay safe on the Web!"
Det. Bob Williams is a father of two high school students and Youth Officer in the Greenwich, Conn., Police Departmen. You'll find other parts of this series here.
HOME
| newsletter | subscribe
| links | supporters |
about | feedback
