Switched

Some of the men as well as some of the boys talk sexual to both sexes. Believe me, you have no clue all that goes on. I have my ignore list filled up and have my chat section turned off when I play. Please don't leave your children alone to play these games.

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Hey, did anyone ever think about the fact that this guy probably lied to this girl?? I've read the email about how kids eveyday give out little hints to their personal life without even thinking that someone is going to show up at your door and rape you or even worse. We try and convince our kids that giving out any information about themselves could hurt them...but when they think that they are talking to another kid...it seems that they throw out all caution and tell all about themselves. Kids like to know that they are cool..what kind of sports they are playing...who they play for..what school they go to...what is your number even...What town they live in etc..They have not given their name out..nor their address...or their phone number..BUT, With just that much information somebody can find you! These are the little things that we need to remind them that they are asking. We CANNOT be over our kids 100% of the time, that is impossible! With almost eveyone with a cell phone...a computer..and access from several different places..including school..libraries..and even let's see..well, I'm sitting in Panera bread right now on the internet..there are endless possibilities where your kids are getting on the internet...commnunication is the key...tell them the dangers..show them things like this article..and you know what...TALK to your kids..I'm a parent of three kids...and SEVERAL of their friends say that they wish their parents were like my husband and me...Why? Because we actually sit down and talk to the kids..and we spend time with them..they are only going to be kids once...and that means..we only are going to have the opportunity to be parents once too...take advantage of that..and make a difference..raise good kids!

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I TELL YOU WHAT, TODAYS PARENTS..OR ACTUALY KIDS RAISING KIDS TODAY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE HECK THEY ARE DOING. MY PARENTS RAISED ME OLD SCHOOL AND IT'S GONIG TO BE NO DIFFERENT W/MY SON. I GOT TO GO OUT AND DO ALL THE KID STUFF BUT GOODNESS IF YOU MESSED UP YOU WOULD GET PUNISHED NOT LIKE THESE KIDS AND TEENS TODAY WHO ARE RAISING THEMSELVES AND TURNING INTO WEIRDOS. I DON'T CARE IF MY SON GETS PICKED ON THRU SCHOOL BECAUSE HE WILL PROB. HAVE MORE RULES THAN MOST KIDS.....KIDS ARNT GOOD AT PUNISHING KIDS...BUT I COULD CARE LESS, HE'S GOING TO BE THE ONE TO COME OUT IN THE END KNOWING HIS MOM AND DAD LOVE HIM, AND HE'S GOING TO HAVE GOALS AND VALUES. ALL KIDS DO NOW IS SIT AND PLAY VIDEO GAMES. GRANTED SOME ARE FUN BUT COME ON. I COULD NEVER IMAGINE SITTING IN THE HOUSE WHEN I WAS GROWING UP. WE WOULD PLAY TIL THE STREET LIGHTS CAME ON. THERE WAS SO MANY GAMES WE CAME UP W/TO PLAY THAT TOOK IMAGINATION. KIDS JUST NEED TO BE RAISED LIKE OUR PARENTS WERE RAISED. THE WORLD WAS ALOT BETTER THEN

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Did anyone else take a look at the jerk's MySpace's page? Scary. He is so nuts about Christ that he is ...... nuts. No other way to say it. Are there a lot more like him out there? 'Fraid so.

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Amen M.G. Just what I was talking about, but you said it better than I did! Goals and VALUES!!

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I believe that parents should monitor and protect their children, however, it is NOT an easy task. When I was a teen, my parents did talk to me about things, tried to raise me right, and I STILL made my own bad choices. No matter what mom and dad do, these kids have a mind of their own. And she is just a kid! 15 year old kids don't think of consequences. He obviously is a looney tune, and needs help, and I'm glad they nabbed him before he completely went postal. There are no perfect families, no perfect parents!

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Who gives a hoot in hell, whether it's "something that gives the entire online gaming community a bad name?"

I'd be far more concerned as to how it affected people's opinions about Christians.

Are we more concerned about fanatasy, or reality?

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Stephen:

Sadly, there are tons of people who are like this. I am a Christian, and true believers aren't like that. It bothers me when Christians are called fanatics, because not all of us are. Oh, and I believe in spreading the gospel too, but I'm not going to tell anyone they are going straight to hell and yell at them on the message boards about my faith and blah blah blah :) I take it you've had some run ins with fanatics?

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This guy is scary, bottom line. It's because of people like him that even I as an adult am super cautious about what I post online or disclose. I've had people ask me for my home address before - one of them is a local friend I met online who I meet for lunch a few times a month and have known for over two years. My answer is, if you want to mail me something, mail it to my PO box.

I'm guessing that the 15yo girl felt safe in the distance between them and enjoyed the attention of an older guy. Having once been a 15yo girl myself, I know what it's like when an older, more mature guy pays attention to you and how much cooler he seems than the guys your own age, because he's older, smarter, whatever. She made a mistake in disclosing too much information, but I'm glad she had the opportunity to learn from it without harm coming to her or any of her loved ones.

Joshua is everything that's bad in Christianity. He's taken a faith that teaches judging oneself before others and love for ALL people (um, not to be equated with nonconsentual sex with children) and has turned and warped it to suit his own misunderstandings and agenda. If you check out his myspace page, you can see some examples. I'll even go so far as to agreeing with some of the commenters to his page: He'll know what real rape is when he lands in jail.

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LISSA I AGREE AS WELL AS W/JENNIFER. WE WERE ALL TEENS AND MADE "NORMAL TEEN MISTAKES"..I WASNT TELLING SOME BOY I WAS GOING TO RAPE HIM AND HIS LITTLE BROTHER...THATS JUST PLANE SICK. I KNOW MY SON WILL MAKE MISTAKES JUST HOPEFULLY NORMAL LIFE LESSON ONES. AND HIS PAGE IS REALLY CREEPY...HAVE YA'LL READ SOME OF THE COMMNETS PEOPLE HAVE LEFT HIM?? AND WHY DOES HE HAVE A PIC OF A DOCTOR IN HIS PICTUERS.??

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From the actual article...
The guy got her address and other private info. via search engines.
He had sent several packages and flowers to her during the previous year.
The girl's mother had her cell phone number changed, and the guy got the new one from a mutual friend.
The guy posted a measly $10k bond and is back out on the street. Which street? Who knows?
Why was this not addressed by the parents and the law prior to the stalking and rape threats to the girl and her very little sister? Packages and flowers for a 15 yr. old without a boy from the community in the picture? Where the hell is the stuff coming from? HUGE RED FLAG!
Megan Meier was a vulnerable 13 yr.old driven to suicide by a lethal mind game created and managed by a 40 yr.old neighbor pretending to be a teenage boy... over a period of months. I do not, for the life of me, understand why this is not classified as inappropriate contact with a minor, punishable by law.
What will it take to protect our youth from these monsters? Monsters? Yes. People who prey on our vulnerable youth. It IS NOT LIMITED to pedophiles.

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HIM USING RELIGION AS A WAY TO GET KIDS TO THINK HE'S "SAFE" IS SOMETHING HE WILL HAVE TO ANSWER FOR IN THE END. I COULD GO ON AND ON ABOUT RELIGION BUT WE ALL HAVE OUR OWN BELIEFS ON IT,WE'RE ON THE SAME PAGE W/THIS ISSUE AND HE JUST NEEDS TO BE STOPPED LIKE A MAN SAID EARLIER IT'S JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE HE REALLY DOES GO THRU W/A THREAT AND HURT SOMEONE AND HE'S GOING TO BE ALL OVER THE NEWS.

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Lissa,
I appreciate what you say about differentiating between "true believers' but I think that you are being naive. What about Pat Robertson's predictions about 2008? Is he not a "true believer" as you would define one? I would think so. And he claims that God talked to him about 2008. Talked to him. Talked. To him. That doesn't sound like a fanatic to you? With maybe a couple of screws loose?

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ANGELA YOU ARE RIGHT..BUT LIKE MOST LAWS IT TAKES SOMETHING HORRIFIC TO HAPPEN BEFORE ANYONE PAYS ATTENTION..AND THE GIRL WHO COMMITTED SUICIDE. THAT WAS HORRABLE. HOW CAN ANYONE FEEL OK ABOUT BULLYING A CHILD AND BREAKING DOWN THEIR SPIRIT TO THAT POINT..OR ANY POINT. I CAN'T BELIEVE HER PARENTS ARNT FIGHTING MAD...IF THEY ARE IT HASN'T BEEN MADE PUBLIC. BUT I TELL YOU WHAT MY KID WOULD BE COMING TO VISIT ME IN JAIL AFTER I GOT DONE W/SOME FREAK LIKE THAT MESSING W/MY KID. MY PARENTS NEVER LET US TOUCH THE INTERNET. THEY ALWAYS SAID WE HAD SCHOOL BOOKS AND IT'S FOR ADULTS..WHICH IS SO TRUE. THERE'S NO REASON FOR KIDS TO BE ON THE NET.

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By the way, I don't see a perfect parent here, period. We all make mistakes. If her parents didn't teach her any better than to do what she did, then they are the ones with a problem. All parents have different ways to handle their children, and even that doesn't work. We hope that our children make the right choices when they are old enough to do so. You can be a "perfect parent" and still have an out-of-control child. Children don't come with instruction manuals at birth, so we have to use instinct. She's only 15 and vunerable. Where are her parents while she's online? I don't even let any of my kids online, I think they are too young. And you can monitor all day long, but unless you have a laptop and take them everywhere you go...you can't always keep an eye on what they do. So, stop attacking the 15 year old girl and put the blame where it belongs. I don't know any mature 15 year olds, and I doubt anyone else does....sure they will make mistakes and dumb decisions, that's how they either learn the easy way or the hard way.

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Hey Stephen

Personally, I rarely if ever watch TV evangelists. A lot of those people will say things to sell books. My intuition, I feel, is God guiding me, like taking another road instead of the usual route (gut feelings). But to actually have a one on one "How was your day God?" "Oh it was wonderful, Pat" doesn't seem possible, but then again, nothing is impossible with my Lord. I'm just a bible believer, nothing more, nothing less :) But I know what you mean by crazies. I understand that not everyone believes in the Jesus. And I would never try to force anyone into my faith.

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Anyone who refers to the 20 yr old guy as a "kid" should have their head examined. I entered the Air Force at 17 1/2 and was repairing the bombing computers and radar of B-52's loaded with nukes when I was 19. People rise to the expectations placed upon them. People demand far too little from the kids and they respond in kind.

If you ask for 50 and you get 45, they cheer that 90% was achieved. Ask for 100 and get 80 and frowns come out because "only" 80% was achieved when in fact 80 is a far higher achievement than 45. Lowering standards to allow people to feel good about themselves ALWAYS backfires. People know when they have earned the praise, and they really know when they have not earned the praise and are only pretending to be successful.

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Lissa,
My Dear lady.....
God personally guides you too? That's a mighty busy God. Good luck in future and please be sure to say hello to Pat. For you; not for me.

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Hey M.G. I hear you!

When I was 16, a friend of mine tried to set me up with a 21 year old, and I didn't think much of the age difference. No big deal I thought. When I asked my parents if this boy could take me out, the answer was an automatic NO! As I recall, my mother told me that grown men shouldn't pursue teenage girls. And I agree with what Eric said, he's 20, he's a man, not a boy. Speaking of the military, my father entered in at 15 or 16 (Navy Seabee) back in 1953, lied about his age of course, and no matter what age you enter in service, you are automatically considered a man or a woman :)

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In Re: stephen says 01/08/08 12:17 PM
Just because the guy represents himself to be a Christian doesn’t make him one. After all, he spends an inordinate amount of time living in a fantasy electronic world were “you can be anything you want to be.” I doubt that he really knows anything about Christianity (or anything else in the real world). Looks like a case of lack of parental supervision for most of his life. His parents probably gave him a credit card and expense account and turned him loose on the world because they couldn’t be bothered with actually being responsible for their offspring.

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