Real Life

I am an avid CNN.com (crime section) reader and today I was looking in the crime section and I saw "Soldier kills woman". I clicked on it and read about how a 21 year old man met a 19 year old girl on MySpace and when they finally met in real life, he ended their meeting by killing her. It is inconceivable how trusting people are. This girl didn't know this man. Yet she met him and he took advantage of her. Comments on his MySpace from other girls after the murder made it clear that his other young "girlfriends" were on his side. They didn't think this changed him at all. They still believed he was a decent guy. He even had on his profile that he could "kill for no reason and without mercy". Why would people want to be his friend let alone physically meet him all by themselves in the woods? The saddest part about the article is that the girl was a special education student. This made me realize the great responsibility I have to protect my students from the evils of the internet and dangerous people.

So for those of you with children or students...please go to isafe.org to be trained in Internet Safety for yourself and to teach others. It seems lame (I thought it was at first), but it really is important for kids to be aware of what they are up against.