Re: Scout Names on Websites?

At 12:31 AM 10/23/96 -0400, Bob Myers wrote:
... some stuff deleted.....
>Let me ask the question again. Does anyone on this list personally know of an
>instance where a Scout was harmed in any way by someone they did not know via
>the internet, BBS, or other information service? If so, please share the
>circumstances with us.
My memory may not be accurate with regards to the timeframe, but I
do know of one incident that happened locally (northern MA). I do not
_personally_ know the individuals involved, but there was a major story in,
I think, the Boston Globe two or three years ago (maybe longer) where a
pedophile contacted a young teenager through a chat room on one of the major
online services.

>IMO, teaching our kids to fear a major part of their future, the internet, in
>not wise. Let's get over our fear of the dark and try not to teach it to our
>youth. IMO, paranoia is simply not healthy. Let's find out what the facts are
>and deal with that.
I don't believe that we're teaching paranoia, but merely advising
against taking undue risk. Advising that there are people who can and do
take advantage of others is, IMNSHO, one of our duties as parents and we
need to make sure that our kids, and those who we're responsible for, are
forewarned.
As you've pointed out, the Youth Protection training advises that
most pedophiles are well-known to the children they abuse. I know of
several people who have gotten to know email and chat group "friends" very
well without ever meeting them in person. So despite not ever meeting in
person, a pedophile could obtain the trust of a child through correspondence
and then prey on him/her if the opportunity presents itself.
I guess my bottom line is that the names of the children should
_not_ go onto web pages. I also am concerned when their names appear beside
photos in the newspaper for the very same reasons.

Yours in Scouting,

Alan

Alan Wolfson Boy Scout Roundtable Commissioner
Nashua, NH Arrowhead District
wolfson@scamp.mv.com Daniel Webster Council
I used to be a bear (NE-CS-36) I used to be a Fox (NE-I-184)

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