Is this the girl who ran of with the American guy she had been chatting to on the internet?

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by Sange
Is this the girl who ran of with the American guy she had been chatting to on the internet?

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yep thats the one.

All the negative publicity the internet is getting at the moment is really annoying me and I nearly posted something about it yesterday. Half the articles are written by people appear to have never been on the internet and the other half claim to have done indepth research which is nothing of the sort.

In a peice I read yesterday the author cliamed to have encountered a bunch of perverts in only an hour on the web... However this journalist had used the login name "Sugarbabe" and gone onto a romance chatroom. So of course the conversations would have revolved around appearence. The writer even admitted that when they stated their age as 14 the chatters either backed off completely or totally changed the subject. Lets face it Paedophiles are much more likely to hang about in the 'S Club 8' fan chat room than an 18+ singles room.

As for Shevauns parents being "naive in the extreme. Less benevolently, you could say they have been downright stupid and irresponsible" they have actually been rather more responsible than some parents. They kept the computer in the kitchen so that they could try and keep an eye on what the children were looking at, however if a child wants to keep something secret that they know is wrong then there's virtually nothing you can do about it. There's been calls for banning chat rooms but peadophiles have been grooming children for years without them and they'd easily find other ways if this route was taken away from them.

The only real answer is to continue to hammer home a bit of common sense to the kids themselves.

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by Sydney
(quotes)
The only real answer is to continue to hammer home a bit of common sense to the kids themselves.

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...using this place as an example.

The wildly inaccurate generalisms I heard on the news have left me fuming. Yes, regrettibly, these people exist and they are going to use something as globally accessible as the Internet to ply their trade.

However, you have to go to the types of sites/chat rooms which would encourage these types, echoing Sydney's comment.

I am a participant in a number of forums and discussion groups which cover everything from BtVS, CDs, Films right through to Internet Security (my job). Aside from some members here no-one even vaguely knows how old I am. I tend to ignore requests for personal info and as a result tend to be left alone.

(Edited by gobstopper 17/07/2003 14:58)

Ah the tabloids' summer paedo season, how I missed ye. Big Brother is getting stale now, so this'll be a godsend.

It's a shame the rich irony of condemning the net as an "insular activity" in one breath then suggesting reading a book in the next will be lost on many Current Bun readers.

The fact the "sex beast", "pervert" and "monster" (The Sun) hasn't actually been convicted of anything of course doesn't come into the equation. It's nothing but good old fashioned libel, but since we have a press complaints commision that exhonerates the News Of The World of paying a convicted criminal ten grand to fabricate a crimial conspiracy (causing innocent men to spend months in prison) on the same day it censures The Guardian for paying a prisoner a standard £700 freelance fee, that's not a problem.

Demonising the Internet is rather stupid though. The Scum's site makes them fair sum in advertising, and online advertising and subscription is set to become the biggest source of revenue for newspapers over the next dacade or two.

(Edited by Byron 17/07/2003 17:55)

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by Byron
Ah the tabloids' summer paedo season, how I missed ye. Big Brother is getting stale now, so this'll be a godsend.

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[The Sun:] The Beast will make off with your children.
[Sun readers:] {gasp}
[The Sun:] He'll come after them in the night.
[Sun readers:] No!
[The Sun:] We're not safe while his head is plastered on our front page
We say lets kill the Beast!
[Sun readers:] Kill him!

[Reader I:] We're not safe until he's dead
[Reader II] He'll come stalking us at night
[Reader III:] Set to sacrifice our children to his monstrous appetite
[Reader IV:] He'll wreak havoc on our country if we let him wander free
[The Sun:] So it's time to take some action, boys
It's time to follow me

Through the scum
Through the grime
Through the lies and innuendo
It's all fiction but it's one exciting ride
Say a prayer
Then we're there
With a scapegoat on page one
And there's something just as libellous inside
HeÂ’s a beast
With a laptop
Ex marine
With a flattop
Guilty of something at least
“It’s unfair!”
LiberalÂ’s moan
But weÂ’ll not leave him alone
‘Til he’s dead
Good and dead
Kill the beast!

Pick your cliché
Write your headline
Fix your victim in the crosshair
WeÂ’re depending on The Sun to lead the way
Screw the truth
Screw the facts
If it sounds good then weÂ’ll print it
WeÂ’ve a newspaper to sell everyday.

HeÂ’s a perve
On the net
Lurking round the next corner
And wherever you are youÂ’re not safe!

Rabble rousing
Like a yob
Demonising
Hatchet job
Praise the lord and form a mob

[Mob:] We don't like
What we don't understand
In fact it scares us
And this yankee is mysterious at least
Bring your hate
Bring your fear
Save your children and your wives
We'll save our nation and our lives
We'll kill the Beast!

[Liberally adapted from Disney]

Dear Incandenza

*utter hero worship*!!

Thank you!
XX

Bit of a slow day Inc?

"It's true, La-Fou... and I've got my sights set on that one..."

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by Rally
Bit of a slow day Inc? [/i]

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I think he's giving Spike a run for his money

I'm not even going to attempt to make a constructive remark about paedophiles and net activity this time of the morning - maybe tomorrow

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by Incandenza

[The Sun:]The Beast will make off with your children.
...

[Liberally adapted from Disney]

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you make me laugh

All it takes is for the parents and the children to be properly educated in the safe way to use the internet. I'd never consider using the general chat rooms because the people there all seem to be leacherous old people or stupid childish little pratts.

And Inc... Fantastic!


(Edited by Lioness 18/07/2003 18:13)

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by Incandenza
In today's Sun, Jane Moore condemned Shevaun's parents for being "naive in the extreme. Less benevolently, you could say they have been downright stupid and irresponsible".

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Sue Carroll said more or less the same thing in the Mirror (a borrowed read). I guess even a broken clock tells the right time twice a day.

They're called 'Parental Controls'for a reason, mamas'n'papas...

Incidently, from exchanges with supposedly grizzled Vets on the politics section of TheSite.org, I gather that erstwhile members of the US Marines like to be called 'former Marines', and not 'ex-Marines'. So be very careful to address them as 'ex-Marines'...