Dilemma. What would you do?

[daydream**believer]

Ok, this is quite a long story. I hope it makes sense. **Real names have not been used**

On the weekend, my daughter came to me  and said "Mum, theres something odd going on with some of my friends that i want to talk to you about cause im a bit worried"

She tells me that 3 of her friends (lets call them Tom, Jim and Sue) have made friends on facebook with a boy (lets call him John) they dont know who lives in Newcastle. Tom, Jim and Sue live in Adelaide.

Tom became friends with John first by receiving an out of the blue friend request from him.

John claims to be a 16 year old boy. His facebook page has lots of photos of him with heaps of friends. He's quite a good looking kid.

Tom think John is so cool and, via facebook, introduces him to Jim and Sue.

John strikes up quite a friendship with Sue and last week asked her to be his girlfriend. Sue is completely infatuated with John.

John has now said that his dad is going to bring him to Adelaide in a couple of weeks to meet Tom, Jim and Sue.

He has even said that a great place for them to all meet up would be the local swimming pool.

None of this sits right with me. Why a kid in Newcastle (a popular, good looking one according to his facebook page) would need to make friends with strangers in Adelaide. Would want one of them to be his girlfriend and then get his dad to bring him all the way over here to meet them.

Im not sure if you are all aware of the of the Carly Ryan story, but it is making me quite nervous about whats going on.

Carly Ryan- http://au.news.yahoo.com/today-tonight/lifestyle/article/-/7013312/internet-predators/

I know Jim's mother quite well and am going to talk to her about it all tomorrow. I know she has no idea who Jim talks to on facebook.

Im wondering, should i go to the police? They could at least investigate if John is real. I thought about going to the school, but all they would do is give a talk about internet predators and the kids would ignore it.

Over the weekend, my daughter tried to talk to Tom and Jim about the risks but they just didnt get it. They think John is so cool.

The whole "better to be safe than sorry" phrase keeps popping in my head.

Oh, and by the way, John's last name on facebook in Smith

[the_hawk*]

only if he is a fake.

if not, and he learns about it...well, how would you feel, beeing 15? or so accused of being a sex predator? he might need some counseling later on...

Yes he might, but I feel a lot more relaxed about that than I do about what may happen if he isn't legit.

I went out with a John Smith for a while.  It is very difficult to book anything, restaurants etc, with a name like that :^O

No one needs to worry about John Smith if he is a 15/16 YO, he wont even know he was being checked out or watched.

[izabsmiling]

I think I need to learn more about this new search feature and what it means as far as safety .Does anyone know much about it ?

http://www.wired.com/geekmom/2013/01/facebooks-new-privacy-settings/

Facebook’s New Privacy Settings Actually Make It Easier

By Ruth Suehle January 23, 2013 

Facebook changes? Commence panic! No, wait! Hold your panic.

This week’s changes actually make getting control of what people see about you a little bit easier. Finding information you want to know about other people and places just got easier too.

A new way to monitor your privacy settings is being rolled out this week, shortly behind the announcement of Graph Search, which is still in beta, though you can request an invite. The Graph Search feature I’m most excited about is the ability to search by locat...Graph Search information page.

Graph Search has the potential to change how you’re using Facebook and what the site means to you, w...

Ready for a look at the new features? If you’re in the US (users in other countries are having to wa...

read more; http://www.wired.com/geekmom/2013/01/facebooks-new-privacy-settings/

as for some saying that kids are being silly and/or naughty ..look at this

TALIBAN insurgents are posing as "attractive women" on Facebook to befriend coalition soldiers and gather intelligence about operations.

Australian soldiers are given pre-deployment briefings about enemies creating fake profiles to spy on troops.

Personnel are also being warned that geo-tagging - a function of many websites that secretly logs the location from where a post is made or a photo is uploaded - is a significant danger.

Family and friends of soldiers are inadvertently jeopardising missions by sharing confidential information online, the report warns.

read more;http://www.news.com.au/national/taliban-using-facebook-to-lure-aussie-soldier/story-fndo4bst-1226468094586

[cherry*135]

Good work DDB & daughter.

katy - I knew a Welsh family who emigrated with the surname of Evans, father called Taffy. I didn't realise it was such a common surname there

[*mrgrizz*]

more and more people are using alias's on facebook.

it follows you around for ever.

people are wising up.

you post it it stays.

go for a job interview.........chances are they will search on FB

[patchoo78]

go for a job interview.........chances are they will search on FB

They can search all they like for me, I only use my shortened name for Facebook and my full name for applications for anything. On top of that, they can't see anything unless they send me a friend request, which I can then deny and say I don't know the person and they get banned from sending friend requests for a week

[daydream**believer]

more and more people are using alias's on facebook.

it follows you around for ever.

people are wising up.

you post it it stays.

go for a job interview.........chances are they will search on FB

your point?

The video has been removed on this story, but you can still read the transcript

http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=1017294

"Each week in WA, this secret police squad catches at least one child sex offender trying to lure kids out of their homes. Nationally, more than 400 cyberpaedophiles are caught each year."

"DET INSP DARREN SEIVWRIGHT: Very few of our offenders are people who actually just want to live out fantasy online and then log off and not act on that. These people are child sex offenders. They want to offend against children and, when they feel comfortable enough with the child, they'll then seek to make that happen."

[katydidthat]

AM*3, there are about half a dozen Welsh surnames, originating from first names:  Evans, Williams, Davies, Hughes, Jones, Thomas.  It's not rare to have a double name like Evan Evans.  Taffy is NOT a Welsh first name, it's from a bit of doggerel ... "Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief, he broke into the butcher's store, and stole a leg of beef".  It's become a nickname for Welsh men.  

In the past, Welsh people were known by their trade (I presume because their names were so common), so you'd have Jones the Butcher, Evans the Grocer, etc.  

As you can possibly tell, my Dad was Welsh 🙂

[lyndal1838]

I had a Corgi called Taffy when I was a kid...a real sweetie and not a mean bone in his body.

Do you know the rest of the rhyme Katy?

It is "I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was in bed, I up with the marrowbone and hit him on the head."  The version I know had Taffy breaking into my house rather than the butcher's shop, which explains why "I" would go to his house.

And no, I am not Welsh....my great grandparents came from Scotland.:^O

[patchoo78]

I had a Corgi called Taffy when I was a kid

My OH had a Corgi named Taffy as well!! Those dogs have the best personalities.. 

[kengillard]

my MIL had one and used to bite my kid on the ankles...wasn't very keen on it!!!