Peyser, M., Murr, A, & French, R. (1995, June 19). Don’t ‘chat’ to strangers. Newsweek, p. 42.

OVERVIEW

When Daniel Montgomery’s parents limited him to four hours of online time a week, they had no idea how dangerous their son’s obsession with America Online’s "chat rooms" had become. They were even more baffled when their 15-year-old vanished from his home in Maple Valley, Washington, on May 18. According to a school friend, Daniel had left school early that day and had gone home. There he found a bus ticket and a check waiting in the mailbox. The day after Daniel’s disappearance, his parents received a call from one of Daniel’s online buddies, Damien Starr, who said he had arranged for Daniel’s escape to San Francisco. Daniel later e-mailed his parents to let them know he was okay.

The Montgomerys asked America Online for Damian’s real name and address, but the company would not help without a court order. Pam McGraw of America Online says that "the privacy restrictions prevent members from getting information about each other." The police classified Daniel as a runaway. Only when the Montgomerys went to the press was the case taken seriously. The new attention to the case apparently scared Damien into action as well. He shipped Daniel to the San Francisco airport, and the teen was home by June 5. Damien, it turns out, was another teenager, not a pedophile. An FBI spokesperson says that he doubts that charges will be filed in the case.

A child may know not to talk to strangers. However, in the faceless, anonymous world of the Internet, talking to strangers can seem less threatening. Sometimes these strangers can be predators. In the last year, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has recorded about a dozen cases of cyberspace pedophiles courting minors. A key problem is that while online services provide easy mechanisms to block chat-room access, many parents do not know that these safety mechanisms exist.

Daniel says that people should not blame America Online for what he did. "The risks are everywhere; the opportunities are everywhere," he told the Seattle Times. "I’m still going to talk online."

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

1. What do you think about Daniel Montgomery’s story? What do you think about America Online’s refusal to give out information about their user? About the casual attitude of the police?
2. What safeguards do you think should be taken to keep kids safe from online predators?
3. Why do you think online chat rooms and bulletin boards hold so much appeal for young people?

IMPLICATIONS

1. Adults need to know about the potential danger of their child’s unmonitored use of the Internet.
2. Public service campaigns provided by the online services could help get the word out to parents about ways to monitor their child’s online use and block access to certain inappropriate areas on the Net.