Talk To Your Teens About Chat Room Danger

I am worried about your teens going into Internet chat rooms. They talk to people that they don’t know -people of all ages who often lie about their age and this is a recipe for trouble. Today, I am going to bring you an example of what can occur as a result of being in these “chat rooms.”

I’d like to remind you of the case of Robert Vincent Peace, a former girls’ soccer coach in California who was accused earlier this year of enticing 13 and 14 year old girls to make pornographic videos. Yes, Mr. Peace (the irony of his name-yikes) met these girls in an Internet chat room called Stickam.com. 

Guess, he really stuck it to these girls and their families, huh? Well, this past Friday Sept. 14, 2012, Mr. Peace plead guilty to multiple felony charges. And, his punishment is eight years and eight months in jail. He must also register as a sex offender.

It is unlikely that Peace man will be rehabilitated in jail. I am sure though, that his victims are likely to benefit from good therapy and supervision. The takeaway message from me to you is to supervise your teens’ internet activities and keep them out of chat rooms and do that no matter what that takes. Yep, I feel very strongly about this.