I understand the mom's pov but reading everything does seem a little excessive. But it's true, with today, it's a scary thing and parents are just scared and want to protect their kids^^;;

I mean, I made online friends too...but I wasn't naive...don't meet up with anyone privately and use your intuition...if someone's giving off the creeps, block them. And never give out personal information that can trace to your location! Remember your conversations too...always be suspicious if you hear one thing and then a different thing the next day, week, month, etc.

But I've met some pretty good online friends over the past couple of years so I wouldn't block out the idea of talking to 'strangers' completely. Forums are nice :) its getting to know people in a public setting =D