I recently read an article about a 17 year old girl, named Ashleigh, who was found dead in a field in Sedgefield, County Durham on Monday night; she was kidnapped and murdered by Peter Chapman, a 32-year old sex offender, whom she met via facebook. It has not been concluded whether or not she was sexually assaulted. Studying childcare at Darlington College, Ashleigh was a "well-liked, kind, very bubbly" girl, who was a "always popular." She left her house at 7:00 pm, telling her mother, Andrea, that she would be sleeping over at a friends house, but instead met up with Chapman, never having met him prior to the attack.Andrea, the mother, has been reaching out to other parents who also lost a child in similar situations, and has also been warning other parents about the perils of allowing sites such as facebook without monitoring exactly what their children are doing.
Chapman has been charged with kidnapping and manslaughter.
The head master of Darlington College stated, "We will try to remember Ashleigh not in terms of her passing, but as a student at Hurworth, and one we were all fond of."
Only after her death did her parents find her conversatoins with Chapman on her computer.
I definitely think this is a causionary tale; I don't think it means that no one should have a facebook, but that one should always be safe and careful, and not speak to those that you don't actually know in the "real world."
Read more: (both images) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1223270/Sex-offender-charged-Ashleigh-Hall-kidnap-killing.html#ixzz0VdWQAqOs
This is a really interesting post. It kind of scared me that this kind of thing is not uncommon. I think that it proves a point that parents should be aware of what their kids do on sites like facebook and that kids also need to be aware that this kind of thing is possible of happening.
ReplyDeletethis really brings things into perspective. even things that seem as harmless as facebook can have awful consequences if used in the wrong way.
ReplyDeleteThis is awful. Is it the conversation between ashleigh and peter known? Also, I think this story calls for a lot of common sense. DO NOT allow people you don't know, have access to details of your private life.
ReplyDelete