Moonshadow
08-21-2009, 09:00 PM
PRECAUTIONS FOR OFFLINE MEETINGS
While it’s usually a great experience to meet other Jedi offline, it is also very easy for someone to create a false identity online or pretend to be someone they’re not. Some people may even use their online persona to purposely mislead or take advantage of others.
Although we do our best to ensure a safe environment for our members at our offline events, there is no way for us guarantee your safety, and you participate in offline meetings at your own risk. Therefore, careful precautions should be taken whenever meeting another person offline, especially for the first time. The following are some tips that may help you.
1) Meet in a well-lit public area with plenty of other people around. Do not allow yourself to be put in a position where you are alone with the other person or in an area where you might be trapped.
2) Drive separately. Do not get into the other person’s car if they offer you a ride to the meeting location.
3) Be sure to tell friends and/or family where you’re going and who you’re meeting. Provide as many details about your location and the other person as possible.
4) If possible, don’t meet alone. Bring a friend along with you for backup and support. There’s safety in numbers.
5) Take a cell phone along in case you need to make a call in an emergency. Have an emergency number ready on speed dial. You can even ask a friend to call you at a designated time to make sure you’re ok.
6) Most importantly, get to know the person online before meeting them in real life. You can never get a full sense of someone’s character online, but it’s still important to get to know them over a period of time before meeting them in person. Even still, there’s no guarantee that the person will actually be who they say they are.
NOTE: If you are underage, we highly recommend that you not meet someone for the first time without an adult present.
If you have any questions or concerns or if you’d like more feedback about a particular situation or person feel free to contact us through the Contact Us (http://jediresourcecenter.org/vb/misc.php?do=form&fid=5) link at the top of the forum.
--Moonshadow
While it’s usually a great experience to meet other Jedi offline, it is also very easy for someone to create a false identity online or pretend to be someone they’re not. Some people may even use their online persona to purposely mislead or take advantage of others.
Although we do our best to ensure a safe environment for our members at our offline events, there is no way for us guarantee your safety, and you participate in offline meetings at your own risk. Therefore, careful precautions should be taken whenever meeting another person offline, especially for the first time. The following are some tips that may help you.
1) Meet in a well-lit public area with plenty of other people around. Do not allow yourself to be put in a position where you are alone with the other person or in an area where you might be trapped.
2) Drive separately. Do not get into the other person’s car if they offer you a ride to the meeting location.
3) Be sure to tell friends and/or family where you’re going and who you’re meeting. Provide as many details about your location and the other person as possible.
4) If possible, don’t meet alone. Bring a friend along with you for backup and support. There’s safety in numbers.
5) Take a cell phone along in case you need to make a call in an emergency. Have an emergency number ready on speed dial. You can even ask a friend to call you at a designated time to make sure you’re ok.
6) Most importantly, get to know the person online before meeting them in real life. You can never get a full sense of someone’s character online, but it’s still important to get to know them over a period of time before meeting them in person. Even still, there’s no guarantee that the person will actually be who they say they are.
NOTE: If you are underage, we highly recommend that you not meet someone for the first time without an adult present.
If you have any questions or concerns or if you’d like more feedback about a particular situation or person feel free to contact us through the Contact Us (http://jediresourcecenter.org/vb/misc.php?do=form&fid=5) link at the top of the forum.
--Moonshadow