DEAR ABBY: My letter is in response to "Grace in Tampa, Fla.," who was worried about her daughter and her daughter's friend chatting with a boy on the Internet.
The parents have every cause to be worried and should get the girls off the Internet, but perhaps they shouldn't go to the extreme of saying she cannot even WRITE to the boy. Why don't they check him out, verify who lives at the address, and speak with him to see what he is like?
If things check out OK, they should read the letters he has already written to make sure the correspondence is appropriate, and if it is, let the teen keep in touch with him by letter.
As for the girls being home alone every afternoon, those parents should get them busy! As someone who chats online on occasion, I know that most people who are chatting have no life, and chatting is their only entertainment. Teens should have more to do than chat online. Get them into a Big Sister program, volunteer groups, Girl Scouts, sports -- something to help them build skills and develop their sense of self. Once they are active and have plenty of outside activities, the Internet will lose its allure. -- LAURIE IN PORTLAND, ORE.
DEAR LAURIE: Your answer is better than mine, and I thank you for it. Since this topic has received so much publicity recently, may I add: A computer can be a powerful tool for learning, as well as a rich resource of entertainment. However, it is not, and never was intended to be, a baby sitter.
I agree with you that a computer is no substitute for activities where young people mingle, interact, and learn social skills as well as how they, as individuals, can contribute to their communities.