DEAR ABBY: I am a 13-year-old girl. One of my best friends, "Emmy," has been doing something I think is very dangerous. She has been dating online with people she has never met. She told me she recently had gotten engaged. Abby, she's only 14!
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Emmy doesn't have a ring because this supposed "fiance" lives in Michigan, whereas we live in Tennessee. I have tried to tell her she will get hurt, but she won't listen. She has actually gone to meet some of these people. But her parents and I go with her to make sure it isn't some pervert in his 50s.
I really don't know what to do that won't make her mad at me or cause me to lose a friend. Please help. -- WORRIED IN COTTONTOWN, TENN.
DEAR WORRIED: It appears you not only have more brains than your 14-year-old friend, but also more than her parents. Why they would tolerate, much less encourage, their daughter's online romantic liaisons boggles the mind.
If you want to be her friend, you have my blessing; she certainly needs one. However, please do not accompany her to any more of those meetings. The next person might not be a pervert in his 50s, but a couple of perverts in their 20s or 30s, and you could be putting yourself in danger.