ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — It was your usual start-of-school assembly. Young men eager to show off and young women paying close attention while at the same time, studiously ignoring them.

Typical middle-school stuff at Central Baldwin Middle School.

Then Tommy Loftus started speaking. Loftus is a former police officer, and he regularly lectures on Internet safety.

Robetsdale Police Cheif Brad kenderick

How many of you have a computer at home?” Loftus asked.

Almost all the students and faculty raised their hands.

“How many of you have a page on Facebook or Myspace,” he asked, naming two of the more popular “social networking” sites on-line, where people can chat with friends, locate old friends and make new acquaintances.

Almost all the students and faculty raised their hands.

Loftus then asked if any of the pictures had things that could identify the youngsters, either a shirt with a school name emblazoned on it or an otherwise innocent photo with a street sign in the background.

“If there is anything like that, please go and take them down,” said Loftus.

Loftus explained that photo coupled with the youngster’s town name and state (a staple on social networking sites) could lead a potential predator to them.

The sites are, for the vast majority of people, innocent fun, but it is better to be safe than sorry. Loftus did not advocate taking down the sites, but for students to be careful.

“That information allows that person to know who you are and where you live,” said Loftus. He also urged the youngsters to remove their town name from their profiles, saying that their home state would do.

That can be frightening, especially when Loftus told the assembly that predators have been known to “hang out” in front of schools, pick up their target with high-powered binoculars and then track down their home address and other personal information.

Predators are also adept at posing as young people. Loftus demonstrated with the photos some convicted predators used with their online persona. The students went “ewwwwww,” when the actual mug shots of the offenders were shown. For the most part, the felons were considerably older than their online photos would indicate.

“Just because someone tells you they like the same things you do, it does not necessarily mean you are the same age,” Loftus warned.

“There are about 650,000 registered sex offenders in the United States,” Loftus told the students. “Chances are, there is a sex offender living near you.”

Loftus played several vignettes from youngsters who were tricked by online predators.

“This happens to boys and girls you age all over the country,” Loftus said.

While it may seem to be impossible to protect yourself online, Loftus had a few simple rules to keep safe while chatting with friends via computer. The first is to take hometown and other identifying information off a profile. The second is to talk to a trusted adult, a parent, Scoutmaster, teacher, guidance counselor or clergy member should someone you’ve met online asks you do do something that makes you uncomfortable. Finally never meet anyone you’ve met online “F2F” or face-to-face.

Loftus also had some advice about “cyberbullying,” a term that applies to a youngster or a teen being harassed or embarrassed via the Internet. The bullying has led to tragedies.

While it’s not possible to completely eliminate the problem, Loftus suggested that spreading rumors, gosip or information online is not always a good idea. “If you can’t say something in front of someone,” don’t say it. “

“Think of the way you’ll feel the rest of your life.” Loftus said about comments that have led youngsters to take drastic action.

He also added that once something a photo or a comment is posted online, “you lose control of it.”

“There is a huge need for this,“ Loftus said before the program began. “Parents need to know what their kids are doing.”

He suggested that there is software on the market that will monitor a youngster’s activity on a computer.

However, no software is needed to check a computer’s “internet history,” which is available on most browsers.

“Check the history,” said Loftus. “If it is cleared, you know something is going on.”