The Xbox and the Eight Hundred Mile Road Trip

By Rhonda Ramsey

P.O.V. Contributing Writer

It is amazing to think of the long way technology has come. Even more amazing, are the things people -- namely children -- are doing with technology, even love connections made over the internet. Take a look at this article from huffingtonpost.com:


"Eight hundred miles is a long way to go to meet any man.

It's even further when you're a 13 year old girl driving your brother's car -- borrowed without permission, of course -- to rendezvous with an online boyfriend whom you've never met in person before.

That's how far Elizabeth Annette Robinson of Cypress, Texas, was willing to go to meet the 12-year-old guy whom she met while playing Xbox over the Internet, according to KHOU-TV.

Last Thursday, Elizabeth decided she'd rather play the game of love for real and stole her mom's ATM card, snuck out her bedroom window, and hopped into her brother's 2011 Nissan Versa, according to KRIV-TV.

Robinson drove north through Arkansas to meet the object of her affection, Dylan, in Nashville, Tenn.

Elizabeth's mother, Tressa Robinson, started noticing some changes in the teen a little while before she made her break.

'She started staying in her bedroom more, isolating herself where she was always with the headset, always talking,' Robinson told the TV station. 'That’s how they communicated through the Xbox.'"


Clearly, the teenage years are very intense, very difficult and often quite confusing. We've all been there, right? In this case, Elizabeth, upset about having her Xbox taken away from her, decided to run away from home to see the boy she had developed a crush on: Dylan.

I cringe to think of the things that could have happened. Dylan could have been a grown man posing as a pre-teen. Elizabeth could have been hurt, driving such a long distance with no license. The possibilities are endless, and the things that kids are doing these days terrifies me.

By age 13, I had had my fair share of crushes. I was allowed to talk on the phone. But I was certainly not on the internet unsupervised, and I would never steal my parents' credit card or car to see a boy. 

According to huffingtonpost.com:  "Elizabeth was taken into custody until her parents arrived. Once they retrieved her from the authorities, they decided to arrange a meeting with Dylan so their daughter could put the thing to rest."


This is a different ending to the story than what I imagined. I cannot even imagine my parents or my punishment. I know for a fact, that my parents would not allow me to put it to rest by arranging a meeting between myself and my crush.

What about you? What was your focus at 13-years-old? Could you see your teenage rebellion so intense that you would steal, sneak and flee your home? What part does technology play in this in your opinion? Do you think parents are slowly "losing" their children to technology?



Source:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/07/elizabeth-annette-robinson_n_1866225.html?utm_hp_ref=weird-news