Defense Against the Dark Arts (or maybe just against the Dark Creepers)

It's scary to admit, but there are a lot of strange people in this world - perverts, stalkers, creepers, etc. Sometimes, there are just several misunderstood people who think they have something to prove because they've been so mistreated in their lives - therefore, they see it just to seek revenge by taking innocent lives of others. I don't really try to understand the psyche of these men/women, but what I do try to understand is the feelings of the families who have their sons/daughters kidnapped or murdered. How awful must it feel for a mother or father to live for years without knowing how their child is, or how devastating it must be for a parent to be informed that their college daughter has been murdered in a laboratory - i.e. Yale graduate student Annie Le.

When I go to Google.com and type in the search terms "girl missing," I receive approximately 42,600,000 hits. That, in itself, is horrifying. So many people, especially teenage/young girls, are missing on a regular basis throughout the year. Teenage girls who walk on the streets alone, or walk around college campuses at night, are primary targets. Even being in a parking lot at night, alone, can be an easy target for a predator.

What are some tips, my fellow teenage females?
(I know, I've been doing a lot of tip-oriented blurbs these days.)
1) Don't walk alone, anywhere, especially at night. Take a buddy or two, or three, or four! (Just kidding, that might be a little much). Two females really aren't much of a threat though, so maybe take one of your best guy friends!
2) Don't meet strangers online. If you do somehow manage to chat some "guy" up on IM, don't meet them in real life. Don't give out your personal information either. That "cute guy" could be a registered sex offender...or worse?
3) If you have a MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, etc. don't put your real information! If you do, make it private, or protect it somehow. Don't ever put your age, location, name of school, or anything else like that on there. Even pictures can give away hints. (Remember, even if you put fake information, there are these things called hackers who can find out your information through other means).

So that was more like multiple tips combined into three main tips, so hope that gives you a little insight!

I should probably take up some martial arts classes again...you never know when that might come in handy.