Quote Originally Posted by underwhere View Post
...I think the best we can do for newbies is to let them know that they need to take care of themselves and ensure their own personal safety and well-being. Ultimately, we can only be responsible for ourselves, after all. I've seen lots of efforts at that in the welcoming threads if somebody thinks perhaps a person has introduced themselves with a little more than what might be wise. Being able to point such things out is really important. Whether or not newbies heed such advice, if it is given, is really up to them. Any one of us, I'm sure, could be a reasonable guide, but if somebody is determined to not be guided, there really isn't much any of us can do here to prevent potential bad situations from occurring.
Sadly, I believe this is the bottom line and it is no different than trying to teach your teenager from the benefit of your own mistakes *winks* we all know they know far more than we do - the old adage...."our kids think it's incredibly amazing how stupid we (parents) are when they are 16 years old, but are even more amazed at how much we've learned by the time they are 20"