Now THAT is hilarious!!!! (Sure it wasn't just old gym socks?)
About cyberstalkers... there have always, ALWAYS been stalkers, rapists, and child molestors, our fantasies of "the good old days" notwithstanding. Always. We just are better at recognizing and looking out for these criminals now. That said, no reason to be paranoid. I have one relative who has gone WAAAAAAY to the other extreme in (I think) a misguided attempt to "protect" the kids. What has happened is that the mother has made the kids terrified in abnormal ways and undermined their self-sufficiency and normal development. This in turn puts them at *greater* risk of predation by keeping them ignorant of even the most basic information (that is, deliberately preventing them from dealing with such topics by avoiding them altogether). Wishing the boogeyman away won't make him disappear. Teaching the kid how to recognize the boogeyman (and how to fight back) is far more effective, IMHO.
It's only in recent years that we've really as a culture begun to discuss sexual predators, thanks to the courage of survivors who stood up and took away the shame associated with such crimes, and thanks to the much-maligned media and law enforcement officers who finally took a more proactive stance to covering such crimes as a result.
So I would respectfully disagree that there is more danger. What there IS more of is communication about this issue--and that can only be a good thing.
BTW, there are really dandy little handheld radios WITH GPS MAPPING built in now! Surely there's a marine version with NOAA charts. Your kid would get a kick out of that and you would rest easier. (When he's not grounded.
)