please help with iChat

When buddies on my buddy list have been away for more than 10 minutes, their status is shown as "idle" and I can no longer view their away message.
My roommate is on my buddy list, so I've experimented a little bit. When she's been away for more than 10 minutes, the status switches to idle and her away message goes away, but if I move her mouse it comes back and she's listed as away again. Can I fix this?

There is a preferences that allows people to see if they are idle or not.. at least in AIM there is..

Go to preferences > privacy and check the box that says 'prevent others from seeing that I'm idle' or something. That should do it