Are Kids and Teens Safe in Online Chat Rooms?
The Internet, what a wonderful invention! Could something as useful as the Internet be unsafe for our children?
Lets consider the following scene. You are planning a trip vacation in a few days. You have everything ready. You are packed ready to go on your dream vacation. You leave your seventeen year old son Jason in charge of the house for that week. After all its just a week and you have left him enough money for food and all other expenses he might need while you are gone. You remind him that he is not to open the door to strangers and that no one is to enter the house who are not other family members or friends he knows well. How safe is your seventeen year old son?
Safe or unsafe?
You might think that your teenager is safe. You thought of everything he might need to survive on his own while you are on that one week dream vacation you have waited for so long. You left thinking you are the best parent in the world. You even reminded him that he is not to let strangers in the house. What you did not count on was the computer sitting on your son's desk in his bedroom.
With a few clicks your child can access any site if you don't take measures as a parent to block certain 'bad sites'. What happens if you child lands on a mature website? Your child can view images that are damaging to his young psyche.
When we think about protecting our children we usually never think about that laptop sitting in our bedrooms perhaps. Or that computer you just bought Jennifer to do her school projects and research. But did you know your child is at risk if he or she is not monitored while they surf online?
Something very innocent as a chat room can be dangerous to your child. Anyone can enter a chatting room. Our children get bored sometimes and they might search for chat rooms as a way to entertain themselves and meet new friends. Chat rooms are not bad, they were created so that people can communicate with each other from all parts of our world. What I'm saying is that chat rooms attract both good and bad people. Just like in our work or school there are both good and bad people. What I'm saying is that just as we instruct our kids and teens of the dangers out there in the real world we need to instruct them of the dangers of the cyber world.
What to do?
As a parent the first step is to talk with your child of the dangers of surfing the internet and of meeting and releasing information online or on chat rooms. It's a good idea to monitor your child when they surf the internet. Fins out what sites they visit and why. Always place the computer in a place visible by everyone. Such a place can be the living room. If your teen tells you they want to use a Free Chat Rooms site, make sure you read and find out if the chat rooms are moderated. Moderated chat rooms are a bit more safe since the chat moderators kick out of the chat rooms anyone who is not supposed to be there.
Lets consider the following scene. You are planning a trip vacation in a few days. You have everything ready. You are packed ready to go on your dream vacation. You leave your seventeen year old son Jason in charge of the house for that week. After all its just a week and you have left him enough money for food and all other expenses he might need while you are gone. You remind him that he is not to open the door to strangers and that no one is to enter the house who are not other family members or friends he knows well. How safe is your seventeen year old son?
Safe or unsafe?
You might think that your teenager is safe. You thought of everything he might need to survive on his own while you are on that one week dream vacation you have waited for so long. You left thinking you are the best parent in the world. You even reminded him that he is not to let strangers in the house. What you did not count on was the computer sitting on your son's desk in his bedroom.
With a few clicks your child can access any site if you don't take measures as a parent to block certain 'bad sites'. What happens if you child lands on a mature website? Your child can view images that are damaging to his young psyche.
When we think about protecting our children we usually never think about that laptop sitting in our bedrooms perhaps. Or that computer you just bought Jennifer to do her school projects and research. But did you know your child is at risk if he or she is not monitored while they surf online?
Something very innocent as a chat room can be dangerous to your child. Anyone can enter a chatting room. Our children get bored sometimes and they might search for chat rooms as a way to entertain themselves and meet new friends. Chat rooms are not bad, they were created so that people can communicate with each other from all parts of our world. What I'm saying is that chat rooms attract both good and bad people. Just like in our work or school there are both good and bad people. What I'm saying is that just as we instruct our kids and teens of the dangers out there in the real world we need to instruct them of the dangers of the cyber world.
What to do?
As a parent the first step is to talk with your child of the dangers of surfing the internet and of meeting and releasing information online or on chat rooms. It's a good idea to monitor your child when they surf the internet. Fins out what sites they visit and why. Always place the computer in a place visible by everyone. Such a place can be the living room. If your teen tells you they want to use a Free Chat Rooms site, make sure you read and find out if the chat rooms are moderated. Moderated chat rooms are a bit more safe since the chat moderators kick out of the chat rooms anyone who is not supposed to be there.
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