Chat Rooms

How can I make it safer?

Limit the amount of time your adolescent spends online.
Know who your adolescent is communicating with online.
Know your adolescent's login information and email addresses. What username or character names has your child given her/himself? Does it provide identifying characteristics about her/him or her/his hobbies (e.g. shygirl, bookworm, etc.)?
Monitor your adolescent’s increasing independence. Even though adolescents may appear as though they can handle certain situations, they actually require and unconsciously seek adult guidance and supervision.

Reinforce to your adolescent the public nature of the Internet and let her/him know you will supervise her/his online activity.
Ensure that your adolescent understands that s/he can talk to you about anything s/he comes across on the Internet without fear of losing Internet privileges.
Teach your adolescent that it is illegal for people to manufacture, possess or distribute naked or sexually explicit pictures of children under 18 years of age.
Discuss with your adolescent the concept of dignity and self-respect and how it can be preserved or destroyed by messages sent online and offline.
Suggest your adolescent review Respect Yourself, a website designed to teach teens about the risks they face when sending pictures or videos by email, Instant Messaging (IM) or by posting them online. This site guides teens through the risks and provides them with strategies to help keep them safe.