Real Life Stories
Be Careful Of Who You Talk To
A 12-year-old boy met someone in a chat area of an online game. The boy decided he wanted to meet his new online gaming friend in person. The boy told his mother about his new online acquaintance. The child's mother used the Internet to seek additional information regarding her son's new online gaming friend. She discovered that her son's new gaming friend described himself as an "Internet predator" of children on his social networking site.
What does this mean?
Sexual offenders may target online games that have chat rooms including interactive web games on computers, and video games played through consoles with access to the Internet. They also use three-dimensional animated characters, referred to as "avatars," to engage youth in online conversations.
What can I do?
- Stay involved and know the games your child is playing. Pay particular attention to games that incorporate a chat component — caution should be used before permitting your child to engage in chat with their opponent(s).
- Be aware of all the contact names on your child's Instant Messenger (IM) list and set the expectation that you must approve any new contacts added.
- Ensure your child always gets your permission before sharing any information or accepting anything. Teach your child about what is meant by personal information and where on the Internet they may be asked for it.
- Some video game consoles come with built-in parental controls — activate this feature if available. Pay attention to what features come with your video game console. For example, you may not want to give your child the ability to voice chat with others.
- Be aware of characters your child may have adopted to represent themselves (referred to as an "avatar"). Ensure your child's avatar is age-appropriate and non-descriptive. Recognize that avatars don't have to represent a person and can be used to mislead children/youth.
- Check out our Popular Activities section for more information on technologies being used by kids and how to make them safer, and our Healthy Friendships and Unhealthy Friendships sections to learn more about how to speak to your children about who are real, true friends online and offline.