There’s a great sense of camaraderie when you enter an online chat room. You can be yourself without fear of recrimination. No one knows who you are, so you’re “safe”.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  The dangers of online chats are all too often played out on the evening news.  Here are some ways to help those you love or yourself from being a statistic.[ad]

* Don’t give out personal information in online chat rooms, forums, or over instant messengers unless you personally know the people you’re chatting with.  This rule goes for your children and yourself.

* Teach your children to be very selective about who they trust online. This means, if they meet someone new online, don’t assume they are who they say they are.  There are quite often people that pretend to be something they’re not in order to lure people, unfortunately mainly young children or teenagers, into a false sense of security.

* Tell your children and loved ones to avoid meeting people in person that they’ve met online, particularly if that person is pushing the meeting.  Make sure they tell you about anyone who asks to meet them in person.  If they feel they must meet this person, offer to go with them as long as they meet in a public place and in broad daylight.  Then, be very careful of the contact they have with your child afterwards.

* Stay with your child if they are chatting online so you can help them stay in charge of what’s being said.  Don’t allow them to give out personal information such as their name, address, telephone number, private email addresses, or pictures. Offering up personal information just makes anyone vulnerable, and you don’t want that.

* Check your profile to be sure you, or they, haven’t already divulged too much personal information.
 
* If you or your child is online and the conversation changes and makes you uncomfortable, log out.  Go as far as deleting that username and create a new one.  Make a note of the offending party and stay out of conversations with them.  Don’t be afraid to block a username, either.  It is your right not to have to deal with offensive or bullying people.

* If a conversation really turns offensive, save a copy of the chat just in case the person decides to stalk you or your child and you need to report them.

Online chats don’t always lead to sexual predators.  Sometimes they entice children, teens, and even adults to do things they would never consider at any other time – stealing, purchasing illegal drugs, self-mutilation – these are all things that can be found online.
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