Chat Rooms

The Internet | Be safe online | Chat Rooms | Virus & Trojans | Phishing | Chatroom Safety

The arrival of the Internet has been a revelation for society. It can help improve the quality of our lives in many ways and has created a whole new way for people to interact and communicate with each other. We can now keep in touch with old friends anywhere in the world, we can make new friends and have access to all sorts of information and people we may not normally get the chance to talk to. Chatrooms are one of the most interactive Internet areas. This is an arena where we can have live, online chats and discussions with lots of people at once…it's just like having an open phone line to all your friends, and many others as well. When you go into a chatroom, everyone can see your messages, but you can still remain anonymous. There is usually some level of supervision in chatrooms, some have people who monitor discussions as they happen, others have supervisors who check what is being typed before anyone else gets to see it.


	While chatrooms can be a fun way of communicating with people, there are also a few things that any young person talking to friends in chatrooms needs to think about: Do you give out personal information, or anything which could help someone identify you or where you live or go to school? Have you thought about meeting, or actually gone ahead and met someone you first met in a chatroom? Have you gone into a private arena in a chatroom, where your conversation is not seen or monitored by anyone else? Have you had comments made to you in a chatroom which made you feel uncomfortable? If you have answered "Yes" to any of these questions, you need to think carefully about your behaviour when you are in the online environment. Here are some pointers which may help you to act more safely in the future: Protect your personal identity: If you use a nickname online, try to keep it neutral, so that anyone seeing it won't immediately know if you are male or female. Stay in the Public Arena of a Chatroom: Sometimes, the person you are talking to in a chatroom will ask you to go to a private part of the site to continue a discussion with them. This is not a good idea, because there are people who use chatrooms as a way of making friends with young people for the wrong reasons. If you feel under pressure or uncomfortable at any time in an online environment, remember you are just one click away from ending the conversation at any point. You are in control. Do not arrange to meet online friends by yourself: Any meeting with an online friend should happen in a busy, public place and you should bring an adult, preferably your parent or guardian.

For further information and guidance on Safety Online you should have a look at:

www.thinkuknow.co.uk

www.chatdanger.com