is it okay to let my 13 year old daughter talk in a chat room?

Question

if you know any "safe" chatroom for a 13 year old, that would be great.. thank you

Answer 1

NO!

the internet is a bad place, would you let your 13 year old have random conversation is lets say...a Bar? or...a halfway house?

Of course not.

I'm 23 and I won't get in to chat rooms because I know what kind of people are generally lurking in their.

So yeah, get your kind on regular internet long before you allow them to directly communicate with someone.

And if they are online, either you or a "net nanny" better be watching?

Answer 2

There is no such thing as a safe chatroom.
buy software called a keylogger, tell her you are putting it on the computer and will be checking it regularly, keep your computer in a public room. A keylogger records all keystrokes, websites visited, copies of the pictures being sent back and forth etc. Explain it is for her safety, show her newspaper articles that talk about what happened to otehr girls who met strangers off the net or even papers discussing adults concerns over youths and the internet. It isnt an invasion of privacy, it is the smartest thing for parents to do. We gotta watch our kids. She could have some sort of a messenger service like MSN or yahoo messenger where she can add her friends and chat with them online, but for the most part, kids shouldnt be talking to strangers online, there is at least one predator in almost any chatroom you can find.

Answer 3

I personally dont know of any safe chat room. Since the internet is an open ended place for people to be someone else. I am 23 years old female. And I could log in a "safe" chat room and pretend to be a 14 year old girl. If I can do it what makes you think that a 43 year old pedofile cant do the same thing. You need to watch her when she is in the "safe" chat rooms. You need to be there with her if she is going to be in one at all. There are just too many things that could happen. You need to watch out for her safety other than trying to please her by letting her do something she wants. Personally my daughter will not be allowed when she is that age or possibly even older than that. We live in a sick sick world.

Answer 4

I hate to break it to you, but there are no real "safe" chatrooms for teenagers. It's just not a good idea. Teenagers, especially, 13 year-olds will spill their guts about anything and everything with anyone online. myspace is definitely out of the question!

I am pretty sure you monitor your child's computer time, and that is exactly what you should be doing. The Internet, for teenagers, is a learning tool; they shouldn't use it for recreational purposes. Investigate the so-called "safe" chatrooms yourself and see what I am talking about.

Answer 5

I don't think it is a good idea for many reasons. When I was in high school, I started going into chat rooms. I got into getting attention from people I didn't need to. I started making "friends" online and not trying at school. I also would talk to people much too old. I am 21 now and I cant even stand going into a chat room. There are WAY too many sexual predators who will say anything they can to make your daughter trust them. I do not believe there is a "safe" chat room.

Answer 6

There aren't very many "safe" chat rooms out there for children, simply because they are open to anybody. I've seen rooms where the theme is Harry Potter and there is a great deal of swearing and sex talk. You could try supervising your daughter as you look at chat rooms, and trying to find one where there are more of her peers. But you will want to check in regularly to make sure no adult or inappropriate element has come into the room,including porn bots.

Answer 7

There is no such thing as a "safe" chatroom, as predators lurk in them all, especially those labeled for kids. I suggest you keep her computer in a common room and periodically check on her. Make sure she knows not to give out any personal information, including first or last name, picture, email, address, street, town, phone number or school. Tell her if she is sent something that makes her uncomfortable to tell you right away, and limit her chat time to no more than 30 minutes. You can't be completely safe, but you can try to lessen the risk.

Answer 8

The media really gets people hyped up about the internet, its new and its whats to be expected. The internet is just a new way to socialize and its healthy especially for introverted people who would otherwise have a difficult time. Its also much safer than "real life" because its rather difficult to harm someone over a chat room compared to how easy it is in the rest of the world despite what the media would have us believe its rather obvious. Study after study show that children who grow up in repressive environments have serious problems later in life.

Answer 9

The internet is a very scary place. Even a so-called "safe" chatroom that is designed for children can be easily corrupted by adults who lie about their age and create fake profiles. In all honesty, I would have to say, no, it is not safe to allow a young girl to chat online.

Answer 10

No. A 13 year old shouldn't be in any chat room. How do you know who she is talking to. She should be out playing, or riding her bike. The internet is very dangerous for children to say the least.