my youngest wants to chat on the computer she is 8 is there any safe chat rooms she could use?

Answer 1

None could guarantee safe on line chat for a child; you may create an email account for her and let her chat with her friends from school, but never with strangers.

Please read this story:

After tossing her books on the sofa, she decided to grab a snack and get on-line . She logged on under her screen name ByAngel213. She checked her Buddy List and saw GoTo123 was on. She sent him an instant message:
ByAngel213:
Hi. I'm glad you are on! I thought someone was following me home today. It was really weird!

GoTo123:
LOL You watch too much TV. Why would someone be following you? Don't you live in a safe neighborhood?

ByAngel21 3:
Of course I do. LOL I guess it was my imagination cuz' I didn't see anybody when I looked out.

GoTo123:
Unless you gave your name out on-line You haven't done that have you?

ByAngel213:
Of course not. I'm not stupid you know.

GoTo123:
Did you have a softball game after school today?

ByAngel213:
Yes and we won!!

GoTo123:
That's great! Who did you play?

ByAngel213:
We played the Hornets. LOL. Their uniforms are so gross! They look like bees. LOL

GoTo123:
What is your team called?

By Angel213:
We are the Canton Cats. We have tiger paws on our uniforms. They are really cool.

GoTo123:
Did you pitch?

ByAngel213:
No I play second base. I got to go. My homework has to be done before my parents get home. I don't want them mad at me. Bye!

GoTo123:
Catch you later. Bye

Meanwhile... ...GoTo123 went to the member menu and began to search for her profile. Wh en it came up, he highlighted it and printed it out.
He took out a pen and began to write down what he knew about Angel so far.

Her name: Shannon
Birthday: Jan. 3, 1985
Age: 13
State where she lived: North Carolina
Hobbies: softball, chorus, skating and going to the mall. Besides this information, he knew she lived in Canton because she had just told him. He knew she stayed by herself until 6:30 p.m. every afternoon until her parents came home from work. He knew she played softball on Thursday afternoons on the school team, and the team was named the Canton Cats. Her favorite number 7 was printed on her jersey. He knew she was in the eighth grade at the Canton Junior High School. She had told him all this in the conversations they had on- line. He had enough information to find her now.

Shannon didn't tell her parents about the incident on the way home from the ballpark that day. She didn't want them to make a scene and stop her from walking home from the softball games. Parents were always overreacting and hers were the worst. It made her wish she was not an only child. Maybe if she had brothers and sisters, her parents wouldn't be so overprotective.

By Thursday, Shannon had forgotten about the footsteps following her.

Her game was in full swing when suddenly she felt someone staring at her.
It was then that the memory came back. She glanced up from her second base position to se e a man watching her closely.

He was leaning against the fence behind first base and he smiled when she looked at him. He didn't look scary and she quickly dismissed the sudden fear she had felt.

After the game, he sat on a bleacher while she talked to the coach. She noticed his smile once again as she walked past him. He nodded and she smiled back. He noticed her name on the back of her shirt. He knew he had found her.

Quietly, he walked a safe distance behind her. It was only a few blocks to Shannon's home, and once he saw where she lived he quickly returned to the park to get his car.

Now he had to wait. He decided to get a bite to eat until the time came to go to Shannon's house. He drove to a fast food restaurant and sat there until time to make his move.

Shannon was in her room later that evening when she heard voices in the living room.

"Shannon, come here," her father called. He sounded upset and she couldn't imagine why. She went into the room to see the man from the ballpark sitting on the sofa.

"Sit down," her father began, "this man has just told us a most interesting story about you."

Shannon sat back. How could he tell her parents anything? She had never seen him before today!

"Do you know who I am, Shannon?" the man asked.

"No," Shannon answered.

"I am a police officer and your online friend, GoTo123."

Shannon was stunned. "That's impossible! GoTo is a kid my age! He's 14. And he lives in Michigan!"

The man smiled. "I know I told you all that, but it wasn't true.
You see, Shannon, there are people on-line who pretend to be kids; I was one of them. But while others do it to injure kids and hurt them, I belong to a group of parents who do it t o protect kids from predators. I came here to find you to teach you how dangerous it is to talk to people on-line. You told me enough about yourself to make it easy for me to find you. You named the school you went to, the name of your ball team and the position you played. The number and name on your jersey just made finding you a breeze."

Shannon was stunned. "You mean you don't live in Michigan?"

He laughed. "No, I live in Raleigh. It made you feel safe to think I was so far away, didn't it?" She nodded.

"I had a friend whose daughter was like you. Only she wasn't as lucky. The guy found her and murdered her while she was home alone. Kids are taught notto tell anyone when they are alone, yet they do it all the time on-line.

The wrong people trick you into giving out information a little here and there on-line. Before you know it, you have told them enough for them to find you without even realizing you have done it. I hope you've learned a lesson from this and won't do it again. Tell others about this so they will be safe too?" "It's a promise!"
That night Shannon and her Dad and Mom all knelt down together and thanked God for protecting Shannon from what could have been a tragic situation.

Answer 2

There are several chat rooms you can use that are for children only, but you cannot trust that the other people talking are children as well. I think 8 is a very young age to allow chats and messengers unless they only speak to their friends that have the messenger as well. I have been using a computer since I was 12 and to an extent it was a great experience for me. I love computer now and always have. Being exposed to the internet is a harsh reality that you should not allow your child to experience as of yet. If you do decide to let your child experience chat rooms or the internet in whole I would suggest putting a block on adult sites. Even teen sites can be a little too much for a child of that age. Limit her to a few kiddie sites until you feel she is capable of taking on teenager responsibility at a teenager age. CELL PHONES, INTERNET, etc. should only be given at a certain point in a child's life. anything under 12 I would say is crazy.

Answer 3

There is no reason why an 8 yr. old needs to be chatting on the computer. Too many things that kids want but should not have and I believe this is one of them. But there are websites for kids where they can play games like Disney, Cartoon network. Those are fun for kids because there are learning games, not chat rooms.

Answer 4

chatrooms can be extremely dangerous for children (especially at that age), but if your willing to give it a try. May I recommend AOL's Kids Only chatrooms. Yes, that would require Aol membership, but they have a really good reputation for keeping their child programs safe and stable. They are monitored 24-7 by aol supervisors and AOL gives you the option as to when & for how long your child can remain online. You can block IM's to her s/n...so ur safe in that account. Anyone using vulgar language are automatically removed from the room.

Of course, no chatroom is 100% so whatever you decide, pls take all the necessary actions to ensure she has a wonderful experience.

Good Luck!

Answer 5

If you have AOL then you can create her a screename, and edit the PARENTAL CONTROLS. This will give you the option of seeing what sites she visits and limiting her to child friendly sites with no bad language, nudity or adult forums. Websites such as this one will be blocked too. You can also set the time limit she spends on the computer eg; 1 hour a day.

HERE ARE SOME TIPS AND INFORMATION ABOUT AOL PARENTAL CONTROLS

http://safety.aol.co.uk/your-family/keeping-kids-safer-online/article/20060706113309990013

http://parentalcontrols.aol.co.uk/

YOU CAN ALSO INTRODUCE HER TO CHILD FRIENDLY WEBSITES LIKE..
www.neopets.com OR www.stardoll.com , if you really want to protect her keep a check on what shes doing. Both of these websites are designed specificly for children her age and early teens. When I was little I used them both. You can chat to other children on there if you like too.

Answer 6

Probably not. The difficulty is that you don't know "anything" about the other chat participants, and an 8 year old will almost certainly let slip a few bits of information that taken together will give someone a good chance of identifying her. Don't risk it.

Answer 7

There are no completely safe chat rooms and because of her age I would not let her chat on the internet.

Answer 8

No. An eight year old has no business going into a chat room. If she wanted to go out on a date to the movies would you let her? Of course not. She needs to wait until she is older for a lot of things, chatting on the Internet is one of them.

Answer 9

None could guarantee safe on line chat
im only 7 and would like to chat to her
wrong i am 52 see what i mean

Answer 10

I wouldnt let her to be honest with you, shes too young for chat rooms

Answer 11

my daughters are coming up to 11 and 10...no way o.zay..i don't even trust my-self going into a chat -room myself...not been funny , but you don't know what perverts come on this site, and i ll tell you now there's been a few fruit cakes on this site? if she wants to talk , invite a friend round...D. T. A. dont./trust/anyone..........