Chat Safety

While Teen Chat can be fun and seem harmless, it's important to remember that in this day and age, the internet has become a playground for online predators. These people will often pose as a teenager and try to obtain your personal information, such as but not limited to: Your email address, phone number, school, home address etc.. It is crucial to protect yourself and your identity, thus keeping yourself safe from these online predators. Our chatroom moderators are there to help you, but it is necessary to be able to tell yourself, who is a friend, and who is a predator. If your instinct is telling you that something isn't right about someone, you should listen. It is critical to trust these feelings, and when you feel something is wrong, and immediately tell a parent or person in charge about it. To prevent such things, it is important to practice proper netiquette.

  • Use your brain. Things may not be exactly how they seem and it is important to constantly be on the lookout for them.
  • Never arrange to meet someone from the internet without first talking it over with and getting permission from your parents and/or persons in charge. When meeting someone for the first time, always meet in a public place where help can be close if needed, and make sure to bring a responsible adult with you.
  • Do not give out any personal information or details about yourself, your family, or your friends. You don't want your personal details, such as; photographs, full name, email, phone number or school to be in the hands of someone with intensions of doing you harm.
  • Never download or open an attachment or file unless you trust the person who has sent it to you. This includes but is not limited to URLS, private messages, and channel connections. The attachment or file can easily contain a virus that can acquire your personal information through your computer.
  • If you find something disturbing, or think someone may be an online predator, save or print the text, log off, and immediately tell a parent or adult.

    • I'm smart enough to tell the difference between another teen and an online predator - surely I'm not at risk?

    One of the many appeals to a chat room is the amount of anonymity, the ability to remain completely anonymous if so desired. Online predators have become very good at using this to their advantage. These individuals will use all the tricks in the book to get you to agree to something you would otherwise think was completely out of the question. One of their biggest tricks is posing as another teen chatter. The online predator will do anything to develop a connection with you, with hopes of making you agree to meet them in person. Sometimes this can take days, weeks or even months. Without actually seeing a person, we can never really tell if they are telling us the truth, or a lie. Moderators are there to help you determine if someone is a predator, but the best weapon you have against them, is your own instinct. Never agree to meet someone if something doesn't feel 110% right. If you do decide to meet, it is extremely important that you have your parent or guardians permission, and that they go with you. Always meet in a public place where help can be close by if needed.

    Adults posing as minors, Pedophile related activity, or trying to arrange a meeting with someone from our chat room will result in a permanent ban. Chat logs of the offense will be sent to your internet service provider, as well as the police. The act will then be handled by the local authorities.

    It is acceptable to post certain web links in our chat rooms, such as YouTube, MySpace and Facebook as well as other common social networking websites, as long as they are not spammed.

    It is not okay to advertise an outside or external service saying things such as "Come check out this chat room" or "hey, come check out my site". This act will result in an immediate ban.

    It is never okay to post personal information, such as your phone number, email address, instant messenger ID (such as MSN, Yahoo, or AIM) or anything else that could be used to identify you. This will result in our moderators immediately banning you from the chat room.

    Never click on any outside or external link that may be posted in the chat room. Chances are it is a virus that can obtain all your personal information and effects from your computer, this includes but is not limited to your phone number, home address, email address, place of work, credit card information, PayPal account, previously visited sites, and even anything you type on your keyboard. Some people will try to disguise these links by advertising them to be a link to a different chat room, someone's picture or an interesting video. Chances are, it is none of those and your entire valuable and personal information, as well as identity, will be stolen.

    Indecent conversations, offensive text, persistent swearing and racial or discriminative comments will result in the said user being banned from the website for as little as three days or permanently, depending on the violation.

    It is important to understand that we are in no way trying to take the fun out of chatting and meeting new people from all over the world, and exchanging pictures with people you chat with on a regular basis, but the fact is that the dangers are very real. Please remember to use common sense and instinct while enjoying a safe and free chat experience with us. If you ever have a question or are unsure about anything, you can always ask one of our moderators.

    We recommend you now go to our Chat Rules page before you use our chat rooms.