Teen Chat Rooms

The freedom and information the world-wide web has given us is a mixed blessing. Our teens have the opportunity to chat with kids from all over the world about any topic that they choose. Friendships are made and soul mates are found in teen chat rooms. Sounds great doesn’t it? If the world were a perfect place with perfect people it would be.

One of the first problems that surfaced when the web and chatting in chat rooms became popular was that sometimes the self proclaimed teens chatting in the chat rooms were not teens at all but much older adult pedophiles masquerading as children. If you have ever seen an episode of to Catch a Predator, you have seen that the risk to our children is very real. They should be cautioned to stay out of the dating and singles chat rooms since the very anonymity that makes the web so wonderful makes children and teens targets for danger.

Making parents and teens aware of the hidden dangers of the web was a first step to protect our young people from child predators. Next steps had to be taken on the web itself to help a little more. Chat rooms now have separate areas for different age groups and interests. They are moderated more with offensive chatters being blocked. Law enforcement officers now monitor the sites frequently when they are suspicious of a problem.

Teens want to chat and it is a great thing for shy teens and can help build self esteem. They can interact with other young people without having to worry about their appearance, popularity and status quo. Although not a complete solution it helps if they frequent the chat rooms intended for their age group. They should be cautioned not to give out their personal information to strangers in the chat areas and to be aware of the fact that you don’t always know who is behind the screen name.

There are teen chat rooms for all ages:

• Kids Chat Rooms - kids 13 to 16
• Teen Chat Rooms - ages 15 to 19
• Youth Chat Rooms - ages 13 to 17

These special teen chat rooms are usually moderated closer than general and adult chat rooms. Unfortunately the very things designed to protect those chatting in the teen chat rooms make them targets for deception by pedophiles and other criminals by making it easy to find them. The best protection is a watchful parent and a computer that remains in the family room.