do u think it is safe for kids???

Wait, I think my grammar is incorrect. What I mean is chatting is not safe for kids and adults alike

i actually never looked at it like that and you have a very good point. there are adults who get themselves into trouble by giving out way to much info because we think we knowm more than we do about chat rooms. also i do agree if we know the person personally and we are chatting just because it is easier and we are both online that is way diffrent than talking to a stranger you do never know who that stranger really is. people lie over the internet everyday...

Yes, just like social networking sites like facebook. We could create a whole identity for ourselves and befriend just anyone. It is a scary world out there, as what they would say so we need to be careful with whom we are dealing with.

Yup! I agree with you, my friend. The facts also is that hard to guard our kids in terms of using the internet because they are appear to be stubborn if we stop them using it. Better to educate them always on how to used the internet properly and whom they should meet or not to entertain to avoid anything happen that not's good

you can only do so much. you can tell them day in and day out all of the dangers of chat rooms and yiou can keep a very close eye on what they do and i guess in the end you just have to hope that it was enough to keep them safe. I am very scared for kids now a days because it really is a crazzy world out there and it is very easy to fall victim to the internet.

very very true!! the more you tell them not to do something or you cant do something they will want to do it more and usually they will find a way and then they will do what parents do not want them to do. it is better for them to be informed because i am sure some will get on it sooner or later and if they were never educated about these things then how will they know it is unsafe?

I knew a lot of those tricks too, that's why when I go over to the computer, I check out ALL tabs, not just the screen that is showing. Parents are more savvy than they used to be to the tricks of kids. Hugs, Maggie

that is very true. i tell everyone if i didnt do it their daddy did so my kids are in trouble if they ever try to get away with anything lol. when i was a kid and i always was online i used a lot of tricka so they did not know what i was doing and i will keep those in mind when my kids get up to that age to do the same thing :) that is what makes things a little safer in my opinion the parents who did things as kids no better for their kids and so on and so on....so it isnt so nad when we break the rules hahaha

yea many times that i make a password it is easily figuered out if you were really trying to..as far as kids not going in to places they should not i am not sure that that is 100% true but may b times have changed and every kid is not me...when i was a kid i would pull more than 1 tab up and minimize it just as quick as i could when my grandfather was coming over to the computer. also when i was told not to go into something or a site i would do it just because i was told NOT to. now on the other hand i think that if i knew what i do now when i was a kid i would have listened to what i was told a lot more!!

I don´t believe in locking hids either, but they should earn their freedom. In my house (many years ago though) I did not let the kids watch TV before their homework was done. And they also had a few chores at the house. They don´t seem to have been harmed by that upbringing.

when i say "locked up" i have just seen a family where their mom will barely let her out of her sight and its like she has 0 privacy and no freedom to do ne thing... when i was growing up i also could not watch tv or play with anyone if my homework was not done. i also had to do my homework in the kitchen while grandma was cooking dinner that way she knew i was doing my homework and not doing other things. i think every kid needs chores but some parents over exaggerate the amout of chores they made their kids do (not sayin you jsut a few people i know). i do not think that is a bad way to raise your family either lol i actually think it is a great way. when they r kids i am sure they hate it and think u are being mean (i know i did) but n the end it helps them get farther in life and we all want our kids to do well in this world when they are all grown up.

i agree many kids are just left to do as they please. if parents had a little more control then i think things would be a little better/easier for most people. on the other hand i am a full believer in if you keep you kids locked up under very strict rules with out a little bit of freedom they will sometimes rebel and rebel bad and then there will be no control left.

I didn't mean tell when I said that. I was thinking one of us will go and do put in the computer or something. Knowing my husband he would jack up the computer no matter what. Even when a kid has a computer with passwords and stuff some kinds are smarter then the parents. I between me and my husband as teenagers we got past a lot of those parent blockers and stuff. It all just depends on what your searching for and how you word it even then it doesn't stop certain things getting throw the parent blocks and passwords. But it does weeded out a lot of thing stuff you don't want your kids going to or getting into. After a certain age you just got to trust your kids and that they will the right things even if they end up on a site they know they shouldn't be on or talking to someone they shouldn't be talking to do know what to do. My parents had trust me at 16 that I would do the right thing with having a computer in my room. I never got the computer taken way or my cell phone so that was good on me.

i agree with you. my husband and i were also kind of like that. if i didnt so it he did so my kids may be in trouble when they try to get away with things lol. and i have also noticed sometimes you type in 1 thing and you get something completely diffrent. i guess as a child gets older you know better who they are and you learn to trust them by their actions and that is when you will truely know if they are responsible enough to have their own computer and will do the right things on it when they are allowed to be on it...o ok i may have read it wrong when u said "tell" but that is the best way to do things i guess to try and protect them the best we can and that way you know the site they are going to when you have to "type" in a password for them to go on it :)

that is a good way to look at things...i think if it was me and i gave them a computer in their room i would still lock a lot of sites and like u said they would have to talk to me to go into a psw protected area and i would just type the password n and not tell it to them to use at a later date. it seems that the works is just getting worse not better and i am worried that all the inocent kids are going to fall victim to the world of the chat rooms where like u said u never know who is actually on the other end...ex they can say they are the same age as you are and all the fun things they do and they want to meet up after months of chatting and they have u convinced u trust the and then in all reality it is this older man who is looking for nuthing but excitement...it will b hard for me toallow my kids online and at first i will b right next to them making sure they know what is acceptable on the computer and what is not.

very true. they only see/believe what they are told through the chat and that stuff is not always true...it isnt safe for adults either but atleast we have a better understanding on how to stay safe. kids they just think it is fun and sometimes it can get them into A LOT of trouble!!

the internet in a whole is a very scary and unfamiliar world. blocking sites is a good way to prevent some sites from being seen but sometimes that isnt enough. some kids know how to get thro that and then again they are always coming out with new things and if we dont keep up to date on all the new internet things (which is so hard to do since the internet has so much sontent in it) then there is always something that our kids can get in to out there.

so very true :) i know the internet was creadted to help everyone find information quickly and easily but sometimes i think that it is the worst thing that people can get in to....

wow yes this is all a great point...most kids will do what you tell them not do more just because you said "no". i would rather my children do it under my supervision than to go behind my back and do it and get into the wrong people. almost everyone i know has atleast been into a chat room at one time or another. I will say that i like chat rooms because you can learn a lot of diffrent places around the world and the people from those areas (lifestyle, culture, beliefs, marraige, ect.). the same things are done in diffrent ways all around the worls it is very interesting to hear about. u may have changed my mind about how to treat the situation when my kids get to that age.. :)

what is the safe block system? i have never heard of that... it is a little early for me to worry about but i know it isgoing to happen andi need ideas to stop it before it starts lol. i also agree with you because when i was a kid i did the same thing but i think it was with myspace. i was n a lot of trouble when they found out i had made one but after my grandpa looked at it he was ok with me having one. i am not very good with computers but i know that my husband knows how to check the history so that wil be a routine check at night. lets just hope they do not delete that to lol

I think that what you are doing is a great way to protect your kids and keep them safe. i am sure they think it is unfair and mean. in then end they are home safe where they belong. one day when your kids have a family they will understand you were doing it out of love. i had to have permission to go on any new site and/or download ne thing (mostly the chat bars yahoo,msn,ect). i hope it is enough to keep our kids safe sometimes i think they should take the chat rooms away. i know people use them a lot but may be put better restrictions on how you qualify to be on. i know sounds like a lot of work so itll never happen but its a nice thought. :)

that is sooo true. i have gone into a chat room here and there and the 1st thing people want to know is your asl then if ur single and then all the profanity and nasty talk comes...y is that all people think of in a chat room? cant people just go there to have a nice talk and enjoy themselves??

i agree for the most part...when we were kids we werealways in diffrent chat rooms talking to diffrent people and we gave out way to much info at times. i think that having the parents make the account and like the credit card thing would be a great way to narrow out the bad people but there will always be a few that know how to work the system and get away with it. as far as emailing the whole conversation may b there should b a flag if they talk about something certain or volgure stuff may b then email it to the parents i am not sure that emailing everything is the best choice but then again it would b a great way help with the problem and possibly stop some very bad behavior before it gets out of hand.

this is a great point and i agree with everything you just said. i will allow my kids online but i will b watching very closely. i think there should b some kind of law that says kids under a certain age are NOT allowed online or atleast in chat rooms because sometimes schooling involves the use of the internet. when i do allow it they will b givin a time limit and they will get off when the time is up even if they are not done talking...i know sounds mean but in all honesty they already will know the limit and they should earn there time on there and b safe all at the same time and i will check the history right after to make sure i didnt miss something because i know when i was a kid i would hide some of the tabs from my grandparents..

i never thought of this side of things before. many chat rooms do want a lot of personaly information for your profile. who knows what they really do with all the information.

that is very true i have heard of a lot of adults who do nothing but stay online and chat to people in chat rooms..

very true...many kids can be fooled way easier than the adults so you have to be way more careful with a kid and who they are talking to.