The Dangers in Teen Chat Rooms

Ready to hit the teen chat rooms? Well hold on there a minute, Chatty Cathy! And that includes you too, Schmoozin' Smith! Chatting online is fun for sure - but if you want to have one of the best experiences that the internet has to offer - you're going to have to learn a few things to keep it safe and free from the danger of chat for teens.

On one hand, chat for teens could be viewed as one of the safest forms of communication there is! After all, there's no way anyone could harm you on the Internet, right? And you're probably miles and miles away from whomever you're speaking with, right?

Well maybe - it's pretty hard to tell unless someone tells you his or her location. But you know what? Once someone tells you where he or she is, the door to danger unlocks and prompts you to open it further. How? - Because you might be tempted to share where you are too. And once you do that, the door opens even wider.

As a teenager, you might think it's okay to share your personal information with another online chatter. Maybe you want to describe how you look or send a picture of yourself to someone so that the other person can imagine or see what you look like while they speak to you. It's just a picture, right? Maybe you want to tell them what neighborhood you live in so that the person you're chatting with can see if you have similar interests.

That's not a big deal, is it? Maybe you want to give them your full name so that the two of you can tell if you have any relatives in common. Everybody does that, right?

But what if the person that you want to share this information with isn't another teenager like you thought? What if that person has been tricking you into giving out your personal information and really has harmful ideas for you? Well if you do any of the above, you've just handed them a virtual identification card so that they can easily find you and... well, we just won't mention it. You've seen the news.

Chat for a teen is a-okay as long as you never reveal any information about yourself that could allow another person to seek you out. This includes things like your full name, a clear photo, your phone number, your address, the name of the school that you attend, your social security number (duh!) - anything that might make it easy for someone to track you down. Because you don't really know who's behind that cute user handle or that cool screen name, you put yourself at risk when you share this kind of stuff!

To be safe, you can create a profile that *almost* describes you. Instead of telling strangers your real name, use the screen name that you want to chat with. Instead of describing yourself or uploading your picture, you can upload a picture of your pet, a group of friends, or a favorite TV character. Instead of telling others what neighborhood you live in, you can tell them the name of your neighborhood's main city.

You're probably thinking this all sounds weird and paranoid but it's really important that you do these things. That way if you chat with someone who's really trying to find you - you've just thrown them a loop and you've kept yourself safe from danger. Cool! You can now chat like there's no tomorrow.