Safe Chat Rooms
The ultimate goal of safe chat rooms is to provide a secure platform for members to share ideas, hopes, dreams and aspirations without the fear of exploitation or an invasion of privacy. While the Internet offers a world of opportunities to meet people and form relationships on every level, the responsibility of exercising prudent cyberspace courtesies and safety are paramount to successful web-based communications. Most site providers are just as concerned about safeguarding users as local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. News broadcasts are full of reports of victims of cyberspace crime, from the kidnapping and sexual exploitation of minors, to identity theft, impersonation, rape or murder. It is easy for under aged children, teens and young adults to place confidence in individuals they meet in chat rooms. Sometimes predators talk to victims for months, gaining their trust, until an opportune time to arrange a meeting or brazenly solicit teens for sex. Providers of safe chat rooms are keenly aware of the dangers of online communication. Although site administrators cannot guarantee members' safety, some provide 24-hour monitoring and surveillance in order to prevent predators from taking unfair advantage of minors or unsuspecting adults.
There is a dark side to cyberspace; and some online criminals spend a lifetime searching for ways to exploit the innocent. "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19). Logging onto chat rooms, blogs, or questionable websites opens the door to interact with minors and adults who may divulge confidential information. Hackers, stalkers, pedophiles, and other unsavory characters can use Internet access to lure unsuspecting gullible teens away from the safety of their homes; or seduce unwary adults into leaving a spouse or family for promises of romance and intrigue with a perfect stranger posing as a lover. The problem is that the relative freedom and anonymity of the worldwide web encourages individuals to discard inhibitions and imitate the life they fantasize about living. However, the danger is that the same fantasy can quickly turn into a life-altering nightmare with more repercussions than can ever be imagined. Safe chat rooms offer a measure of protection by constantly monitoring and policing electronic communication to determine when users engage in illicit, risky, or illegal online activity.
Many Internet users seek someone to divulge personal concerns and confidences while remaining anonymous. That may very well be the reason that bloggers use profanity or post nude photos of themselves, some very explicit. Inhibitions may become out of control; and the more emboldened users become, the more outrageous the postings. Some women and men who would be too shy or intimidated to reveal personal information or photos are spurred on by respondents who offer money for sexual favors or promises of love and romance. Federal regulations governing Internet access or activity have been slow in cracking down on web abusers, but safe chat rooms try to protect teens and adults from becoming victims of sex crimes, identity theft, or an invasion of privacy.
Cyberspace crimes can also lead to abductions and murder. Illicit online activity may facilitate kidnapping as a result of communication between unsuspecting minors and adults posing as adolescents in order to entice them. Parents should not only monitor minors online; but also install software designed to block certain website activity, such as pornographic sites or adult videos from being downloaded. Engaging in online conversation with Internet pen pals, blogging, or even uploading photos can be fun; but allowing minors to only enter safe chat rooms is one way parents, teachers and guardians can ensure the safety of young children and teens. Twenty-four hour monitoring in safe chat rooms, firewalls, and spyware are just three basic ways to prevent Internet exploitation.
However, the best recourse is for parents to educate children on the dangers of chatting, emailing, texting, or uploading photos and personal information to strangers. Just as Moms and Dads admonish kids not to talk to strangers in person, so should they also warn youngsters about chatting online with unknown individuals who may have ulterior motives. While parents sometimes balk at "invading" a son or daughter's personal space, there is absolutely no harm in checking a minor child's home PC, including emails, instant messages, blogs, and chatting, to determine if contact and conversations have been made with strangers. Aside from insisting that teens use safe chat rooms, parents should ask for a teen's password or insist that access be given to monitor communication on a regular basis. Remember: a child still living at home should be subject to the rules of the house; and unless they are old enough to pay rent for that room, children should still comply with rules which only serve to ensure their safety.
In addition to limiting minor's use to safe chat rooms, parents and educators may want to install software which flags suspicious activity. Some computer programs automatically detect unsafe sites and, based on keywords and phrases, blocks access to objectionable adult sites. Just as search engines target keyword rich content on reputable sites, so are they also enabled to locate pornographic and adult sites based on content, meta tags and encrypted text. Under-aged children are not mentally or emotionally equipped to deal with mature situations which may not only rob them of a normal childhood, but also lead toward a lifestyle that involves drugs, illicit sex, and promiscuity. Only after years of therapy and counseling do some teens ever recover from becoming victims of cyberspace crime. Responsible adults should take charge of youngsters' online communications and wage a vigilant battle against allowing minors to venture down a road of degradation, abuse, and debilitating mental anguish. Twenty-four hour monitoring and specialized software programs are two vehicles parents may utilize to safeguard a minor's Internet activity.
There is a dark side to cyberspace; and some online criminals spend a lifetime searching for ways to exploit the innocent. "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19). Logging onto chat rooms, blogs, or questionable websites opens the door to interact with minors and adults who may divulge confidential information. Hackers, stalkers, pedophiles, and other unsavory characters can use Internet access to lure unsuspecting gullible teens away from the safety of their homes; or seduce unwary adults into leaving a spouse or family for promises of romance and intrigue with a perfect stranger posing as a lover. The problem is that the relative freedom and anonymity of the worldwide web encourages individuals to discard inhibitions and imitate the life they fantasize about living. However, the danger is that the same fantasy can quickly turn into a life-altering nightmare with more repercussions than can ever be imagined. Safe chat rooms offer a measure of protection by constantly monitoring and policing electronic communication to determine when users engage in illicit, risky, or illegal online activity.
Many Internet users seek someone to divulge personal concerns and confidences while remaining anonymous. That may very well be the reason that bloggers use profanity or post nude photos of themselves, some very explicit. Inhibitions may become out of control; and the more emboldened users become, the more outrageous the postings. Some women and men who would be too shy or intimidated to reveal personal information or photos are spurred on by respondents who offer money for sexual favors or promises of love and romance. Federal regulations governing Internet access or activity have been slow in cracking down on web abusers, but safe chat rooms try to protect teens and adults from becoming victims of sex crimes, identity theft, or an invasion of privacy.
Cyberspace crimes can also lead to abductions and murder. Illicit online activity may facilitate kidnapping as a result of communication between unsuspecting minors and adults posing as adolescents in order to entice them. Parents should not only monitor minors online; but also install software designed to block certain website activity, such as pornographic sites or adult videos from being downloaded. Engaging in online conversation with Internet pen pals, blogging, or even uploading photos can be fun; but allowing minors to only enter safe chat rooms is one way parents, teachers and guardians can ensure the safety of young children and teens. Twenty-four hour monitoring in safe chat rooms, firewalls, and spyware are just three basic ways to prevent Internet exploitation.
However, the best recourse is for parents to educate children on the dangers of chatting, emailing, texting, or uploading photos and personal information to strangers. Just as Moms and Dads admonish kids not to talk to strangers in person, so should they also warn youngsters about chatting online with unknown individuals who may have ulterior motives. While parents sometimes balk at "invading" a son or daughter's personal space, there is absolutely no harm in checking a minor child's home PC, including emails, instant messages, blogs, and chatting, to determine if contact and conversations have been made with strangers. Aside from insisting that teens use safe chat rooms, parents should ask for a teen's password or insist that access be given to monitor communication on a regular basis. Remember: a child still living at home should be subject to the rules of the house; and unless they are old enough to pay rent for that room, children should still comply with rules which only serve to ensure their safety.
In addition to limiting minor's use to safe chat rooms, parents and educators may want to install software which flags suspicious activity. Some computer programs automatically detect unsafe sites and, based on keywords and phrases, blocks access to objectionable adult sites. Just as search engines target keyword rich content on reputable sites, so are they also enabled to locate pornographic and adult sites based on content, meta tags and encrypted text. Under-aged children are not mentally or emotionally equipped to deal with mature situations which may not only rob them of a normal childhood, but also lead toward a lifestyle that involves drugs, illicit sex, and promiscuity. Only after years of therapy and counseling do some teens ever recover from becoming victims of cyberspace crime. Responsible adults should take charge of youngsters' online communications and wage a vigilant battle against allowing minors to venture down a road of degradation, abuse, and debilitating mental anguish. Twenty-four hour monitoring and specialized software programs are two vehicles parents may utilize to safeguard a minor's Internet activity.
Safe Chat Rooms
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