Chat Room Dangers

Going into an Internet chat-room is a great way to have fun and make new friends.

But you need to be careful. You can’t see or hear the people you talk to in chat-rooms and sometimes they lie about who they say they are. They may be men who are a lot older than you, for example. They could lie about their age.

Some men and women go to young people’s chat-rooms because they want to meet young people on their own to have sex with them, or sexually abuse them. These people are called paedophiles and they can be very dangerous.

What to look out for:

Here’s how to stay safe in chat-rooms:

Don’t use your real name.
Don’t lie about your age.
Don’t give out your email address, mobile number, home address or school address.
Don’t post your photo in a chat room.
Use public chat-rooms where there are lots of people, not private chat-rooms where there are only two people.
Don’t agree to meet anyone you’ve met in a chat-room unless you can take one of your parents/carers along too.

What to do:

If you think that someone in a chartroom is lying about who they are, email the person who’s in charge of the chat-room.
Warn your friends about this chat-room.
Don’t use that chat-room again – find another one that’s safer.

Is your friend in danger?

Tell them not to meet up with anyone they have met in a chat-room.
Tell them not to give out personal details.
Support them and encourage them to tell someone about what is happening

Contacts:

Child Exploitation and Online Protection Website

Chat Danger Website

Chat Room Dangers