Safe Chat Rooms

Be SMART in Chatrooms

Safe: Keep safe by being careful not to give out your personal information - such as your name, email, home address, school name or phone number - to people online. Always keep your passwords secret, and only give your phone number to people you already know and trust offline.

Meeting: Meeting someone you have only been in touch with online can be dangerous. If you feel that you 'have to' meet, then for your own safety you must tell your parent or carer and take them with you - at least on the first visit. Make sure you arrange any meeting during the day and in a public place.

Accepting: Accepting emails, messages on IM or opening files, pictures or texts from people you don't know or trust can lead to problems. They may contain viruses which can wreck your computer, or nasty messages and images. If you use picture messaging you could also get images via your mobile phone that upset or frighten you.

Reliable: Someone online may be lying about who they are. Remember that people online may not be who they say they are, and so online "friends" are really strangers, no matter how many times you have chatted with them, unless you know and trust them in the "offline world."

Tell: Tell your parent or carer if someone or something makes you feel uncomfortable or worried A lot of parents don't know much about the Internet so it will really help you and help them if you can show them that you are taking the issue of safety online seriously and you are trying to keep safe. And sometimes they may be able to help you!

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