Is it safe to let teens interact in chat rooms on the Internet?
Question My teenager wants to get involved with social networking and online chat rooms. I’ve read some of the teen conversations on the sites she wants to visit, and they seem relatively harmless. But I’m still afraid of losing control over my child’s interactions with her peers. What’s your opinion about this? Answer Your parental instincts are right on target. While the Internet can be a wonderful educational and communication tool, it can also be a dangerous place for unsuspecting young teens. According to a Congressional report, one out of five kids has been solicited online for sex, usually by someone they met in a chat room or through instant messaging. The Kaiser Family Foundation tells us that 70 percent of teenage Internet users have accidentally encountered pornography on the Web, and that half of those kids said they were very upset by the experience. We’ve all heard horror stories about teens and pre-teens being abducted and raped by sexual predators whom they met online.
