Free Kids' Chats

Many children love interacting with other kids, and free kids' chats can be a fun activity. Read on for some tips on staying safe and getting the most out of children's internet chat rooms.

One of the primary concerns parents have in today's Internet-dependant world is safety. Although free kids' chats have many advantages, safety should always be considered first. Unfortunately not everyone who registers in a children's chat room will be a child, and while law enforcement tries to keep a careful watch on potential criminals, new sites are popping up constantly and making this a difficult task.

Some safety tips for children's chat rooms include:

• Look for moderated (supervised) children's chat rooms.
• Look for age-appropriate chat rooms.
• Never give out any personal information, such as phone number, address, or school location.
• Use parental controls to filter inappropriate chat sites from the computer.
• Never download pictures or email attachments sent from chat room participants.
• Never allow children to upload pictures of themselves onto chat room profiles.
• Monitor your child's chat account and e-mail.
• Have your child use a safe nickname rather than his or her real name.
• Teach your child how to save chat logs to have a record of any questionable interactions.
• Teach your children that they should under no circumstances arrange to meet anyone from an online chat room.
• Limit Internet chat room usage.
• Avoid personal or private chats.

Although free kids' chats are a great place for children to express their opinions, they still have to mind their manners and get your permission. Most chat rooms for children include specific hours or schedules when the chat will be open or monitored, and most require parental permission to use the chat site and/or parental registration.

Most kids' chats also post a list of rules that must be followed in order to participate in chats. These rules may include:

• No "flaming," or name-calling or offensive language.
• No flooding the screen (entering large amounts of text, thereby not allowing others to respond).
• No scrolling, or hitting the return key repeatedly, to prevent someone from seeing what you posted.
• No posting of links to other websites.
• No "SHOUTING", or writing in all caps.
• Polling, or requiring other chatters to answer specific questions.

Rules vary depending on the chat room, but basic rules of netiquette almost always apply.

Free kids' chats are available in a variety of areas. Although the majority of children's chat rooms are basic chats in designated age ranges, there are some chat rooms available for specific affiliations of groups. Sites offering free chat rooms for kids include:

• Kidz World
• Kids Chat.net
• Karate Angels Karate Chats
• Disney Chat
• isafe Kids Chat Room

If you want an interactive Web experience without the chat rooms, you can rest assured you'll find plenty of great options. Many sites for kids offer areas where kids can speak their minds, offer tips, ask for advice, and much more without the worries of a chat environment. Check out American Girls' You Said It! or PBS Kids' It's My Life for examples.

Please note LoveToKnow is not affiliated with, nor advocates any Website or kids chat room.

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