Internet and Text Chatrooms

You can explore chatrooms or chat environments via the Internet and via text messaging (or TXTchat).  It is a quick and easy way to meet new people. We'd like you to pause a moment though and think about chatrooms - what are they?

If you picture a quiet room with 15-20 people who are all your friends - think again. Picture a party with 500 people, or 2,000 people or 30,000 people attending. Now add to the picture that the room is pitch black so you cannot see what anyone looks like, and voices are distorted so you cannot even tell if they are male or female. That is a truer picture of an Internet or text chatroom.  You cannot be sure of anyone's identity.

Would you walk into such a party and hand out your phone number, your home address or your photo? Of course not; that would put you in a very unsafe situation. It is just as unsafe to give out that sort of information in a chatroom without taking the time to get to know someone first.

If you want to meet someone face to face, it is important to set that meeting up safely. Your new chat friend doesn't have to have your personal information like real name, address etc before you meet.  You can keep it anonymous.  (If you are a teenager, it is wise to let a parent or caregiver know that you are meeting a new friend from the Net or from text messaging and how you have set the meeting up.  If you are under 16, you might want to take that parent with you.) 

What can help keep a meeting safe?

Meet in a public place with lots of people.  Take a mobile phone in case something goes wrong.  Definitely take a few friends with you.  If a new friend urges you to come alone or pressures you for personal information - drop them.  They are a bad risk.  A good new friend should want you to feel safe, and to be safe themselves, as you take the friendship to a more serious level.

Don't just tell a friend if you are going to such a meeting.  If that friend isn't with you, they can't be of any help if something goes wrong.  Take them along.  They can help you make some decisions about your new friend.  If this new friend is not how they represented themselves to you, or something about them makes you feel uncomfortable, don't give any further personal information and leave as soon as possible.  Don't respond if they text or email wanting further contact.  If they become a nuisance, or threatening, report them to the chatroom monitor or your mobile phone company.  If the threats are serious, report them to the Police.

There is the potential to meet some wonderful friends on the Net or via text messaging.  The Internet Safety Group (ISG) here in New Zealand is urging young people just to be cautious as you meet new and interesting people through these technologies.