WHAT IS AN INSTANT MESSAGE?
Instant message (IM) is form of sending and receiving messages in given moment via internet, between two or more persons that you have on your friend list. Apps with this option are very entertaining because they give an option of fast and current communication with friends as well as the possibility to share data, photos and also have live video chats. Most famous ones are Facebook Messenger, Viber, Skype, What’s App, Skype, Kik, Google Hangouts…
WHAT IS FRIENDS LIST?
Applications like this have list of friends you approved and that you can communicate with at any given moment. You can see when person is online or offline, busy etc. If you don’t want to communicate with someone you also have option to block them.
WHAT IS CHAT ROOM?
Chat room is a place on forum or website where people can communicate. On some forums there are also people who supervise these conversations and track if there is any form of inappropriate communication.
WHY DO KIDS USE CHAT ROOMS?
Chat room is a space where you can talk to people as if you are sitting with them. Young people like them because they don’t feel any restrictions and they feel excited to meet new people.
HOW CAN I REDUCE RISK FOR MY CHILD?
You can reduce risk following some rules you set with your child. It’s very important that you know if your child uses apps like this and always emphasize how important it is to keep his/hers private information and data private. If your child uses IM, it is a good idea to ask him/her to show you how it works- this way you can see his/hers friends list and see if there are some potential predators in his/hers friends list. Set some family rules on time and way of using internet. Always remind your child that it is very dangerous to meet people they met only online without your accompaniment.
REMEMBER!
Parents who think that their child can never become victim of online abuse are not completely aware of reality. No matter if you child is a very good student, if he/she has access to internet there is automatically a chance that he/she could become potential victim of online abuse. It is very important that parents of all socio-economic statuses with different roles in society take this problem seriously and start working together towards solving it.
