Chatting online for kids under 13 is possible with the use of free chat rooms for kids and chat rooms for kids within instant messengers and online communities. Finding the right chat room for your child is possible by reviewing a few tips to find the most suitable virtual world for your child, whether you have 11-year-olds or if you are seeking a 12 and up random chat room that is suitable for kids.

Why Use Chat Rooms for Kids?

  • Safety Benefits: Using chat rooms that are specifically designed for kids offers safety benefits by providing friendly usernames and various individuals to help guide and assist those in the chat room. You can compare features and security that is available for most chat rooms that are designated as kids-only rooms.
  • Security: Kids chat rooms provide additional security that keeps hackers, thieves, and potential predators from communicating with anyone else within the chat room altogether.
  • Similar Interests and Language: Using a chat room for kids is ideal when you want your child to talk with other kids who have similar interests or hobbies as your son or daughter. Having other people online to chat with is a way for your children to build social skills with other kids their age.
  • Admins and Moderators: Most online chat rooms designed for kids today are filled with both admins and moderators who keep the content of the chat room clean and friendly at all times. Be sure to check the room your child is in prior to letting them chat on their own without supervision to ensure there is an admin or a moderator available and present throughout the entire chat session. Admins and moderators have the ability to warn users, block them, and delete the user altogether from the site to keep any dangerous or troll user from entering the chat room to disrupt other children from chatting.

Finding Online Chat Rooms for Kids

Finding an online chat room for your children can be done with the use of online directories and communities that your kids are interested in personally. Whether you prefer they register as members of a cable network’s website for games, or another familiar gaming website you trust, there are many different methods of chatting online for kids today.

Common methods of finding chat rooms for kids

  • Instant Messengers: Use well-known instant messengers to find online chat rooms that are kid-appropriate and age-friendly. Instant messengers that provide chat rooms for kids do so by labelling the rooms individually to help you locate rooms that are age-appropriate for your child to enter. Be sure to verify the chat rooms you select for your child also involve moderators and admins.
  • Online Communities: Online communities made for kids also often provide chat rooms that are only accessible for children and those who are age-appropriate for the site itself. Using reputable online communities for kids can help to reassure you that your children are being properly monitored any time they are using the chat room system.
  • Popular Search Engines: Popular search engines help to find chat rooms and websites that are dedicated to providing rooms for kids only. When you are using popular search engines to find chat rooms for your children you are able to compare various networks and online communities to find the best fit based on your children and their personal hobbies and interests.

Using Mobile Chat Rooms for Kids

Advantages of Mobile Chat Rooms and Apps for Kids

Understanding the advantages of mobile chat rooms that are available for any age range today, including kids is a way to find an app that is most suitable for your child and that also implements safety at all times.

  • Free of Cost: Most downloadable kids’ applications for chatting are free of cost and do not require much space, whether you are using a mobile smartphone or another wireless device such as a tablet.
  • Administrators and Moderators: Mobile applications on the market today also include administrators and moderators to help ensure any app you download for your kids is safe, secure, and protected from potential predators, online hackers, and thieves at all times. You can find whether a mobile application has admins and moderators by reading reviews of the app itself and also by reviewing the features and description of the application prior to downloading it to a device you own or that your child frequently uses.
  • Language Censoring: Language censoring is also important when your child is using a chat application to talk to other individuals. Find a mobile app that also includes censoring options to keep your child from reading or writing bad words when chatting with others online and in mobile chat rooms.
  • Blocking and Deleting Contacts With Ease: Using mobile applications also allows you to easily block and delete contacts when chatting to rid of harassment and potential danger any time your child is using the app. Blocking users will keep them from contacting you altogether, helping to keep your child safe any time the application is in use. If you no longer want to use a mobile application or you do not want your child to use the chat app, you can immediately uninstall and delete the application altogether from any mobile smartphone or tablet. Ridding the application altogether is a way to cease any contact your child had with users within the application or chat room themselves.
  • Safety and Security: Mobile applications also provide safety and security for children when they are chatting online and using one of the app’s chat rooms with others. To find an application that is best for your child and most secure, be sure to read reviews of the app itself prior to making a decision and allowing your child to download the app to his or her phone or tablet device.

How to Find a Mobile Chat Application for Kids

Searching for a mobile chat room application for kids-only can be done by browsing online for Android applications in addition to using the Android and iOS market from your child’s smartphone or tablet device. Once you access the marketplace directly from your phone device you can then begin to search for specific mobile applications that are made for children only. While you are browsing for a mobile application, be sure to read reviews and real testimonials from users who have already downloaded, installed, and used the application with their children.

When reviewing the type of mobile app that is best for your children, be sure to check for safety and security information as well as the type of administration and moderation that is provided. If you cannot find information on why the mobile application you are downloading is kids-only, it may be best to continue searching for another app; especially if security and safety are a priority for you when allowing your child to talk with others online from around the world and even near you.

Safety Tips For Chatting Online

Any time your child is chatting online, it is imperative to have a discussion with them regarding online safety and how to protect themselves when talking with others in chat rooms, message boards, and online communities. Giving your child the right tips is a way to ensure they are capable of making wise decisions any time they sense danger, feel uncomfortable, or simply do not want to talk to someone in a chat room online. Understanding the importance of keeping personal details is imperative when chatting online while also implementing safety.

Tips to Give Your Children When They Begin Chatting Online

  • Do Not Give Away Your Location: Avoid giving out your location including your city, state, or personal address. Be sure to keep personal information to yourself and report any unwanted behaviour to a nearby admin or moderator who is capable of assisting you. Additionally, block any user who is harassing you or asking you for more personal information that you feel comfortable with giving, especially strangers.
  • Find Rooms With Active Moderators: Always find chat rooms that have active moderators and admins to help you feel safe and secure whether you are new to chatting or if you simply want to avoid bullying or harassment altogether. Before you begin chatting in a chat room online, scan the room for special users and moderators or review the chat room rules and regulations prior to entering the room to verify the room you want to enter has appropriate moderation available.
  • Use a Unique Username When Registering an Account: Any time you are registering a new username in a chat room or within an online community or message board, be sure to select a unique name that is interesting yet withholds any personal information of yours.
  • Never Share Your Email Address: Never share your email address when you are using a mobile chat or a chat room for kids. Sharing your email address may lead a user to find more information about you personally–including your name, address, city, and state.
  • Join Online Communities That Are Comfortable and Safe: Only join online communities where you feel safe and protected. Research communities before joining them and be sure to only join online networks and message boards that provide moderation and language censoring. It is also important to join in on networks that keep older adults from joining and chatting with children.
  • Report Unwanted or Illegal Behavior or Messages: Any time you receive an unwanted message or a message that may contain illegal content or context, be sure to report the message immediately to moderators, site admins, and to the site’s staff itself depending on the resources the community you have joined has available. When you have received threats and you are being harassed it is also important to report this behaviour as quickly as possible to stop it immediately and to keep it from occurring again.
  • Avoid Private Chats Unless They Are With Someone You Know: Be sure to avoid a private chat invitation unless they are with someone you know, regardless of whether you are using a kids-only chat room with a trusted community or website. Unless you know the individual in real life as a friend or family member, private chats can often lead to potential danger, threats, and inappropriate language or chat room behaviour. Because private chats are not always monitored by admins, moderators, or even the site’s automated language system, it is important to avoid chatting with anyone other than individuals you know in person and in everyday life.

How to Ensure Your Child is Chatting Safely Online

Ensuring your child is chatting safely online can be done by talking to them in a casual fashion and asking them to show you the application or chat room itself. If your child has nothing to hide or isn’t afraid of showing you the room or app, he or she is most likely to respond in a positive and open manner. Talking openly and allowing your child to share his or her conversations with you without demanding is another way to gain and build trust. It is also possible to implement an Internet-tracking program with parental controls to keep a complete eye on your child’s behaviour when he or she is browsing online and chatting with others.

When using a program with parental controls and internet tracking capabilities it is possible to also have the information and data emailed directly to you personally each day, week, or at any interval, you want to set in place.

Knowing how to go about finding kids’ chat rooms and chatrooms designed for children 13 and up and 11-year-olds specifically is a way for your to ensure your child is always safe online, whether they are browsing for information or chatting with another child across the world. Monitoring your child’s internet behaviour as well as the type of chat rooms they participate in is another way for you to ensure they are safe any time they are talking with others.