Before allowing your child to visit chat rooms you first have to make sure that you have done everything necessary to protect him/her. Let him/her know, that like in the real life here also, dangers exist.
You have to clearly explain that not all things he/she sees in the internet are what they appear to be, and that not all the people he/she meets are what they pretend to be. Make clear that they are not supposed to give e-mail address, picture, credit card details, or any other kind of personal information, before asking you first. State out that these rules imply for all people he/she doesn’t know in person, no matter for how long their internet friendship has been going on.

After that you have to set clear rules for visiting chat rooms and internet at all. It will be good to make a schedule for the days, and the exact time your child is allowed to spend in the web.

It is better to choose such days and time at which you are at home, so you can keep an eye on your child while it is chatting. Be careful, but don’t be too importunate, because it is very important to have the trust of your kid. If you start checking on your young ones too often they might start hiding things from you.

The best thing to do is to be somewhere near, but not too close. If you do that, your child will trust you and will inform you if something wrong happens.

In case you don’t want to make your kid hide things from you, you have to tell him/her that if something bad happens it won’t be his/her fault. Try to comfort the kid, and fix the problem, instead of getting mad. If someone is sending rude or inappropriate messages just block him by using the chat room’s options. And remember- don’t get mad! Once you have punished your child for something that is not his/her fault it will never come to you again when he/she is scared, or insecure.

You can also check the chat rooms your child is visiting. Although you can’t be positive that they are safe, at least make sure they are for kids.

And one last thing - if you want to make your child look serious on the agreements you have made, you have to state clear the consequences for each broken rule. You can make something like a contract and have both you and your child sign it. It should contain the rights and obligations of the both parties as well as the consequences if the contract is broken. On the internet you can find some ready to print Internet Agreements, but if you want you can always make one of your own.