Continuing our ongoing examination of young people's Internet usage, today I want to look at chatrooms and instant messaging.

What is a chatroom? Generally, a chatroom is a sophisticated piece of Internet software that allows multiple participants to engage in real-time typed-chat conversations with each other, both as a group, and on an individual, private basis.

Chat is very cool, especially for friends and family who are geographically dispersed, and will be very valuable for Bermuda based parents with young people in college abroad.

Entering a chatroom to "meet" with your son or daughter and then go "private" so that your conversation is just between the two of you can be a very rewarding and fulfilling experience for families separated by many hundreds of miles.

There are, as always though, things we need to be aware of, and, for some, steer clear of...

Firstly, chatrooms are, without a doubt, a place for people to meet to arrange dating, sexual encounters and meetings.

As a digital-parent that has to be at the front of your mind at all times.

Thus, where young people congregate online for chat, it is true that paedophiles will also make a beeline for the same chatroom.

It is vital therefore that if your young people are participating in chat, that you find out a couple of things yourself - but remember BE tactful! Do not send the activity underground by being pushy or emotive about it...

1 The web-address - if you get nothing else from your daughter or son, get this so you can check it out yourself on your own at another time. You can also generally research the reputation of a specific website with a few simple web searches;

2 Is it a chatroom specifically for young people and if so is it moderated?

There are many, highly reputable chat sites specifically for young people with safeguards and checks to ensure that young people participate and have a really fun time with other young people of around their age. The general well-being of such chat rooms comes about because they are moderated - What I mean by that is that there is a responsible adult, generally employed my the website owner, whose job it is to monitor the chat to ensure that all members are indeed young people (I will go more into how they know this later), that the young people are not being abusive or using innuendo, bullying, making sexual advances or in any way making other members uncomfortable.

Such actions will mean that the Moderator will "throw them out" of the room, sometimes barring them for life.

3 What methods are in place there to ensure that a young person is INDEED a young person?

There are many ways this can be achieved - some involve school, others involve interaction with a parent at some registration point to ensure that the young person really is a young person and not an adult masquerading as one.

Before I go on, its important not to get paranoid here - the vast majority of chat that takes place online with young people takes place between young people only. You just have to be vigilant.

There is a wider issue at play, that is not even related to the dangers of unwanted attention in chat.

The issue of young people becoming a "chat-room hermit" is quite important.

What I mean by that, is the situation where a young persons sole method of communication becomes via chat or cellphone text.

I want to explore this issue in a little more detail, so, next time we're going to look at integrating ALL the possible communication methods available to young people to enrich their lives, without turning them into hermits...

Next time, then, Digital Kids: chat, text, call or email.

Bob Mellor is a senior business technologist with over twenty years experience in the IT industry. He is accredited by the British Computer Society as a Chartered IT Professional, and currently Technology Consulting Manager at Bermuda Microsystems Group. He can be contacted on bob@bmg.bm His views here do not reflect the views of the Royal Gazette or Bermuda Microsystems Group, and are purely based out of my personal experiences and knowledge.