Monitoring Children Who Text
Monitoring cellular IM links. To further limit your child's exposure to predators and other inappropriate individuals, you may want to set rules for your child's use of Instant Messages on his or her cellular phone. Your child's friends can make contact by phone, or leave voice mail. If your child already has an IM link to his or her cell phone and it was obtained without your permission, the Internet Service Provider (ISP) or cellular service provider may be in violation of federal and/or state law. You can request that the provider stop collecting data on your child. You can also stop the IM service.
Discussing IM safety issues with your child.
Teach your child to follow good "Netiquette," such as not using or responding to sexually explicit, foul, or hateful language. Tell your child not to respond to "flames." A flame is a strongly worded, sometimes-obscene message sent to a public forum, such as a newsgroup, or to a personal e-mail address. Responding only encourages the other party to become more aggressive or crude.
Knowing your child's IM member number, screen name, and password.
Make sure your children do not give out their screen names or IM member numbers to people they do not personally know. Warn your children not to add individuals to their IM list that they only know from Internet interactions. The ten-year-old "boy" your child converses with in a chat room may really be a 38-year-old man.
Knowing your child's online friends, just as you would know their real-world friends.
Remember, your children should not make online friends without your knowledge and consent. Your children should never meet in person with anyone they become acquainted with online without your permission.
Warning your child to be wary of anyone he or she meets in a chat room.
IM programs include adult-oriented chat rooms that should not be accessed by children. Though chat rooms are monitored, keep in mind that no one will ask your child for an ID before he or she enters a chat room. Once a child adds a stranger from a chat room to his or her IM buddy list, their IM conversations are private. In addition, as long as they remain on each other's buddy lists, the stranger will be automatically notified whenever your child goes online.