Safe, moderated online chatrooms or social opportunities for young teens
April 19, 2020 3:15 PM Subscribe
My 13yo has been struggling socially at school this year and so didn't have a strong group of friends when this pandemic hit. He asked if he could sign up for Omegle last night and my husband was an emphatic NO! Are there better, safer options where he could chat with other kids near his age in a somewhat safe environment? Especially options that match kids based on their interests.
I know nothing about Omegle other than the videos my son showed me of his YouTube heroes using it. My husband says it's completely inappropriate for kids.
My son was honestly fine the first month of being at home because the stress and drama of school was eliminated and the novelty of being home was enough to keep him occupied. Now though, he's beginning to really crave someone his own age to talk to, ideally on a live video chat, about the things that interest him. This includes things like popular Youtubers, Eminiem & rap music, video games including online games like Starwars Battlefront, internet memes, comics, drawing, movies, Marvel Universe, Dungeons and Dragons, Hamilton etc.
Does anyone have any suggestions. I have done some searches and all of the sites look super creepy and scammy. I don't mind paying for something if it will have some active users he can talk to.
I know nothing about Omegle other than the videos my son showed me of his YouTube heroes using it. My husband says it's completely inappropriate for kids.
My son was honestly fine the first month of being at home because the stress and drama of school was eliminated and the novelty of being home was enough to keep him occupied. Now though, he's beginning to really crave someone his own age to talk to, ideally on a live video chat, about the things that interest him. This includes things like popular Youtubers, Eminiem & rap music, video games including online games like Starwars Battlefront, internet memes, comics, drawing, movies, Marvel Universe, Dungeons and Dragons, Hamilton etc.
Does anyone have any suggestions. I have done some searches and all of the sites look super creepy and scammy. I don't mind paying for something if it will have some active users he can talk to.
(educator here- yes your husband is right about Omegle- high likelihood of naked middle aged man- it's like chat roulette if you remember that. )
My guess would be to find and vet an online community about the things he is into and then see if there is conversation associated with it.
posted by freethefeet at 5:14 AM on April 20, 2020
My guess would be to find and vet an online community about the things he is into and then see if there is conversation associated with it.
posted by freethefeet at 5:14 AM on April 20, 2020
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posted by dpx.mfx at 3:41 PM on April 19, 2020