Knowing what I do about people on the net, since the first time I allowed difficult child on a site where he could interact with others I've told him that if I do not know his passwords, he does not go on the internet - period. Just the last couple months he's gotten interested in IMing, email etc. and I helped set them up including entering his passwords, and he does talk to people on World of Warcraft but their convos are pretty boring about the game pretty much LOL. He has never tried to hide anything he's written or anything he goes on, perhaps as he gets a little older he may not want me checking up as much. It's not easy, and I'm sure they can get on other ways than at home, but until their maturity level is high enough to control their own risky behaviors online I think you have to try keep some handle on what they do online. I think perhaps I'm pretty lucky in that difficult child trusts that I won't invade his privacy more than I have to to just make sure he's being safe, and so far I've been able to trust what difficult child does online. When they try hide what they're doing online is a big red flag to me that what they're doing isn't good.
