Chat Room Guidelines
1) Do not verbally abuse, attack, embarrass, or threaten anyone else in the chat room, no matter what they might say to you.
2) Do not use obscene, offensive, or sexually explicit language. You would not use this kind of language in a face to face classroom so do not do it in an online environment.
3) Never type your messages in using all capital letters. This is considered to be shouting or yelling at another person, and this is not acceptable. If you want to *emphasize* a word or phrase, simply type an asterisk in before and then directly after your word or phrase.
4) When you are entering a chat room, you should always greet everyone whether you know them or not. Be sure to wait until there is a lull in any conversation already in progress, though. Do not interrupt. When someone else enters the room, you should make it a point to at least recognize their presence and greet them.
5) When you leave the chat room, say goodbye.
6) Do not type in long, detailed messages that will take a lot of time and space.
7) Try not to interrupt someone when they are chatting. Be patient; you will get your chance to contribute.
8) Do not ask lots of questions all at once, give other users time to think about what you have written and respond appropriately.
Messaging Rules
We Do Not Tolerate Harassment or Discrimination. This means no bugging other people that do not want to talk to you. If they tell you to stop talking to them, then stop talking to them! Also, and this should be really obvious! Do not discriminate against people who are a different race than you, a different gender than you or different anything than you. Respect your online friends, in fact, respect everyone, everywhere!
No Flooding! Don't write the same thing over and over. Don't write the same thing over and over. Don't write the same thing over and over. Get it? Pretty annoying, huh? Plus, spamming can really ruin other people's chats, and get you booted!
Don't Swear or Say Gross, Rude Things. Well the deal with swearing is - NO. You do not know who you are talking to so you don't know what they are like in real life. Respect is the important word here.
Do Not Give Out Your Personal Info EVER! This is the big one and is for YOUR safety, which is number one to us. Never give anyone your full name, your address or your phone number. You can say you live in a certain city or town, and even a neighbourhood, but DO NOT give out your street address, the name of your school, church, group or team. Email addresses are absolutely taboo.
DON'T TYPE IN ALL CAPS. Why? Because that means you are yelling at someone. That's what all caps means. There is no reason to yell in the chatrooms or on the forums.
Don't be offended. If people don't talk to you or reply to you right away, just chill. They may be in their own conversation and probably did not notice you - yet. Say "Hi" then talk with someone else.
Always Be a Good Listener. Take the time to listen to what people are chatting about so that you can make good comments. Also give people a chance to respond to what you have said. Sometimes it takes people a minute to think of a response and type it out.
Respect The Topic. When there is something being discussed in the chat room - like the latest Beyonce video, don't start talking over everyone about a completely different subject. If you are patient you will get your chance to talk — about your favourite things.