That’s a good question. And it all depends on how responsible your child really is - and what kind of relationship you have with them.
Chat rooms are the most common place kids find themselves getting into trouble.
And it's important to remember that online predators often hang out in children's chat room and pass themselves off as a child in the hopes of getting some personal information from one or more of the children they find there.
Should you decide to let your child participate in chat or instant message sessions, you should insist that they use a monitored chat room moderated and rated G.
Spend some time in these chat rooms before letting your child go there, to ensure that they are what they seem to be - safe.
AOL & MSN both offer moderated chat rooms as well as do some other sites and ISP's.
The important point to remember however is that just because the chat room is monitored does not mean that it's 100% child safe.
If your child objects to your presence because of the lack of privacy, they may be trying to hide something from you.
We read more and more about the dangers found in chat rooms and on sites like MySpace.com, so it's not a problem that is going to go away any time soon. Your best bet as a concerned parent is to do your homework before letting your child go online, and routinely following up on what they are doing online.