Staying Safe on Dating Single Parent Forums

Dating as a single parent is a scary endeavor and trying to find your footing in the dating world can be quite tough.  Hopefully you have friends and family around to support you as you work to build your next relationship.  Unfortunately, unless these friends and family members are single parents themselves, they will not truly know what you are going through.  Only another single parent can understand what it is like to date as a single parent.  Thankfully there are plenty of dating single parent forums and dating single parent blogs to help you find the information, support and advice that you need. Of course, just because there are a lot of dating single parent forums and dating single parent blogs out there, that does not mean that you need to join and participate on all of them.  What's more, even though a single parent dating forum might feel like a friendly enough place, you still need to take steps to protect yourself and your children from online predators.  Yes, it is true.  There are creeps out there that troll dating single parent forums and dating single parent blogs looking for their next victims.  Here are some of the best ways to keep you and your kids safe as you look for support online.1.  Do not ever post pictures of your kids in an online forum, even if it is a dating single parent forum designed to provide support for single parents navigating the tricky dating waters.  If someone asks to see pictures of your kids or pressures you into posting photos of your children, you should seriously consider reporting that user to the forum administrators.  A trustworthy person will understand your reluctance to post your kids' photos online and will be okay with private e-mail AFTER you have taken the time to really get to know each other.2.  Do not ever give your home address to someone you meet in a forum or post your home address on a dating single parent blog.  If someone wants to meet with you in person he or she will be willing to meet with you in a neutral location!3.  Take some time to "lurk" on the dating single parent forums for a while to get a feel for the board.  Read through some of the threads and decide for yourself whether the forum feels like a welcoming committee or a place where people troll for dates.  A good way to tell the difference is to pay attention to the size of the community and the variation in forum topics.  If there are not a lot of recent posts or the topics are very limited you might want to think about moving to another forum.The internet is a great place for single parents who are re-entering the dating pool to find support.  Dating single parent forums are designed to provide support to single parents who need it and dating single parent blogs are often full of advice and insight.  Good luck!  Be careful!