Welcome to abcfamily.com. We're here to provide a place for you to have fun with your favorite ABC Family TV programs and movies, watch great videos, and communicate with other fans who love the same shows you do.

We want you to feel safe here, so we have certain rules we expect all users of our site to follow. Nothing extreme -- just basic common sense and courtesy, like you’d find anywhere else people get together, online or offline.

The Basics
We expect you to respect other members of our community, and also to help us keep this place safe and friendly. There are two ways you can be part of this:
1. Behave respectfully and thoughtfully. Golden rule, folks.
2. If you see a problem, flag the post immediately (you must be logged in to flag posts). You can also use our feedback form to report it, but sometimes that takes a little longer than just flagging the post.

Here are some issues we look out for -- and want you to help us keep an eye on:
- Harassment and Bullying
- Self-Destructive Behavior
- Hateful Content
- Protecting Yourself Online
- Online Privacy
- Abuse (Online or Offline)

Harassment and Bullying
What are online harassment and bullying? Maybe it's flaming someone on a board or in a comments section. Maybe it's commenting harshly on everything someone says, and/or calling them names. It could be spreading lies or impersonating people. Whatever it is, it's not cool, and we don’t tolerate it on our site.

Which means that not only should you not harass or bully people, but if you're getting treated like that, let us know -- use the feedback form or flag it. And if you notice someone else bullying or getting bullied, please report that via the feedback form too. You can also tell an adult, like a parent or counselor.

That's what communities are about -- sharing and being supportive. We think the abcfamily.com community is pretty special, and we work hard to keep it that way.

Self-Destructive Behavior
If you see posts or comments about suicide or other self-destructive behavior, and you think the author may be in danger or putting others in danger (like, by suggesting unsafe acts), please flag that post and use the feedback form to let us know. If someone is writing about their eating disorders or cutting or other dangerous thoughts or actions, we want to know so we can help that person get help -- and not spread those ideas to others.

And whether you're online or not, if you or anyone you know is having an emotional crisis, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800-273-TALK). They're free, confidential, and open 24/7 for anyone in an emotional crisis.

Hateful Content
Help keep our chat rooms and message boards a friendly place everyone can visit. Don't post any material that's hateful in any way. If it's racist, sexist, profane, obscene, or explicitly sexual, it should not be on abcfamily.com. If you see anything like that, please flag it and use the feedback form. If you want, tell us why you think the words are hateful.

Protecting Yourself Online
The Internet is a wonderful place, and also a very wild place. It's too big to patrol or protect it with official security guards , so you have to look out for yourself. There are some real-life monsters out there, and they can be pretty tricky.

You can learn more about online safety at www.netsmartz411.org. That's a site run by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). You'll find experts there who can answer your questions, as well as info and links to help keep you and your siblings and friends safer on the web.

Never give out your online passwords to anyone except your parents. Someone could use your account to start posting hateful things, and you’d be blamed. Your account is your responsibility, so treat it responsibly.

Online Privacy
You wouldn't tell your name or phone number to a stranger at the mall, right? So you definitely shouldn’t give your private personal info to anyone you meet online. We're talking about keeping your real name, e-mail, phone, and address private. You shouldn't even say where you go to school. You never know who anyone online really is, and if the wrong person got hold of your info, they could look you up and come find you. We definitely don’t want that to happen.

Even if you both love the same shows and seem to have a ton of stuff in common, you don't know who they really are. It seems obvious, but people keep getting into trouble, so we can never say it enough: Your privacy is the best safety you have online.

Similarly, if you see someone posting their private info -- or someone else's info! -- please flag that post or comment, and also use the feedback form to report it immediately.

Note: If you post someone else's info without their consent, you'll probably get booted from the abcfamily.com community -- so don’t do it!

Abuse
Abuse can happen online or offline. If you suspect someone on the site is being abused in real life, based on things they write, please help them by reporting the situation. Flag those posts or comments and also use the feedback form to report the issue immediately. Tell us why you think the author is in danger.

If someone on this site is writing sexual or otherwise abusive comments, that's definitely not cool. There's no place for that kind of material on abcfamily.com. We want you to flag those posts or comments and also use the feedback form to report the issue immediately. Tell us why you think the comments are abusive. You could also tell a parent, teacher, or counselor.

If you're being sexually abused or exploited at home or school, or at a friend or relative's house, and you feel like you can't tell anyone, you can. No matter how vulnerable you may feel -- even if the person doing it is someone close to you -- help is waiting for you. You're not the only person this has happened to, and it's not your fault. Whether you're struggling with sexual abuse, physical or emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts, drugs, relationship troubles, or anything else, the Boys Town National Hotline can help.

It's a 24/7 crisis line with trained counselors who can talk to you every day, 365 days a year. They've helped millions of teens over the past decade-plus.

Know that you always have someone to talk to at 1-800-448-3000 or visit their website at http://www.boystown.org.