How old would you want your child to be before allowing a FB account?
My ten year old wants one. No matter your answers, my answer is "no". LOL! But I want to know what your opinions are. I don't want my kids to be weird, just protected. My 9 and 10 year olds do not have cell phones either.
FB scares me. My husband and I have accounts. I've seen the stupid things ADULTS accidentally say! To me, FB is just another method for teasing classmates in a very public manner.
Well, if you need a scapegoat, Facebook rules prohibit anyone under 13 from joining, anyway. Lots of younger kids are allowed, but technically, their accounts can be deleted if they are younger than 13.
My 15 yo son has one and he has 3 friends and never signs in.
My 18 yo daughter has one but I know her password and snoop often. She is okay with this, btw. It gives me an inside look at her life in college.
Hmmm. I personally don't think they should ever be on it at any age - lol!!
I have told my 11 yr old daughter no. I'm hoping she won't ask me anymore.
I have a friend who's 14 yr old daughter got in trouble with the cheerleading coach for something that she wrote on someone else's facebook page.
I don't think they really realize that it's not just their friends reading it, it's the whole world wide web!!
I don't think they really realize that it's not just their friends reading it, it's the whole world wide web!!
The most mature of children aren't ready for that kind of responsibility, ya know? I don't think 20 year olds are ready! The brain just isn't done developing yet.
I enjoy my time on FB, I do. But I have seen a lot of stupidity and I have done a lot of tongue biting. Children/teenagers/young adults have not yet perfected that edit feature in their brains. I don't know...print is scary. It really can't be taken back.
But that said, I do wish my 12 year old BIL had one!! I think his parents should be the only ones to know the password, so he can't log on without them at his side - but it would be so much fun! However, I do have a brain that's still developing, and so evidently my judgment and ability to monitor myself are certainly, obviously, lacking.
I'd say not til high school and then only with surpervision. There are so many things they don't need to be exposed to and one thing kids don't need is another excuse to spend hours sitting in front of a computer.
i let my daughter get one when she was 13, but i know the password, and check it everyday.
believe me, they hear, do, and see way more in school than what they will ever see on facebook, and any trouble they can get into on facebook, they can certainly get into other places as well.
either we teach our kids right from wrong, or we don't, facebook isn't going to change a good upbringing
most kids only want Facebook cause of the games.
my 3 year old likes helping me play farmville lol.
(they can go to to www.farmville.com, i think you can play without a fb acct.)
otherwise, most people i know use Facebook to keep up with family.
at least i do lol.
There is no need for a kid to be talking to people online IMO. Friends they see at school and family they can call or email- but even then it'd be monitored usage. Too many nuts and freaks and pedophiles out there who can easily manipulate an innocent kid to give them their location. "oh I go to such and such school, I take tap dance here, etc..."
Take last week- I reminded my sister that those programs like four square and those "check ins" at places at facebook are dangerous because people use them to STALK you. I don't like those things- the online world does NOT need to know where I am at every moment. My sister is 21 also- so anyone can be caught unawares. I read somewhere to not even say you are going on vacation on fb cuz theives use it to rob you!
My 12 year old, 16 year old and 19 year old all have them. My son (12) was allowed to get his at the youngest age and I have banned all but the 19 year old to have MySpace (NO WAY WILL THEY HAVE MYSPACE) anyway, my kids have SO much family on their friends, that they get called out if ANYTHING looks weird. Even if there is a new friend that grandma has not seen before, she is all over it.
We let them have it as a way to keep in easy contact with family and friends across the country. My ex husband lives in Vegas with his wife and son, and they all have accounts, as do the MANY friends that the kids have from summers there. Grandparents in Texas and friends who have moved away.
That being said. I have COMPLETE access to their accounts, and I can snoop any time I want. (and often do)
I think that 10 is probably too young, but if you were to decide to go with it, than there are ways to make it safer.
All of my kids have FB. Of course my 19 year old has it and has for a couple of years. My 15 year old daughter and 11 year old son have FB also. My daughter has me and a lot of our family members as friends and we all see what she posts. I also have many of her friends and their parents on my list. She is a good kid and I trust her. My son got his account so that he could play a couple of games on it and I don't think he has even logged on in a couple of months. He maybe has logged on 10 times in the past 6 months that he has had it to play the games and send his aunts a quick PM to thank them for his cards.
I have his password and can and do keep an eye on his account more to see what his friends are up to.
Ideally I think the responsibility of Facebook and a cell phone are sort of related. You can send dumb text messages in the same way you can write dumb wall posts. Which will inevitably happen, as teenagers are dumb by nature
My 9-year old nephew (10 in March) has a cellphone, but he doesn't have his own facebook page. His mom does have a page for the whole family (and photos and information is hidden unless you're an invited friend), so he's allowed to play some of the facebook games (while Mom or another adult is in the room).
His cell phone does not have texting capabilities and he can only use it for specific circumstances and specifically (grand)parent-authorized calls.
We have a couple friends and relatives who got upset when hubby wouldn't accept their children as "friends" (the youngest was 8), which makes me think they never saw my husband's facebook page.
It's not raunchy or dirty, but not all of his friends speak PG on facebook. His rpg crowd play some pretty horrific games and discuss the games (lots of bloodshed and anti-social activities being discussed) and some of his friends still think it's funny to send pics of intoxicated friends.
Facebook...how old?
No matter your answers, my answer is "no". LOL! But I want to know what your opinions are. I don't want my kids to be weird, just protected. My 9 and 10 year olds do not have cell phones either.
I don't know...print is scary. It really can't be taken back.
