Facebook Dilemma, Should My Tween Be On Facebook?

Facebook Dilemma, Should My Tween Be On Facebook?

From my article on ABC Technology + Gaming this week.

Facebook Scam

Should kids under 13 years of age be allowed on Facebook? Should the age limit for Facebook, which is now 13+ be raised to 18+?

From a recent article on Dawn.com: “WASHINGTON: Some 7.5 million of the 20 million minors who used Facebook in the past year were younger than 13, and a million of them were bullied, harassed or threatened on the site, says a study released Tuesday. Even more troubling, more than five million Facebook users were 10 years old or younger, and they were allowed to use Facebook largely without parental supervision leaving them vulnerable to threats ranging from malware to sexual predators, the State of the Net survey by Consumer Reports found.”

At the recent Standing Committee of Attorney’s General meeting in Adelaide, there was a discussion about the existing Australian privacy laws in regard to parents legally having access to their children’s Facebook accounts. During the discussion, an options paper was considered and discussed about whether the user age limit for Facebook in Australia should be raised from 13 to 18, while also requiring proof of age to sign up. See the rest of this story Here on the ABC Website

This is a “HOT BUTTON” issue for a lot of parents right now, and if it isn’t for you and you have kids on Facebook under 13 years old, it should be!

 

2 Responses to Facebook Dilemma, Should My Tween Be On Facebook?

  1. I know my husband and I will not allow my daughter of 10 to be on Facebook. There are some great sites that allow children to experience the connection by chatting with other users that are safe and designed for their age group. I also limit Youtube; she is not allowed to go on that site without parental supervision. I think that as a parent, it is our job to set healthy boundaries and age-appropriate activities, whether they like it or not.

    I also make it a habit of not excepting friend requests from anyone; family, or my daughters friends; under the age of 18 because of the uncensored environment. I tell my daughter that it’s just not appropriate for her age group, even if kids her age are on there.

    • Sounds good! there are safety settings on YouTube. Look right down the bottom of the page…and you can see them I think I’ll do a video on YouTube safety next week….the settings are so small, you can’t even see them. I think Parental controlled log in accounts for either Windows or Mac are the best for under 10 then they can have all the fun without any of the shocks! A friend of mine told me last week her daughter was doing a search for something about Female Dogs, and found a site for a woman having sex with a dog…sigh she is 11…..filters are sooo important and you can put them on your Windows accounts and on google.

Leave a reply