Remember when life was simple and the difficult questions we had to ask as parents were things like:
Should I let my child go to the mall with her friends? Or should I let my child play outside until dark? Those seem like a piece of cake compared to decisions we have to make now about phones, internet, and social media sights like Facebook. So when should we let our children get a Facebook account? Well, first of all, Facebook requires anyone who has an account to be at least 13 years old. Of course, we know that this is nearly impossible to enforce and some kids younger than this have accounts. The links below give some good information and insight into why kids shouldn't have a Facebook if they are under 13.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPYWkBrr0N0
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT5goBTbyjY
Personally, I think13-14 could be a good age for some kids with parameters such as friending your parents, like suggested in the second video. But we also know that kids grow and mature at different rates, so parents should make this decision based on their individual child. There are no hard fast rules, but keep in mind that kids can see a lot of things that may be inappropriate with just a simple search, this isn't just on Facebook, but everywhere on the web.
Should I let my child go to the mall with her friends? Or should I let my child play outside until dark? Those seem like a piece of cake compared to decisions we have to make now about phones, internet, and social media sights like Facebook. So when should we let our children get a Facebook account? Well, first of all, Facebook requires anyone who has an account to be at least 13 years old. Of course, we know that this is nearly impossible to enforce and some kids younger than this have accounts. The links below give some good information and insight into why kids shouldn't have a Facebook if they are under 13.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPYWkBrr0N0
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT5goBTbyjY
Personally, I think13-14 could be a good age for some kids with parameters such as friending your parents, like suggested in the second video. But we also know that kids grow and mature at different rates, so parents should make this decision based on their individual child. There are no hard fast rules, but keep in mind that kids can see a lot of things that may be inappropriate with just a simple search, this isn't just on Facebook, but everywhere on the web.