Facebook asks that users be 13, but we all know there are thousands of kids committing “underage social media.” It’s a big question – how young is too young for facebook? One mom we spoke to said her daughter is already 13, but she won’t let her have a facebook account. Why not? She said kids at this age don’t yet have the right judgment about what should go online and what shouldn’t. (Anything you say can and will be used against you.)
At 13, this mom said, girls put all their petty arguments online and it’s just nonsense, it’s not meaningful; it’s only potentially hurtful or personally damaging. In fact, she said, two of the girls in the class already had their facebook profiles revoked by their parents.
What do you think? How young is too young for facebook? Is your 13 year old ready?
I did let my kids onto Facebook fairly early, but supervised quite a bit at the beginning. I think with kids you should be their friends on FB, pay attention to what they are posting and occasionally even look over their shoulders to see what they are doing on the computer (on any site, not just Facebook).