FACEBOOK FOR CHILDREN

It is estimated that there are approximately 7.5 million kids with a facebook account. This is a classical case, “if you can’t beat them join them.” In my opinion if you can’t prevent kids from having a facebook account, at least you can try to control it. There are many things to consider and safety concerns should be the number one priority. There are predators on line just waiting for the right opportunity to communicate with our kids. It’s our responsibility as parents to teach them the rules for staying safe online. We must make sure this is done right the first time. Communicate and monitor their accounts and make sure their computer is visible so you can see what they ae doing on-line.

My 13 year old daughter has a facebook account.  She uses her account to play games and to keep in touch with old friends and family from Trinidad.  If it wasn’t for facebook, she would not have the opportunity to socialize on such a personal level with her extended family.  Whenever we visit Trinidad, it’s so nice to see her interacting with them. This is partly because of the relationships they formed using facebook. We have ground rules, I know her password and she is aware of that.  I monitor her account and whenever she wants to post a picture or add a friend, she has to run it by me first.  She never question my actions because she knows it’s for her own safety and protection.  Kids’ safety is paramount and facebook should make every effort to ensure that when our kids are using this social media site, they are protected. As parents we cannot rely solely on facebook to protect our kids. If grounds rules are not established then kids should not be allowed to have access on facebook.

On the other hand facebook has an obligation to their shareholders to keep the company profitable.  The fact that facebook is now accountable to shareholders many decisions may be questioned along the way. Regardless if this is a ploy to raise the stock prices or not, it doesn’t matter. If this was indeed a ploy to increase the value of shares it was definitely a brilliant on their part.  It’s a concern that facebook needs to address. 

 As a society in general we teach our kids the value of being honest from a very young age. We teach them not to lie and always tell the truth. I think facebook has identified a very important social concern pertaining to values we work so hard to instill in our kids. Facebook can only win from finding a solution to this issue. This could be a win for facebook and for parents and kids alike.  The question is how determined is facebook to pursue a solution to this issue.  

Facebook broadens our children's social circle in a way that wasn't quite possible before this technology. When children are young, we supervise and teach them. As they get older, we trust them to make good decisions. Facebook is teaching our kids a language that will undoubtedly be crucial to their future. Today's children are going to be interacting online with friends and, in the future, business colleagues and customers. Facebook is what life is about, which is connecting with others. 

http://youtu.be/WHfVpGXnWhY

QUESTIONS:

Should facebook be accessible to kids under 13?

If Facebook is going to allow kids under 13 to open facebook accounts, should there be more restrictions to the privacy settings?

Dean Tsouvalas of Editor – in – Chief of Student Advisor has 8 Tips to Protect your Kids on Facebook. They are:

“If you or your kids are considering creating a Facebook account, there are several steps that need to be taken to ensure your privacy and safety while accessing the site.

1. More than two-thirds of children and teens post personal information in their Facebook profile. Work with your child to determine which information is appropriate to share on the Internet and which is private. Making sure that your child’s information is Internet-friendly will alleviate concerns about who is viewing it. Relationship Status, Looking For, and Interested In are good fields for children to keep blank.

2. Encourage your child to use a nickname or middle name instead of their real name, making it more difficult for them to be identified.

3. Facebook privacy settings are different for minors than for adults. By declaring yourself a minor on Facebook, you ensure that you will only receive messages and friend requests from friends of friends. Minors also cannot share their posts publicly. When a minor makes a text or photo post on Facebook, it can only be seen by friends of friends.

4. Parents cannot access their child’s Facebook page if they are over 13 years old. This means that parents cannot report or take something off Facebook without their child’s account information. If you have a young child, make sure you know their user name and password in case you need to access their account.

5. Don’t lie about your age! If your child’s Facebook age is 18, but they seem to be friends and taking photos with many 13-year-old users, Facebook will take notice and likely deactivate your child’s account. By declaring your child’s real age on Facebook, you can ensure that Facebook is providing the safest experience for him or her.

6. There have been many cases of cyber bullying and harassment on Facebook. Make sure to familiarize yourself and your child with Facebook’s reporting tools and find out how to report online harassment in your child’s school.

7. Only have your child join relevant and safe Facebook groups and pages. Pages can be a nice way of showing your interests, but can also be forums for controversial and dangerous discussion.

8. Remind your child that information that they put on the Internet will be there forever – when they are applying for college and for jobs. Anything they post now can come back to haunt them in the future!”

http://www.studentadvisor.com/pages/78-percent-of-parents-helped-create-their-childs-facebook-account

References:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrymagid/2012/06/04/letting-children-under-13-on-facebook-could-make-them-safer/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/may/25/should-children-be-allowed-on-facebook