One of the computer safety questions that I get asked all of the time by parents is; “what is the minimum age requirement to use Facebook?” After I inform them that the minimum age requirement to use Facebook, according to Facebook’s privacy policy is 13, I typically then get asked something to the extent of “does Facebook really care if I let my child who is under the age of 13 use their site?” The short answer is yes, they do care, and yes, they will enforce their minimum age requirement…
Per Facebook’s privacy policy, as quoted below, you can clearly see that Facebook does not want anyone under the age of 13 to even attempt to register for a Facebook account;
“No information from children under age 13. If you are under age 13, please do not attempt to register for Facebook or provide any personal information about yourself to us. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under age 13, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that we might have any information from a child under age 13, please contact us through this help page.
Parental participation. We strongly recommend that minors 13 years of age or older ask their parents for permission before sending any information about themselves to anyone over the Internet and we encourage parents to teach their children about safe internet use practices. Materials to help parents talk to their children about safe internet use can be found on this help page.”
Let me make it crystal clear that as both an experienced computer consultant AND a parent, that I am of the opinion that it is absolutely NOT OK to violate a social networking site’s terms of service. Minimum age requirements are put in place on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace for a very good reason. There is an abundance of evidence suggesting that “tweens” and younger teenagers are not emotionally capable of handling the responsibilities associated with owning a Facebook account. At the end of the day however, it all comes down to parenting. While I won’t tell you how to raise your children I am of the opinion that allowing children who are under the age of 13 to open a Facebook account sends the wrong message. If you are a parent who is considering allowing a “tween” to open a Facebook account then I would encourage you to watch these videos from NetSmartz before you make your decision.
In summary, kids under the age of 13 shouldn’t be using Facebook. It is in violation of Facebook’s policies, and its just not a safe environment for young children as they typically are not mature enough for social networking. Fortunately, Facebook makes it very easy to report an underage user. For the sake of child safety, I would encourage anyone who comes across an underage Facebook user account to take the time to report it to Facebook.
I am ten years old, and emotionally capable of handling it! I wouldn’t post TOO personally info if I had one. I mean, like every kid in my class has one. I don’t want one because every one has one, I want it so I could connect with my friends I moved away from (don’t their have phone or email address and sure they have Facebook too.)
Hi there to every body, it’s my first pay a visit of this webpage; this web site carries amazing and truly fine stuff in favor of readers.
Is there any comeback on a parent who opens an account for a child under 13 years?
When reporting an under age child on Facebook. Does Facebook mention to that profile who reported them?
this is soooooooo sad ther is no age limit most kids just lie about age
i think there should not be an age limit its not fair for kids under age to not have a fcebook. little kids are sad they dont have one when older siblings do.
Oh & one last thing, in my opinion, the idea that the 13 year mark is there because “Facebook cares about our kids” is ludicrous … (again, my opinion, no disrespect intended toward anyone) the age stipulation was implemented to protect Facebook from getting sued if something does happen to a child due to actions on Facebook. If it was truely there to keep kids safe then the age limit would be 18 & verification with a credit card would be required…
That is all, now you can feel free to disagree & insult me as you see fit but let me first say thank you for allowing me to voice my opinion as well…
Wow! I had no idea that God was a “blogger”, a “computer guy”, an “adoptive parent” or a “school teacher”… apparently he is tho cause he’s the only one that can judge me!!!
Personally I’m still deciding if its appropriate for my son to be on Facebook at age 10… regardless of what I decide it will be based on what I (my sons father) decide is right for him. And unless You (or anyone for that matter) are planning on being here when I teach him appropriate online behavior (or you really are God) you have no place to tell me I am being a bad parent… if I choose to allow access to something like Facebook I accept the responsibility of teaching him proper use & safety until I am sure he can be safe on his own…
Now having said that I must also say that I know first hand that all children are very different & they all mature at different rates. Most parents are smart enough to be able to tell on their own when their child is ready for this type of responsibility. I personally know some 18+ year holds that still aren’t ready to be on Facebook… I think that setting a blanket age of 13 is useless…
I will agree that there are some parents who are lax in the above mentioned “responsibilities” and will let children who are not ready, get themselves into some bad situations via Facebook but I wouldn’t presume to stipulate that any parent who allows their child access are all in that same group… I believe that most parents want what’s best for their kids but its not my place (or yours) to tell them what that is or to judge them if you disagree with what they are doing…
BTW, it is possible to disagree with people without being insulting … jussayin!!!
I hope that all made sense…
@sixpacluver@hotmail.com
“I let my daughter have one and she is 8… BUT she doesn’t know the email or the password and she is not allowed to even go near it unless we are sitting with her” (8 year olds are smarter than you think).
“We use it as a way for her to keep in contact with family members in other states and in other countries…..Now I would NEVER let here have access to it without us there ” (you don’t think she and her friends aren’t trying to figure it out and will?)……
“but I see no reason in not letting her communicate with her family while being supervised.” (she couldn’t just use your account with you there? why does she have to have her own..sounds like she wants to be “in” with the crowd)
Mike, I have read this thread and I have to admit that I was surprised to read your views. Your reasoning shows care for upholding the rules and standards that are set up. But also, care for the underaged children that can be preyed upon. I think sometimes we as parents give in far to easily to our children’s pleadings, when in all truth, our children couldn’t even tie their own shoes without us teaching them. Just like we teach them to do the basics, shower, brush teeth, fix hair, etc. it is important to teach our children the importance of obeying authority, even if we don’t necessarily agree. Children in this day and age are far exposed to too much garbage, at far too young ages. I think it’s refreshing to see someone care enough to speak out, to encourage parents to protect their children. Thank you for your care and effort
I let my daughter have one and she is 8… BUT she doesn’t know the email or the password and she is not allowed to even go near it unless we are sitting with her. We use it as a way for her to keep in contact with family members in other states and in other countries. Privacy setting are all set strictly and she never has access to it again unless we are there and the ONLY people she has on it are family members. Now I would NEVER let here have access to it without us there, not until later on in her teen year and even then there will be strict rules, but I see no reason in not letting her communicate with her family while being supervised.
The Facebook (and gmail, and Google+ and whatnot) minimum age is there for a reason: US federal law COPPA – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_Online_Privacy_Protection_Act
Being a father of beautiful bi-racial daughters in this hightech cyber sinful society. I cant understand how a Parent can say one thing and do another.Allowing any child the opprorunity to bend the rules is opening the door to a future of creating loopholes in life. Pedophiles love loose parenting.Dateline MSNBC should shed light on this disturbing epidemic.Parents need to stop using technology as pacifiers…Just because Its available doesn’t mean it’s suitable…If you’ll allow your child to break Face books Rules…Facebook is gonna give them the Blue Prints to Breaking yours…
Hey Mike,
I recently had an incident with my 13 year old boy giving his password to a “friend” and having them post something extremely inappropriate as his status update. I am trying to explain to him how this can affect him as I am his “friend” on facebook and so is his father, cousins and other people that do not appreciate vile, status updates that are very, very age inappropriate. Do you have suggestions?
Hey kids i am a 1 year old.
A couple of years ago, facebook’s policy was that a child under a certain age must have the parent set the account up for them and be responsible for their actions. Just sayin.
Also remember Sara that if an underage user attempts to create a Facebook account using their real birthdate Facebook will respond with the message “Sorry, you are ineligible to sign up for Facebook.” This means that a determined underage Facebook user must lie about their age in order to be able to sign up for a Facebook account. So in other words, parents who allow their children who are under the age of 13 to use Facebook are actually condoning the fact that their children are falsifying information. Is the practice of allowing (in this case encouraging) one’s children to lie listed in some parenting handbook that I must not have read?
This hit the spot with a big issue I am dealing with at home. The different opinions helped me make my decision about a facebook account for my soon to be 11 year old daughter. Absolutely NOT! I have heard requests for an account for months. Several of my daughters friends have accounts and she wants to know why she can’t. I have been waivering with the idea of an account, but now I feel after reading some of the comments, I believe that facebook has an age limit for a reason. I believe that rules are rules, and they should be followed. I can not believe that it is ok for an adult to say that “some rules are useless” and are ok to break. What kind of example is that to set for your children? I can’t believe I even questioned my morals and thought about creating an account for my daughter. I have always been one to follow rules and set a good example and something as trivial as facebook made me question them.
By the way, to all of those people that got upset with the comment parents not being friends with their children. I completely agree that parents and children should not be friends. I am the parent and not the buddy. I am here to raise her to do the right thing and to guide her through. My daughter knows she can come to me and share anything – joys, tears, pains, boys, etc, because I am her parent!!!
I think the age requirements should be 17, NOT 13. Let’s face it, the majority of Facebook users are adults, discussing adult topics and opinions and children have no business reading adult conversations. Would you allow your children to see an R rated movie? Of course not. Find your children a hobby instead of allowing Facebook to babysit for you, otherwise you are just asking for trouble.
I am one to never butt in to someone elses business but when it comes to my family it is my business. when a mother allows her 11 yr old to have a facebook against her fathers wishes even under a fake last name so the father wont find out i believe it is wrong!!! especially since i know she is not monitored while online. how many children have to be victims to online predators, abducted, attacked, sexually abused before people get it. like i said what you do in ur home is your business but i now my fiances child, who would tell anybody anything including where she lives and goes to school. despite the fact that we talk to her about it, and explain how dangerous it could be, her “mother” tells her its ok. i remember being a kid and how sneaky i was. i was also monitored online but still managed to talk to strangers online without my mom knowing, before we knew how bad it was. kids are sneaky and will find ways around the rules, i guarantee that. a childs facebook can easily be hacked into just by a link posted on there page saying its from a friend, sometimes not even from that. whos to say someone cant hack into ur childs facebook and get their info not only that, there are pictures and now they would know what ur child looks like. if you have ur city and state listed all they gotta do is go to the schools in that area and find that child from their facebook photo. it has been reported that people have done this. believe me the courts for child custody will be hearing about this as well as printed pages of her facebook i guarantee they will have something to say about it.
Mike- Understood! I did fill out the contact form with my information a few times. If I am filling it out incorrectly or filling out the wrong form, please let me know. I respect and understand that you have a disclaimer, but my advice, and I have no qualifications, are that maybe you can or should make them a little more pronounced so it is clear to people and other organizations in the future, and hopefully avoid being attacked by disgruntled parents in the future.
Also, I just wanted to salute Mom-2-1, because I directly quoted her a few times, with out quotation marks or mentioning her name. Sorry, typing fast in between kids with problems. LOL!
Actually Natalie, this blog like every other blog out there has a disclaimer. You can read it here. You might want to pay particular attention to the Terms And Conditions section. The disclaimer is clearly linked to in the footer of every page on this blog. I would appreciate if you would fill out the contact form and provide me with the contact information for the school district that sent the publication out which linked to my blog. I may or may not have time to follow up with them as there are other comments of a more computer “techy” nature that I usually give the most priority to. Thank you!
Mike
Mike
Mike: I had no intention of commenting again. I was accepted your answer, and was willing to leave it at that. Except that I read the updates, and felt I needed to respond.
1st, I will give you my email address, and you can e-mail me privately and I will be more than happy to give you any information you are looking for. I do not think it would be appropriate to write it on here. Secondly, I am sorry, but when you pass out advice OPENLY such as a blog-spot, you need to make sure you do it responsibly. In my personal opinion it is not responsible to make a snap judgement on people (parents) that you have never met before and judge them (or their behavior) as bad parents or parenting, and NOT make it incredibly clear that it is only your opinion, that you are not a therapist or the like. It is irresponsible to ASSUME that the reader can read between the lines, AND no matter how much you say, it should be obvious that you are not claiming to be a therapist and that it is only your opinion, it is not obvious that you are not a therapist. You did make the comment that it is your belief parents and children should not be friends. No matter how you meant it, you have to recognize that people read that and take it the wrong way. If you are going to be passing out your opinions freely (which is your right), then you should have some kind of NOTICEABLE disclaimer that says you are not Dr. Spock, and this is only your opinion. You may get a few unhappy posts on here, the flier went out to at least an entire school of people if not an entire district. I realize my criticism, is probably not what you want to hear, but I know for myself if I didn’t get the flier home from school, I never would have even known this site was here. And… if the school didn’t wrongly believe (their mistake for not doing research on you first) based on your advice that you had the qualifications to be passing out advice, then none of this would have happened in the first place.
Dave- I just wanted to say thank you, because you are the only one on here who mentioned Karen Cooper’s post. That was part of my frustration, that everyone was judging, but no one was addressing her breach of safety. I agree that good parents can make bad decisions. So far I stand by my decision. I still believe that unless I am abusing my children it is none of anyone else’s business what I allow my children to do in my home. I think decisions like this are a parents choice, and as long as it is not hurting anyone, people should mind their own business.
I’m a little like Mike. I’m a computer guy who plays piano, likes local pizza and tries his best to abide by the rules. I just happened upon this post after a search for “Facebook terms age”. I’m also a parent of multiple children who my wife and I are homeschooling.
Rules are a part of life. Facebook’s age limit rule may seem trivial, kind of like speed limits, or sneaking food into a movie theater, or Mike’s network security policies
. But I believe the little lessons we teach our kids are incredibly important. Children need to hear the word “No” sometimes. This is a wonderful opportunity for a parent to teach a life lesson in integrity, respect and patience. Children grow up too fast today. I see it in my own. We don’t need to hurry along the process any more than it is already.
It’s great that the parents who posted earlier are active in their children’s education and actually read the materials that were sent home. Consider this, if Facebook didn’t see some sort of risk either to their users or to themselves they would not have established the rule in the first place. In light of the recent news about the increase of network security breaches its a good idea for everyone, regardless of age, to double check their online presence and take measures to protect themselves. It seems that those parents who posted earlier are more trusting of a Facebook engineer whose name they will never know and whose face they will never see, than they are of a local teacher who they can call or meet with at any time. Good parents still make bad choices sometimes, as do good teachers and good Facebook engineers.
And Mike, it might not be good blogger etiquette, but I think it would be acceptable of you to make anonymous the personal information contained in this comment…
http://www.compunoodle.com/facebook-minimum-age/#comment-1684
Could you please tell me what school district this is and perhaps provide me with a point of contact? I really would prefer to not be quoted as some sort of counselor, doctor, or child psych expert. Thank you.
Natalie, I think we are in the same district, because I received a notice too. I was very angry when I read it. When I read the notice I thought Mike was some kind of therapist too, to be passing out his advice so freely. When I read that he was a security expert, I was confused at how that gave him the qualifications to be passing out patenting advice like a therapist. Considering, I remember reading some where on here where he said parents and children shouldn’t be friends.I didn’t confront the principal though. Although, now I wish I had. Thanks for speaking for those of us who agree with you, but are too shy to confront. I don’t have under age children on facebook. But, I’m offended by this page, and the idea that parents should be judged. In a situation like this it is no one else’s business what I allow in my home.
Mike, please save yourself the time of responding to me. I am not intersted in your opinion. It’s the same stale argument over and over again. Blah, blah, blah bad parents.
Adoptiveparent, I am appalled by your remarks. I hope you don’t teach in my district. I hope that a parent from your district reads your remarks, recognizes you, and reports your unprofessional behavior. If you have such paranoid feelings of parents it is time for you to either quit or retire. There is no way that your negative feelings towards parents aren’t being put across to the students.
“Jay, I’ve seen people who do this and quite frankly I have come to the conclusion that parental stupidity seems to be as vast and as infinite as the universe itself.”
I haven’t done this myself, but if the profile were simply created to hold the address for a child and/or to put a single photo up for use in the “family members” section of an avid facebooker, I don’t see why it would be an issue. Again, no personally identifiable information other than their name and a single photo = no big deal. I think a lot of parents probably do this simply because facebook doesn’t allow you to tag your family members that don’t have a profile with a photo at all.
You are talking company wide violations of computer system policies. I am talking face book. In my opinion two completely different things that can not and really should be compared. An underage child on facebook is not the same as violating a computer system at your job. I just think too much is being made of face book, and underage users. My child is on face book, is not an underage user, but honestly I would not have had a problem with it if they had been. I think to say that if a child is an underage user they are going to become adults that violate networking security is a bit of a stretch, and frankly I don’t understand the reference. If a child were on facebook as a user in high school or college they would be of age, and therefor not violating network security!?!? Honestly, my comments were not directed at you. I thought I had made it clear that I was speaking to “adoptive parent”. I never made any reference to underaged users. So, I find it funny that you felt the need to respond and lecture me??? Just my opinion man! I am starting to understand why Natalie was so hostile.
So here’s the deal Robert, I think that teaching kids that it’s OK to follow some rules and not others is bad parenting. Having said that, I will stop there and turn my attention to computer system policies. Facebook’s policy clearly states that no one under the age of 13 shall attempt attempt to provide Facebook with information about themselves. This is Facebook’s policy as pertains to their “computer system.”
As a system administrator I cannot tell you how many times I have had to report people to human resources for violating a companywide computer system policy. In many cases my hands were completely tied by federal regulations such as HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, or by company policy itself. In some cases there were some pretty harsh consequences for these policy violations including job termination in some instances.
So what message are we sending to our children when we say that they can go ahead and sign up for a Facebook account even though they are under the age of 13? Should a child’s first lesson in acceptable computer use come from his or her parents or from the system administrator at a high school or college who just caught them violating a network security policy?
I stumbled upon this page by accident. I am compelled to respond. I have to say I agree with Natalie. She has a point, maybe a little long winded, but her basic point is a good one. There is too much of everyone minding everyone else’s business these days. If you don’t like how someone else parents that’s fine, but keep it to yourself. I find this page a little offensive. I would not be happy if someone was airing their problems with my parenting skills on this page without my knowledge. My real problem is with “adoptive parent”, I find your attitude towards parents concerning since you are working with our children everyday. I assume you are the kind of teacher that treats parents and students with no regard, then hides behind tenure as a shield. I am a “big-mouthed” parent myself. Do I complain constantly? No, but when I see something wrong or unfair at my child’s school you better believe I address it. That is what I pay my taxes for to pay teacher’s salaries, and not to be told when I have a concern I am a big mouthed incompetent.
*interpretation*
Yes, I have confronted the school, and it is resolved with the them. And, no it wasn’t apparent to the school, because they did not do their re-search (their fault I admit not yours), and they did not read the whole site, as I did as a parent, and they did not read the posts, as I did as a parent.
But, thank-you for finally addressing and admitting that you are not a child psychologist or a therapist. That in it’s self makes me feel better to hear you acknowledge it, and say it out loud.
“it’s OK to follow some rules but not others” message is sent. It is sent in my house, and I do believe some rules are useless, and this is one of them. It sound to me like you are offended by my comments, and I am sorry that is what happens when “as a blogger” you chose to “I will also interject my opinions as I see fit.”…you are going to run into people who disagree. It also sounds to me like you did not appreciate my interpertation of you, considering I don’t know you, and have no right to judge you as a person…. right? Perhaps you should think about that in before you “interject your opinions as you see fit.”, and call parents bad parents!
So Natalie, it seems as if you should take your complaints to the school that failed in performing its due diligence selecting and citing Internet resources. Certain key phrases that I use such as “I am of the opinion…” and “I have come to the conclusion that…” should have tipped off the school that this site is first and foremost a computer help and support site and secondly, a site where as a blogger, I will also interject my opinions as I see fit.
I still believe that allowing children under the age of 13 to use Facebook is wrong and I’ll therefore continue to label this practice as bad parenting. When parents allow children who are under the age of 13 to use Facebook against Facebook’s own policy I feel that an “it’s OK to follow some rules but not others” message is sent.
Please take notice that the above paragraph contains phrases such as “I still believe” and “I feel that.” Also, there is no where on my site in which I claim to be a Phd, child psychologist, etc… Like you said, I’m just a computer guy. So please continue to follow up with the school and not with me.
Oh, and a double P.S. to adoptiveparent: I guess you can say a nerve was struck… I was annoyed (and still am), at what makes Mike an expert? It would be different for both the school using him as a source, and him passing out his “parental advice”, if he was a child psychologist, doctor, or a therapist…any of the above really. But, since according to his own site he is merely a “computer guy” that really only makes him a judgmental person, with an avenue to take his frustration with his ex-wifes parenting out on OTHER parents.
Just to be clear, when I spoke with the principal at the school, she did not seem aware that he was just a “computer guy”, she seemed to think that he had some kind of background that permitted him to pass out his “parental advice”. She seemed genuinely surprised when I printed out his home-page that stated he is a “computer-guy”.
On, an ending note, whether adoptive parent or biological: I find it disturbing that you separate your children into adoptive and biological categories- speaking as an adopted child myself. Also, I find it interesting (as a fellow parent) that YOU TOO, ignored my challenge about Karen Cooper, and did not address the fact that she came on here and gave out the personal information of an under-age child. Once again someone who is all talk, and only interest in pushing their moral agenda, and not really interested in the safety of the children !
Good for you! I can see that you are like many other public school teachers drunk with power. You believe that it should be your way or no way. Not with me. I am the parent I make the decisions. You want to be a teacher fine- leave your “moral values”, and “moral judgements” at the door.
“I have seen dozens of loud mouth incompetent parents like yourself come into the school and get their way through intimidation.”- Wow, slightly bitter! Is that the way a teacher should be talking about parents? Doesn’t sound very professional to me? It sounds to me maybe you have had a run in with a few a parents that did not go so well, and considering your seemingly judgmental attitude…I am not surprised.
I think much like Jack said: it is ridiculous to compare a child sitting at a bar to face book. I think comparing underage drinking to facebook is equally as ridiculous. You have proven my point- Thank-you!
And you can claim: “I have to say that never have I seen anyone write so much and say so little.” But, apparently I must have said something, and struck a nerve with you to make you respond to me, and directly by name. My guess is I didn’t “Make you like Mike more”, you most likely would have liked him regardless…sheep usually follow anything! Have a good day!
PS. It had nothing to do with “Mike striking a nerve”, if the school had not chosen to step-out-of-bounds, and use Mike and this site to try to push their “moral values” on parents…I would never even know this site existed.
Natalie I am the parent of five adopted children and two biological children and I am for now a public school teacher. I have to say that never have I seen anyone write so much and say so little. Facebook says 13 this is their right and you are in violation of a legal agreement with them by allowing your children access. The government says 21 for alcohol its my guess you see that as just another suggestion that you you can choose to ignore do to your parenting expertise. I have seen dozens of loud mouth incompetent parents like yourself come into the school and get their way through intimidation. Good people and particularly good parents do not lie to get what they want or what their kids want. My guess is that Mike hit a nerve. Your rant did accomplish one thing I like Mike more now.
“Then again, there’s some parents (like my ex wife) who think that it’s OK to let their children sit at a bar”… That is the exact point of my post! You are letting your own personal inadequacies of being a parent or your ex-wife’s parenting judge the rest of us!
I agree with you Jack 100%. I was directed to this website by a flier that came home from school. Once I read it, I went to the Superintendent and Principal immediately in outrage. I could not believe that the school would align themselves with someone who is so judgemental to actually call parents who’s children are underage on Facebook bad parents! When, I questioned the school at what makes Mike such a “expert” on childrearing…they had no answers. Well, Mike what is it that makes you an “expert”? The fact that you are a “computer” guy, and the fact that you have how many kids? Well, I have 4 children and a 5th on the way. Does that make me an expert? By your definition it does! Well, suffice to say I received an apology from the Principal, an acknowledgment that they should not have chosen you as their source, and pretty confident that they would not be taking a “moral” stance against parents in the future.
My two oldest Children, 12 & 8, are on Facebook as well. I do the exact same as Jack. I set up the accounts for them, and YES as one person said I lied for them, and I also monitor their usage. My email addresses are attached to their accounts. My children cannot be found on the public search, OR on the people finder on facebook. So, unless you are their friends (or a friend of mine) you do not even know they exist on Facebook. Furthermore, the only people who they are allowed to be friends with are family. I monitor all friend requests, not to mention I have both of their usernames and passwords, and go on their pages at will!
Just because I choose to allow my child on Facebook does not make me a bad parent. I read a post that read “He is 11 and I feel he isn’t mature enough to handle having an account when he can’t even remember to brush his teeth every day!” I’ve got news for you just, because they are 13 doesn’t mean they will remember to brush their teeth. But, facebook deems them old enough to be on Facebook at 13. So, what is the excuse then? This is the society were we “nanny” one another. Frankly, it is none of anyone’s business if my child or anyone else’s child is on Facebook whether underage or not. It’s not Kenzie’s business whether or not her stepson is on Facebook. It is his MOTHER’s business. It is not Karen Cooper’s business who is one Facebook. That is completely unbelievable to me. You guys are on here with your “Oh, we are worried for the children” crap, meanwhile, here is some who is posting a child’s (an underage child at her own admission) personal information on here. Name and birthday! You guys are so worried some big bad wolf is going to find these young children and get them. I didn’t see ANY OF YOU address the fact that woman posted personal information of a child. That she is a hypocrite and basically potentially led a predator right to her! Guess What? I found the girl, and I sent her mother and brother a message telling them what is going on here, and that she was mentioned on this site by name and birthday. I think those of you that complain about how I, and others raise our children, are self-serving. As Chris Myers said “It often seems we are fighting an uphill battle with parenting our children due to so much permissiveness in our society. People say “Oh well, Facebook (or whatever) doesn’t care if my underage kid has an account”. Well, guess what Chris Myers…what you do in your home is fine. I will do what I want in my home, and don’t try and “nanny” me, because you cannot stand-up to your own children, with your own convictions in your home. So, instead you want to impose your “moral values” on everyone else. No thank-you! How about this Mike and those who agree with him? You mind your business and raise your children as you see fit, and I will do the same. Stop judging everyone. Those of you that need to be told you are wonderful parents, maybe need self-assurance. I don’t care who thinks I am a wonderful parent and who doesn’t.
So Mike since you are so quick to tell us “bad parents” your opinions of us, let me tell you our opinion of you…you are judgmental, obnoxious, egotistical, self-serving; inconsiderate, thoughtless jackass! There how we know how we feel.
At the end of the day Facebook is safe and secure. If you are a consummate parent then you should have no problem with your child, whether underage or of age, being on Facebook. Let’s also try and keep in mind that you cannot shield your children from everything forever (i.e. other peoples pictures, ect.) On, a personal note a little piece of reality for everyone who thinks kids being on Facebook is the end of the world…I personally know someone who let their children go to their friends house to play, while, at this other child’s house, all the children watched pornography. We are talking an age range of 11-5. Ok! On the internet, nothing to do with Facebook, the mother was home while this happened, and had no idea. The kids were “googling” random stuff and came across this nonsense! So, let’s keep things in perspective. It could be a whole lot worse!
Just stumbled on this and wanted to chime in with my two cents. I have two daughters aged 12 and 10 and I opened Facebook accounts for them. The catch is that the account is registered with email that gets sent directly to me, not them, and they know this. My position is to not unleash my 13 year old into our social media crazed society, rather to teach them when they are younger the right way to connect on the computer. I monitor every move (literally) that they make on their page, who they are in contact with and who contacts them. They are not allowed to change their account settings which have been set to the most secure as far as sharing information. This allows me to guide them both in safety AND in manners when online. Those that comment that having an account is tantamount to bringing your kid to a bar is ridiculous. Good parenting is good parenting and bad parenting is bad parenting. You are likely to see BOTH when a younger child has an account. My girls were not allowed to friend some of their older cousins for the reasons stated above: they don’t need to be exposed to life in college and all the pictorials that go with it. But they are friends with most all of their extended family and it is a completely logical and wonderful way to stay connected to friends and family out of state. To those that judge I say parent your children, rather than set limitations. They are going to be exposed to this no matter what you do so you might as well guide them with strict parameters and loosen the slack as they age.
Jay, I’ve seen people who do this and quite frankly I have come to the conclusion that parental stupidity seems to be as vast and as infinite as the universe itself. This is something that I would not do. It’s far too easy to track kids online. Here’s a link to a video from NetSmartz that shows just how easy it is for a predator to track a child down using the Internet. It’s very scary and parents should take things like this very seriously. Then again, there’s some parents (like my ex wife) who think that it’s OK to let their children sit at a bar… So at the end of the day it all comes down to individual parents who are hopefully making the right decisions regarding their children’s safety.
What are your thoughts on parents creating Facebook accounts for their children, even babies, and using them to post photos, tag relatives, god parents and the like ? I’m talking about parents who create the account and use them, with the kid not aware of it.
I’m related to someone who has allowed her 5 y/o child to have a Facebook account. If that’s not bad enough, her other children… whom are all under 12… also have accounts. Not only is there NO need for this, but it’s dangerous as well. Especially when you list what churches you attend and where you live! WTF!?
many small kids using facebook by lying about age.
What is your opinion about a mother lying for her 8 year old to get a facebook? This is what we are going through with an x-wife. She has a college degree, you would think could read and understand the age limits on face book!
i know of a under age child playing on facebook her name is loraina fivecoat she was born july 3 1999 i dont think she should be on facebook
Good morning Kenzie! I wanted to let you know that I am almost finished writing another article on Facebook, more specifically it’s an article on Facebook and parenting. It’s not quite ready for release yet, but I will let you know that quite frankly I am planning on taking direct aim at the “midships of bad parents” and believe you me I am going to “fire at will.” Having said that, it would appear that you need help now and I will therefore not make you wait… I am of the opinion that there should not ever be an element of a peer relationship between parents (adults in general) and children until the child is well into adulthood. This applies to both the online and the offline world. Would you believe that I know a woman who’s daughter made a comment on her mother’s profile page about a drinking related picture!?! Why not just bring the girl out to the bar? Isn’t it really one and the same at this point? Anyways, I digress, here’s how I personally handle underage Facebook users… I make it very well known in my circle of friends that I do not condone underage Facebook use nor will I accept friend requests from anyone who is not legally recognized as an adult in this country. I then go into “thick skinned mode” as the comments and insults are hurled in my direction. But I don’t stop there… I also make it known that I have absolutely no problem reporting underage users to Facebook. I then promise these people that I won’t report their underage children to Facebook if and only if their kids promise to NEVER try to friend me. So Kenzie, it sounds like you’ve taken your stance, now you just need to communicate your position. You might say something to the extent that “While I don’t agree with your decision, I will support it as long as A.) the child does not try to friend me and B.) there are no problems with the child resulting from something on Facebook.” If these conditions are not met, then you go right ahead and report your stepson. Then again, reporting an underage user is anonymous so you could also just go right ahead and report him and no one would ever know that you did it. Always remember that we’re their parents, not their friends. It seems like you get that, I think that your stepson is lucky to have you in his life. P.S. I once had a crazy idea that perhaps CompuNoodle would start a “national report underage Facebook users day.” Maybe that’s not such a crazy idea after all!
I really enjoy hearing that Facebook cares about the age requirement. I know several underage users and one is my stepson. His mother let him set up an account and I am struggling with what the right thing is to do about it because obvious I am not his mother and had no part in it. He is 11 and I feel he isn’t mature enough to handle having an account when he can’t even remember to brush his teeth every day! Also these young kids are requesting adults to be there friends which is crazy to me! I don’t want them to be able to read adult info! If you have any advice for me please let me know. Thank you
Thanks SO much for this. It often seems we are fighting an uphill battle with parenting our children due to so much permissiveness in our society. People say “Oh well, Facebook (or whatever) doesn’t care if my underage kid has an account”. Thanks for clarifying that in fact they DO care.
great post as usual!