Too young for Facebook? I recently got a friend request on Facebook from my friends 8-year old daughter. While I like discussing the latest antics of Phineas and Ferb just as much as the next guy, I started to wonder what age is too young for Facebook. It was a sincere gesture by her but she’s way too young and naive to know just how dangerous the Internet can be.
To start off, Facebook’s policy states that you must be 13 years of age or older to have an account. I asked my friend if she knew her daughter had a Facebook page and she didn’t even know what Facebook was so after about a 2-hour tutorial she finally got her profile deleted. While many kids log onto the site just to play the Facebook games like Cityville or write on their friend’s wall, there is no benefit to taking all this for granted.
Too young for Facebook tips
- The first thing you can do is get your kid’s user name and password so that you can log onto their profile at any time and see what messages and conversations they’ve been sending. If they are not happy with this, then don’t let them have an account.
- Another tactic to approach when deciding what age is too young for Facebook is to install surveillance software on your computer. Much like a Fortune 500 company tracks every trade proposal their salespeople are sending in Fantasy Football, you can monitor every single keystroke with some relatively inexpensive software.
- Do not let your child be friends with people out of their age group. For example my 13 year old daughter is friends with my 18 year old next door neighbor, nice boy and all, but is talking about things I would prefer my daughter not to see.
- The child must personally know the people they are friends with. Not a friend they met online. We all know how easy it is to make a fake profile, and just be aware that anyone can do it!
- If you’ve tried but eventually decided your little one is too young for Facebook, just block the site on your computer with an administrative password so that you’ll still be able to log on. Here’s how to Setup parental controls in Windows Seven and Vista.
- And finally, the last step you can take to keep your kid off Facebook is to spend some time with them – even with all the latest advances in technology nothing will ever top a good game of catch or monopoly. Being too young for Facebook could be a good thing.
Picture source: Blogging Innovation
What age is too young for Facebook?
It is not easy to know what age is too young for Facebook and I guess it is up to the parents to decide. I personally believe that 15 probably would have been a better age to start using Facebook and 13 is still far too young for Facebook.
Jenny says
March 17, 2011 at 12:09 pmWell,I do like the steps mentioned here,but wonder how many parents takes these steps into account before letting their children use facebook.
Also the minimum age for using facebook is 13,but there are lot of parents who allow children below this age
Mitz says
August 16, 2011 at 10:23 amFacebook has just gone absolutely crazy and now Google has introduced its own version of Facebook. and you are right, parents are letting the younger ones on Facebook.
Lea Moore says
October 3, 2010 at 2:52 amHonestly, I think facebook has set a good minimum age. There are a lot of sick people out here who prey and chidren and their minds are too innocent to comprehend that.
Leona Kinzinger says
August 25, 2010 at 11:09 amHey there,Wonderful post, although i’m more interested in what will take place out of this google vs facebook social network war. I haven’t found out much news on it recently, which most likely means that it is not that far off, but i’ve a feeling its likely to mean many massive improvements to social networks. In my opinion, i’d personally rather facebook came out of the war still in the lead simply because google’s already big enough, and they currently hold too much data on absolutely everyone. I do not believe that the two will be able to exist though, either google’s social network will take over or totally fail. What does anybody else think?
Mitz says
August 16, 2011 at 10:28 amI hear Google is giving Facebook a run for its money now! Well over 25 million signed up already!