Underage Facebook User

On the one hand, Facebook explicitly says that nobody under the age of thirteen years old may have an account. This boy was 13, so he was perfectly within reason to have an account if he so desired. I think you might be mistake that email providers have a minimum age of 18, most of the ones I see have a similar minimum age to Facebook, being thirteen years of age. Simply saying it was the son's friend doesn't excuse the son himself. He should know how to protect his account and how to prevent people from getting online through his identity. If he can't look after his own Facebook account, how can he be expected to look after something more important. A similar point should be made about the Principal who states that it was his daughter posting under his profile. This is even more inexcusable. He's not only a fully grown adult, but he's also the principal of a school and should be well capable of keeping his image online and ensuring students are not insulted or abused through his own Facebook profile. Furthermore, I am sure there's some legal point which makes it generally inadvisable for a principal to add his students on Facebook. I know in Ireland teachers have gotten in trouble for far less than simply becoming friends with their students on Facebook, and I'd be surprised if there wasn't a similar thing in India. The principal should never have added the student as a friend in the first place.

Hi zralte That was shocking but there is no one to be blamed. I mean you cannot start blaming the parents as the kid is 13 years and not a tot. The principal should have had a restraint while using the abusive language but why? She is quite senior and expected to behave maturely? It is the Abuse of Technology that is to be blamed where you can always get away with providing false documentation of your age, location etc and also the too high competition these days... I mean kids of 13 years should be playing outside not spending hours on the PC... The dark side of Technology. We rarely understand that there is a right age for anything... instead we take pride in sharing - my kid is a great PC gamer, or even my kid can get a Powerpoint presentation done in just a few minutes

Some of the children are too naughty or of devil mind and sometimes they are (mis)guided by their senior friends to indulge in such acts. Parents should take the blame for mis(deeds) of their son, who tarnished the image of school Principle.

So now the principal is the saint since it was not her but her daughter? But it's the boy's fault not his friend's fault? Haha!~What a joke, such dramaThen she says she didn't expel him but only suspended? Hmmm...does the media ever tell the whole truth? They are experts in specualtion

I think some people is really crazy about Facebook. I have seen some of my friends and relaitves create a facebook for their baby as soon as they were born, post pitures for them and stuff. Actually, my friend create a facebook profile for two of her dogs... that's kinda cute though that dogs can communicate on Facebook

Hello zralte, 13 years is the minimal age for Facebook. I found funny to see that he was suspended for words exchanged between him and the daughter of the principal. It is a bit ridiculous. Kids do not do exactly what parents want them to do today. I have no children, but I see it with my friends' children. A couple of friends who are anti-Facebook-oriented learned from other friends when they were taking the tea, that their 11 year son had an account on Facebook. They took the kid to his computer, canceled the account, and installed a stronger parental control software. The boy said me last month as a secret that he was again on Facebook under a fake name. I asked "how do you did ?" "-- I used my mother's password." As I said, parents do not do exactly what they want, but children can learn quickly with their friends how to safeguard their identity and to escape the control of their parents.

Hi. zralte. I think that people that are underage should not be on Facebook, that are not supposed to. I don't understand how the principal's daughter was able to gain access to her mother's account just so that she could write back her response to what she thought that the boy wrote. This was really a friend of his that wrote this nasty response. This is so much of drama going on. I just feel that Facebook should not be a place where people just post nasty comments. It is always repercussions in the end.

hi zralte, As early as nine, kids could own an email and a facebook account which by the way I find so ridiculous. I think this is something that we can't control since computer shops are just around the corner. Kids can go there and do what they want to do which in that case use facebook. Parents should be a little more strict with their kids and let them understand the consequences of exposing themselves on social networking sites.

That boy should be taught manners. He has no right to disrespect anyone, much more his own principal. He must be punished and taught some manners.

Underage user's is growing by numbers today and I am referring to children under 13. I know several daily from my own distant family members who try to friend me on FB. Although it might be cute for the kiddos to friend me I do not see any of my friends interacting with them. Far more of the problem is the explicit information they are learning on FaceBook. My boyfriend and I live together for 6 years and he has a daughter in England and she is only 11 with a facebook account. While she visits us twice a year for a month at a time, I keep her so busy and off the computer. What her mother allows her to do in England is okay by her so I do not put any input. But can I tell you that a couple years ago, and mined you she was only 9 at the time, she came to visit and while I was out on errands she used my work Laptop to do so, not knowing that I had a keylogger for work purposes. The activity I noticed on there was enough to go through the roof. Long story is that at age 9 she was listed as a 24 year old. Bottom line while she is visiting we will not allow her to do certain things on the computer and one is Facebook. Which is what the parents in your discussion should be if anything is monitoring. So many parents today are not understanding what the children are engaging in. As believe me at age 9 I got the shock of my life and funny thing is what she was being asked to do she had no idea what the person was talking about, however she is 11 now and has perhaps evolved with technology. Sorry for my long story it just ravels me from time to time to hear about such things today.

It is totally the parents fault/responsibility. If you (as parents) are worried about the activity of your underage children then monitor what they do and what sites they join. I for one believe 13 is too young to be involved on a social networking site. But in this story I believe is was wrong doing from the boy as well as the principal. The boy and his parents blame a friend, the principal blames her daughter. No one in this situation is being truthful and/or taking responsibility.

first off, a 13 year old boy should not be using facebook to insult a principle. In fact, a 13 year old boy should not be using facebook at all. The parents are to be blamed for a situation like this. They need to monitor and teach their children on what they did and they need to tell them what is right and what is wrong. Too many of today's kids are using facebook in the wrong way and that results in situation as the link posted above. it's a sad situation, but that's how it is. I'm sure it is even harder in India because of the poverty level too.