Should children under 18 be allowed to join and use Facebook?

In fact I hope the children will use less digital things. It is still better for them to use more pens and read real books. I am not very interested in Facebook. I think it is more like a social network website for me and I may contact it with my friends there. I personally seldom login it anyway. I am not sure whether the children will enjoy staying there all the time. If they just join to contact with their friends and will not spend longer time on it, I think it is OK.

Facebook is extremely popular these days. While my first thought is that 13 is too young for kids to have an account, on second thought I think it is ok. It is all about responsible use and parent supervision. I think that when kids join who are under 18 that one or both of their parents should have their login information and check their account from time to time. Parents need to be aware of what their children are doing online. If the age was lowered, more and more kids would just lie about their age and create accounts anyway, this already occurs. I know of some parents who let their 7 to 12 year olds create accounts. I even know of a parent who started an account for her newborn baby! That doesn't seem quite right to me, but I guess it is happening. I personally wouldn't want so much information out there of a very young child. I do think it would be a good idea for Facebook to automatically turn on all privacy settings for those use under age 16 or even 18 though. Many of those kids don't know how or don't take time to turn on all of the privacy settings that they should. It would certainly keep them safer if they were automatically turned on.

Ideally, as much as possible children should not be allowed to use Facebook since most of the contents are not for them. Some share pictures or something else that should not be seen by our children. Children say that there are plenty of games to play in FB and they got to share what's on their mind. Why not give them an alternative like Facebook for Kids? That would be quite right for their age. If you can't prevent them from joining FB then try to monitor what they are doing or else you would be an accessory to the crime of letting them see things that are not meant for them.

Hello.yes Facebook should be permitted under children below 18 years old..because Facebook is a safe site and does not do any malpractices..and it is a cool site..

Oh really 13 years old?? my two nieces both of them are under 13 years old and they have more than FB account. I don't know what children at their age talk about at FB and who friends with them. I guess FB not really strict if my niece can break their rule.

I don't think it's a too early for a child to take a facebook.it's up to child how he use the facebook.after all how long the parents will going to watch their activities.parents work is to make their son or a daughter future goals clear at this stage of life.and make their child focused towards it.it is the best option for parents to control their child mind from becoming naughty.and it is also the child responsibility to follow their parents order...i don't think age matters a lot in these problems....it's the curiousty of a child which takes to them on a wrong path...

Why not? My opinion is, the child must complete the age of 15 years... That is the age of completion of 10th standard of education. But up to age 18, the use of FaceBook by any child must be advised and guided by elders or parents every time. This guideline must not be ignored any time, otherwise it may lead to undesirable situations! Thanks for this alerting topic!!

No, children under the age of 18 should not be sitting at home on the computer....they should be out hanging out with their friends, going on adventures, learning about life and interacting with and making real connections with REAL people!

Well I don't think that facebook needs to be age limited. All it needs is the parents to pay attention to their kids when they are on the computer and tell them when something is wrong.

I actually signed both of my boys up for facebook accounts, they are ten and twelve. I have access to their accounts and to the email accounts that they used. Honestly, the twelve year old does not post on it he just plays the games. While my ten year old does play the games and does a small amount of posting. Which when you read his post they are pretty funny, being ten he does not have a lot to say. I am also friends with both of them so I can see what they are posting all the time. They both know that they can only be friends with kids they go to school with. I also monitor their friends list to make sure no one looks out of place and question them if I find something I am not sure about. If a child does have a facebook account it is totally up to the parent to monitor this account.

Yes, I do believe that a teenager can join Facebook (or any social network). Being sociable is a great way to get a teenager off on the right track. I mean I'm not saying that a 13 year-old shouldn't be moderated, it's just that it's okay for teens to connect with friends and family at home. Of course there is anther issue with cyber-bullying which I think is a direct result of these social networks. However, parents and or guardians should look at and be aware of what that teen is doing online. Your suggestion is a great one, about how younger than 16 accounts should be "private".

As I see it, it is all relative. There are many people on FaceBook and many of them are children. Most children wind up on FaceBook first because of the games. Now, I see nothing wrong with having your children on FaceBook because the parents can control what they are exposed to. Parental controls. Now, I also know that older kids, teens to be exact will definitely fudge reality and say they are older. But you're right, parents should be more involved. Without a doubt. And as a parent you must educate them about FaceBook also. I think upping the age is not going to change a thing.

Facebook has many games that seem to be made for children under 13 (even though adults play them too), and many kids join the site to play those games. As long as it's happening under parents supervision, it can be okay. But those who tend to do something bad will just write a false age and register without the parents knowing it, whether that age is raised or not.

facebook is a famous one and part of internet world.. for me under 18year old is not allowed to use facebook unless with supervision of a parent. coz their mind is sitl young and can easily adopt whats in the internet... easily spoiled..

Most people lie about their profile so why should they be honest about their age? As with everything in life, if they use FB for innocent chat there is no danger in it. No different from what they chat in the playground. If they are naughty then they will be naughty in the playground; after school; on line; etc. The big difference is if they have been taught right from wrong by their parents.

There is a reason that many websites state that you must be 13 or over to join. There is something called the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act or COPPA. Any website that collects personal information from children under 13 must comply with the COPPA rules. So, rather than saying "anyone can join," they limit it to 13 and over and they are not affected by COPPA. If you are interested, you can read about COPPA compliance here: http://www.coppa.org/comply.htm I agree that parents should be more knowledgeable about their children's online presence -- but you also have parents that don't even understand how to use the sites where their children go. I have worked with a lot of sites that were meant for kids and teens and the things they try to say and do would curl your hair. Unfortunately, too, there are parents who don't care at all about "the rules" of websites. They are fully aware that their kids lie about their date of birth to join. One of the sites I worked with required a parent's credit card information to create an account for a child... and they saw it as just a hassle and "my kid should be allowed to go where they want." I have worked in a virtual world that required age 18 and over for participation. There is a voice capability (if it's enabled) and I caught a child in our area. The parent was right in the same room, not paying attention. I told the kid to get his dad and I had a talk with the father. I asked if he was aware that people needed to be 18 to join the site and he said "Why? It just looks like a bunch of cartoons! I thought this was for kids!" He had no clue that there are virtual worlds where adults create avatars for themselves. He told me the child was actually 12. I told him to delete the account immediately because I was escalating it and it would be closed by admin if it was left open. It's hard to draw the line in the sand when kids are "ready" and when they aren't... and asking all parents to be responsible is kind of a losing battle :( I wish it was an exact science but it truly isn't. No matter what limits, restrictions, guidelines or rules are put in place, people will always go around them. With very stringent moderation, you can teach (some) kids about right and wrong conduct online but a lot of sites don't even manage to keep up with what they promise.

i have so many cousins on FB which do not qualify as per the age however, they have FB account. I guessing setting up guidelines would not help. Children would still breach the guidelines and mention wrong age to create an account. Considering the fact that FB is a common platform for many to get updated about their family members regularly., i suggest there should not be any age limit on FB

i dont think it should be left up to facebook to teach kids how to protect themselves and their personal information. these types of things are the parents job. first of all, children under 15 shouldnt even be able to use the internet without some type of supervision. its time that us parents step up and take some responsibility for the actions of our children. we have to teach them from an early age that there are bad people out there and how to protect themselves from these people. i know its important that teenagers have some measure of privacy but that shouldnt include the internet. they wont like you checking their page from time to time but thats just tough. whats more important? your childs privacy or their safety?

As you have pointed out, one can lie about their age and still manage to open up a facebook account if they want to. I think it would be best if parents open facebooks accounts of their children and explain to them the pros and cons of using social networking sites. If they are taught and explained well, i believe that it would be ok if the age limit to opening an account is way too young.