social media for children?
By chris
@chrisb35711 (11)
July 11, 2017 7:16am CST
I recently came across two completely different attitude towards social media and our children.
the first is my cousin has set up facebook accounts for all her kids (they are not old enought to read let alone understand social media so she manages the accounts on thier behalf) Obviously she manages the accounts for them and monitors who can see the info. Is this OK? they cannot give consent and as we have learned from previous legal cases, most social media sites reserve the right to 'own' the information you post.
the second, a close friend, refuses to post anything about his kid online or even allow friends /family to post pictures, he essentially intends to protect her online identity until she is old enough to decide for herself what should be on the internet. This is perhaps 'unrealistic' in this day and age, but surely it also displays an understanding of the dangers of the internet. Is he right or overly protective?
8 people like this
11 responses
@CaseyRoss9966 (4056)
• United States
11 Jul 17
I have friends and family that have Facebooks for their kids like the first one. A lot of them do it as kind of the updated future version of a scrapbook/baby book. It keeps track of milestones in their kid's life without the actually clutter and work that goes into it and when the kid is old enough they let them have the information to it so they can keep this Facebook and will have all the memories to look at and keep up with. Since we all know Facebook reminds us of memories from years ago and even from when we started our Facebooks. A lot of the times those facebooks are just close family that are friend's with it and can see and post things on it.
4 people like this
@angelkarah050182 (4980)
• Philippines
11 Jul 17
Hello there.
I think children aren't allowed to create their accounts if they are under 13 years old. I also made my son's Facebook account five years ago. He was still 7 years old that time. I managed his account for four years. Last year, he became interested in using his Facebook account. Since then, I haven't opened his account again yet. When he was younger, I uploaded our family pictures in his account. I just chose his friends. I didn't accept all the friend requests being sent to him. Now, he has a lot of friends but doesn't post any pictures. He just loves reading posted quotes, liking pictures of his friends, etc. He's more active in Facebook Messenger. He has a lot of friends to chat and sometimes seeing him chatting with his friends is annoying. Haha. My husband and I allowed him to use Facebook and Facebook Messenger. He'll turn 13 this September. I hope he's already wise enough to know what is right and what is wrong. For me, parents have the right for their children's account especially is they are still young to manage their own accounts. Happy Mylotting everyone.
@atoz1to10 (6780)
• Australia
11 Jul 17
My son, who is still in primary school, often begs me to set up accounts for facebook and youtube for him but I say no. He only wants to have them so he can play games or posts his video. I don't think it's safe for young children at all. I prefer to protect him while I still can...
1 person likes this
@MarsGirl (288)
• Chennai, India
11 Jul 17
Did you know about kids mentality? If you tell them "No" to chocolates they will say ok but will eat more chocolates when you sleep as they are not aware of tooth decay if it consumed more. Instead, if you tell them to "Eat less" and tell them the reason for that, they may agree with you.
Same way if you overprotect the kids from social sites and restrict them not to use it., they will find other options to use it which lead them to go in wrong direction. Also, they will feel insecured if you keep watching their activities. Instead, be a good friend to them and create awareness about social sites. They will certainly dont go beyond limitations.
We had crossed their age so let us be in their position and try to understand their feelings and guide them in right direction in right way.
1 person likes this
@Ithink (9980)
• United States
11 Jul 17
I don't understand the point of a child having an account really. None of mine had an account before they were 16. We still have a 10 year old at home and the answer is no. She will use her dads account with us over seeing it to talk to her sister that lives in Florida. If not for that she wouldn't be on social media at all. I don't feel it is safe. I have an account and yes I post some pics but they are set to friends only.
@melindataylor22 (959)
• Waltham, Massachusetts
11 Jul 17
I think that they both are just doing what feels right to them for their kids. When the kids get older they will be able to decide what they want and figure it out for themselves.
@PrettiMamita (206)
• United States
11 Jul 17
I will post up my son's pictures and talk about him but he's only 2 1/2. He doesn't need a social media account. I don't even have the time to manage a separate account even if I wanted. I would prefer when he's old enough for him to set his own account up, if Facebook will still even be popular by that time. It's hard to say how long it will stay popular.
I do have an email account for him but only because he has a tablet and I use it to download games instead of using mine. That way all the recommended apps on his tablet will be related to what he likes and on my tablet I won't have a bunch of educational apps or car/truck racing (he loves cars/trucks) in my recommended.
You do have to be careful though. There are online predators and as my child gets older I will be one of those parents to monitor things like that. I won't be too overbearing but I will try my hardest to make sure he's not just friending random people or trying to meet up with them.
@JESSY3236 (20046)
• United States
11 Jul 17
Your cousin shouldn't have set up those accounts. That's dangerous.My best-friend didn't post alot about her son.So i think your friend is right.