While 13 is the minimum age required to establish a Facebook account, many children under this age set up accounts on Facebook and other social media networks by entering in false date of birth details.
How Old Do You Have To Have A Facebook
Social media has been shown to play an important function in teaching kids life abilities for the digital age. Parents can assist their pre-teens obtain crucial eSafety abilities by being actively involved with their web use on social networking sites that are specifically for more youthful children, such as Kidz World, Your Sphere, Togetherville and ScuttlePad.
However for pre-teens, Facebook just isn't suitable.
If you're on the fence about assisting your pre-teen established a Facebook account, here are some compelling reasons pre-teens need to not be on Facebook.
Assisting your pre-teen produce a Facebook account is assisting them lie about their age.
Not only are you teaching your kid that you think it's all right to inform a lie, you will be setting a dangerous precedent about which rules are "ok" to break.
The minimum age requirement is in place because Facebook desires to keep kids safe.
"We take safety very, extremely seriously and think that educating moms and dads about safeguarding their kids online is as crucial about speaking to kids about not opening the door to strangers or looking both methods before crossing the street," stated Maureen O'Hara, Facebook-Corporate Communications.
If you teach your child that it is okay to lie about their date of birth to gain access to Facebook, then they might well believe that it's alright to lie about their age to access other sites that are not appropriate for kids. Teaching your child about the best ways to be safe online involves mentor children to respect age-restrictions on websites.
Facebook exposes kids to adult material.
The minimum age of 13 was
purposefully set as a method to safeguard pre-teens from adult content. Most of Facebook's users are older teenagers and adults who might post suggestive photos or use inappropriate language for your under-13 child to see.
Kids-focused social networking websites are a safe method for kids to be on a social network without the threat of them seeing inappropriate material.
Safeguard your kids from cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying can have extremely damaging results for kids of any age, however is particularly ravaging for kids in the 6-12 age variety. Kids at this age take words really literally and receive criticism more personally. Integrated with the permanence of Facebook content, pre-teens might be greatly impacted by taking severe words really personally as well as dealing with material, like images, that live permanently online.
Once again, informing children about cyberbullying and showing them healthy ways to respond if they or someone they know are being bullied online will use a strong structure for when they do get on Facebook and other social networking websites.
Facebook for pre-teens can contribute to youth weight problems.
Young kids require to remain active with unstructured play, outside time, and lots of face-to-face interactions with other kids. Hanging out on Facebook and other online activities interferes with this active location and may unlock to a more inactive lifestyle, contributing to youth obesity.
Furthermore, researchers at Columbia University recently found that utilizing Facebook might be tied to obesity, for children and adults, due to the unfavorable consuming routines that could result from frequent visitation of social networking websites.
How Old Do You Have To Have A Facebook, So up until kids reach the age of 13, it's best for them to stay off Facebook and discover the best ways to be safe and make wise options online in other ways.