What tha?
My response was, in a nutshell, “Have you met me?”
Now, we all know that I’m just plain lucky the Tsunamis appear to be nourished, unbroken and, well, alive… so Dave and I decided that the best approach would be to harness the collective parenting might of the Maxabella lovelies instead. And, naturally, I get to put in my own two cents as well.
See, Dave’s eight year old son wants a Facebook account. His friend has one so he wants one. He already likes playing Farmville on his Mum’s account (so that’s who’s out there throwing pigs at each other). His Mum is happy for her son to have a Facebook account of his own, provided that it is heavily sanctioned and monitored. Dave’s concern is that starting the boy up when he is too young risks exposing him to to cyber-bulling and adult content that might kill his interest in social networking forever.
My two cents is that if you have to heavily sanitise or monitor a product before giving it to your kids, the product is too old for your kids. Full stop. Why start them up so young on a product that was obviously made for an older audience (and admits that’s the case by requiring that you have to be older than 13 to use it).
And Dave, it starts with Facebook at eight and then where does it go?
Over the course of three generations, ‘being a child’ has been squeezed down by canny marketers from being 0 – 18 (up to the 1950s) to being 0 – 12 (up to 1952 when Bill Haley and those busy American marketers invented the concept of the ‘teenager’) to being 0 – 7 (in the nineties when the ‘tweenager’ came along). There’s not a lot of time allocated to just being young anymore; not involved in or even knowing about what ‘society’ even is. And I stress that during that time of rapid social change, it has been no secret that physically, emotionally and mentally our children have struggled to keep up with the marketers*. Keeping up with this ‘society’ we’ve created is literally killing our kids.
We know all of this as parents, yet we continue to allow our children to do things to ‘keep up’ with the other kids. Big corporations who want to sell our kids stuff are pretty much deciding what the rules of ‘up’ are and ‘other parents let their kids follow those rules, so it must be okay.’ But while we’re freely handing over the responsibility of raising our children to ‘other parents’, they are ironically thinking they are handing over the responsibility to us. The net result is that the peer group is raising itself, following rules made up by some company wanting to make a profit out of them, while we foolishly judge the success of our parenting on whether our children are an accepted part of this ungodly mess. Like deers caught in headlights, what a trap we have found ourselves in.
Because, oh, we know that there are worse things than not fitting in. There are worse things than not keeping up with a society gone mad.
This debate has, of course, been going on for generations and each generation has upped the ante on their parents. And as much as we remember the manipulative techniques we used to pull on our own parents, we remember even more strongly that desperate longing to fit in when we were kids / teens / tweens ourselves. The outcome is that more than ever, our generation has a struggle on our hands to resist the ‘but she’s doing it’ pleas and just say no to our kids. It’s unbelievably hard because our immediate reaction is that our child will be lonely and bereft if we don’t let them do what everyone else is doing.
But what if everyone else decided that enough was enough as well? What if we all got together at our individual schools and agreed an array of things that we promised we won’t allow our children to do? A formal manifesto that we promise we will do everything we can to abide by. A difficult manifesto to agree on, of course, but if we could manage it, wouldn’t it take away a little bit of the steering power of the peer group and those marketers… just a little?**
While I genuinely think that most of our children are going to grow up just fine despite what our superficial, materialistic, sexualised, celebrity-obsessed society is doing to them, more and more of them won’t. We need to use our brains, not our hearts on this one. Think beyond the immediate gratification of our darling children and look at what’s on the road ahead. Because right now it looks to me that there’s a massive pile of deranged bullshit on the road ahead and we’re all in danger of hurtling right into it.
Deb says
Oh I just can’t believe people that want their children to have face book accounts. Teenagers is fine, but children. That’s just ridiculous. Plus you have to lie for them to get it, what are you teaching the child?? Grrrr. My teenagers have facebook which I monitor frequently. In fact the deal is that they have to friend me to have facebook, but I wouldn’t dream of letting Mr 9 have it, not at all.
Hops off soapbox.
Raine and Sage says
Eight is too young (in my opinion). Your parent initiative to pool together and forge an agreement is excellent. I would do it!
Eight is too emotionally immature. They do not need social media to communicate. They can do so at school, sports, playing etc. This ‘instant gratification’ generation also needs some boundaries put on them, and that they need to appreciate rights of passage. i.e. No Facebook before finishing primary school?
Naturally Carol says
I totally agree with all you have written in this post..and very well written too! I am passionately opposed to under 13’s having facebook accounts..for all your reasons.
Vanessa says
Here! Here! I went to a seminar held by Dr Carmichael last year and he basically said No! to
Facebook, especially for under 15s and if you can deter until post highschool years, even better.
Interestingly I chatted one on one with my 12 year old last night about facebook. I wondered if 6 months into highschool, it had become an issue not having an account? She said she wasn’t interested and sure some girls had accounts, but not her circle of friends.
I was also discussing with my friend the idea that her 16 year old is attending parties with security and the new party time is 8.30pm – midnight. What tha? They are adult party times. Where does this leave kids to go? Let’s start being the grown ups and the parents in this relationship.
I would love to see your ‘parenting guide’.
Please, let kids play in the sunshine.
mel @ loved says
I think I’m becoming more old fashioned as I get older, but personally I don’t think children under 18 should have a fb account. My niece is 13 and has about 500 friends, how can that be, how could she actually know all these people?? I think it’s extremely dangerous..and whatever happened to playing?!
Corinne – Daze of My Life says
Yep, 8 is too young. There are plenty of other games and apps available than the ones on FB. I’m pretty mean, when my kids say to me (well the 4yo) “But X does/has it” I’m often heard replying “Well you’re not X and we don’t do that in this house.”
Let kids be kids, there are many many long years to be grown up. It’s up to us as parents to ensure that our kids have a childhood. If my kids aren’t as savvy as the others, I don’t mind, the naivity and preciousness of childhood outweighs all that 100 fold, in my opinion.
Toni says
I fully agree with you, Maxabella. My 9-nearly-10 year old doesn’t have Facebook, and my reasoning was as yours — if I have to monitor it so heavily, then it’s not good for my kids.
stink-bomb says
9 is too young, 13 is too young. i think it’s sad that children don’t seem to get much of a chance to “be children” these days – why are they in such a hurry to grow up? don’t they realise how sucky adulthood can be – they should be in no rush to get here!
though some of our neighbourhood kids round this way can be a bit ummm *feral* at times, what i love about them is that they are always out on the street with each other rather than stuck in front a television – they’re playing something most kids don’t seem to do these days.
great post.
~x~
Tas says
Eight year olds should be playing, reading, running around and creating- in the real world. Not facebooking. Full stop.
Mum on the Run says
What a massive issue.
And a scary one.
In my opinion 8 is too young.
For my Magoo, 18’ll probably still be too young!!
I teach Yr 5 and we have had to deal with many Facebook issues this year.
Primarily because parents aren’t monitoring (or are oblivious to)what their children are up to.
Love your idea about composing school based ideals to stop children pulling the “eeevvveerybodyyyy’s doing it” card.
We’ve had students accessing MA+ rated games on their friends phones etc at school. The same games they are strictly not allowed in their homes.
Takes the ‘dirty magazine in the school bag’ scenario to a whole new level, doesn’t it?
Thanks for a crucial, difficult post.
🙂
ms. freelancer says
too young! =(
Amy says
When I clicked on the link to your post in my reading I thought automatically. Hell YES! Why would you even want your child on facebook???
I can’t believe a parent is actually considering it… Well actually I can and that makes me sad. Anyhow as you said you have to be atleast 13 to have a facebook account. So end of discussion.
Flaming Nora says
8 is way too young to have a face book account. I have two (very much) younger siblings who are now 11 yrs. old. They both have FB accounts, due to the friends all having one. But we have recently had some worrying things happen. The children don’t understand about privacy and security properly and all tell each other their passwords. A jealous “friend” hacked my little sisters account and posted some things on there that got her in to a lot of trouble. Once the problem had been sorted the kids fb privileges were taken away and they no longer use it. Thankfully. Also I got a bit fed up with having to think twice about things I wrote there and making sure they were really things I wanted the kids two be reading. It is also hard to sanction what your friends write on your wall, control bad language etc.
I would suggest they let their child have a moshi monsters, bin weevles or club penguin account. My boy has all three and I don’t need to worry about what he is up to.
Jodi @ The Scribble Den says
I totally 100% agree with you. It is way too young. Our just turned Miss 13 has just opened a Facebook account which we monitor daily. We only allow her to use it whilst in the common areas of our house. She is not allowed to take her laptop into her room and if needs to do homework it is done in the office off the kitchen. We have rules and it has to be monitored.
I feel that there is about to be a big change in the social networking scene. I don’t know what it is but I am feeling it is for the better. Or maybe it is just what I internally wish for.
I long for the days where kids can be just kids again….but we as parents have to make it happen.
Seana Smith says
It’s one of those Just Say No things… simple as that.
Sam-O says
Waaaay too young!
But I must say, I am a no computer games, dvds, ps2, iphone games etc Mum, so there is no chance that my kids would even ask for such a thing! 😉 I must also say I have been an IT consultant and an IT trainer so am not some sort of anti IT crusader, I just don’t think little people need any more exposure than what is necessary as per the school curriculum.
PinkPatentMaryJanes says
No, no, no, no, NO. For a start, legally you have to be 12 to have a Facebook account, so you can only open one by lying about your age. As far as I’m concerned, teach your kids it’s ok to lie about your age for facebook and then it’s a slippery slope to lying about your age for M15+ movies, drinking…
I’m friends with my 16 year old niece on facebook – and there’s NO WAY I want my daughter on facebook until she’s much more mature. Hopefully by the time she’s old enough the kids will move onto a new thing, but I’ve been saying no since year 4 – and I’ll keep saying it.
Great post as always x
InkPaperPen says
i think you are onto something and seriously, give me a buzz if you take your manifesto further b/c my response will be “where do I sign up?” and what can I do to help? 8 is too young, Dave. I used to be less inclined to dish out my opnions on such matters (live and let live and all that) but I am starting to believe it is better to speak my mind. 8 is too young. My 9 year old cousin has a FB account and she updates her relationship status on it. Seriously! Somethings (like childhood) are sacred, right?
Maxabella – I know why people are contacting you for parenting advice. You are delightfully sensible without being over conservative. An awesome mix
trudi@maudeandme says
I think possibly we are over looking the fact that we have created this. We are our kid’s most influential role model. If we want to change how kids are growing up before their time, how they are becoming obsessed with the latest technology, social media, lets start in our own home – what are we doing and using, and how often… how many classes do we have them attending…how many latest ipods ,cameras , ds, Wi .,play station do we buy for them…????
Most definetly “no” to an 8 year old on facebook – can’t believe it was a serious question.
Miss Pink says
Ahhh how this tickles a tweet i made earlier today about how there are kids in Bluey’s class (which is Kindergarten) that have real working mobile phones, they bring to school!
What the FUCK are we doing? Yes it hurts to be picked on, to be told you’re a “loser” because you don’t have this or that or aren’t allowed to do this and that, but shit haven’t we all been called a “loser” at some point in our lives? And we lived through it didn’t we? We look back on high school and say it was torture, but fuck it was childish, and we are better more mature and more self aware people. Right??
It is hard to say no to your child and know that it may be your fault they are excluded from a group, but what you’re saying is 100% on the mark. Us parents need to band together and let your kids just BE KIDS. There is plenty of time for them to be on Facebook, or open to the perils of social networking.
The way i think of it is if i allow my kids to do X earlier than i did, then they will do XX earlier, and then XXX earlier. It just snowballs and once they’re allowed to do something it’s only a matter of time before they want to do the next thing and the next. There is nothing wrong with waiting.
Also wtf is up with this “Tween” business, why do we need to have “pre teens” isn’t that when we were “kids” why shorten that, after all it’s really only 7 years that you’re a “kid” before that you’re a preschooler, or a toddler or a baby. Why is there this constant push to rush.
I sadly am prepared to be the old fashioned mean mother. I have not committed to decisions yet, but i have idea’s and i will hold off on stuff for as long as possible and “because they have it” or “because their mum/dad lets them” will not be a valid arguing point for me.
Posie Patchwork says
Don’t get my started, do we really need another reason for children to be sitting alone in a room on their bottoms, staring at a box. I don’t think there is anything social about FB either, true social skills are built in face to face contact. What’s is Dave’s son gonig to say next “all my friends are smoking & stealing, i want to too”, why can’t parents savour ther power to say NO!! My children, teenagers included will not be using FB until they have left home thank you very much, what a huge waste of time they could be talking to their siblings, friends, playing sport or real life social situations. For goodness sakes, adults can’t be trusted with FB, Twitter or SMS images – why let clueless children ruin their lives so much sooner. Love Posie
Daydream Living says
I agree 100% with your words, lovely written by the way! My 13 year old doesn’t even want one, even though a lot of her friends have one. I teach mine to do what we as a family think is right, not what everybody else is saying or doing.
Great topic, all the best,
Maureen x
Aakriti says
hey Maxabella have tagged u here….do see:)http://aakritimalik.blogspot.com/2011/06/blogger-tag.html
emma @ frog, goose and bear says
Definitely definitely too young to have their own Facebook account. There are plenty of other games online or OUTSIDE that are much more appropriate for that age group.
Why do I hear my mother at the back of my mind saying “if everybody else was jumping off a cliff, would you still want to do it too?”.
For what it’s worth, I think that we need to spend more time teaching our kids a bit of resilience with the guts to say no and to be able to lead by example by saying no ourselves sometimes.
Very well articulated post – you really do have a gift.
emma @ frog, goose and bear says
Definitely definitely too young to have their own Facebook account. There are plenty of other games online or OUTSIDE that are much more appropriate for that age group.
Why do I hear my mother at the back of my mind saying “if everybody else was jumping off a cliff, would you still want to do it too?”.
For what it’s worth, I think that we need to spend more time teaching our kids a bit of resilience with the guts to say no and to be able to lead by example by saying no ourselves sometimes.
Very well articulated post – you really do have a gift.
A Farmer's Wife says
I’m a big no. Eight is scarily young. But then I closed my own fb account as it annoyed me and I was having some privacy issues. Interestingly I spoke to a police officer about it and their general idea was that the privacy settings were easily out smarted. Scary stuff for an adult let alone an 8 year old.
Deb_in_oz says
I agree with everyon ewho said 8 was too young and even agree with mel that 18 is more appropriate. They have enough to deal with all through school, why add to the dramas and dangers out there. Instead of focusing on hundreds of pseudo-friends maybe they should focus on developing 5-10 really good friends they can actually see in person!
therhythmmethod says
I agree with all that you have written, so I’ve skipped to the comments to say “What she said …!!”
Fantastic post. x
Sannah says
Here! Here! Well said!! Parenting is such a minefield at times, but wouldn’t it be wonderful if children could be children? For a few more years at least?
Brenda @ Mira Narnie says
first up – a BIG fat NO NO NO and just incase you didn’t hear me – NO! I counsel parents as a job for the Department of Education, and all i hear about freaking FB is shit, abuse and more drama than is worth writing about. I think 8 is way too young – even 13 is too young, but this is just my opinion.
I think your post is fabulous Bron, right to the point and extremely relevant in this society. Why only today i was chatting to a mummy friend who was gobsmacked that her 10 year old niece got an iPad for her birthday – we sat their in shock, then i turned to her and said – lets promise never to do anything so ridiculous to our kids.
So that Manefesto idea – brilliant! it will be like a giant petition against that pile of marketing shit that you were talking about. I’d be the first to sign up darling….hell i’ll even be your wing man, shouting it out to anyone and everyone that will hear.
The children of today are;
Over indulged
Over entitled and
under responsible.
this is the little mantra i use at work – you’d be surprised how many “light bulb” moments this creates with parents (especially of adolescent) who wonder how their darling little angels became such out of control disrespectful creatures.
what ever happened to good ol’ fashion kids being kids? Tell Dave to get his 8 year old to write his friends a letter!!!!!!!
xx
Naturly says
8 is definatley too young for a Facebook account. I have told my kids that the rules say they can’t have one until they are 13, and that’s when I’ll let them have one… maybe…
Being a horrible meanie, I also don’t let my kids watch movies that have a rating over PG (there are occasional acceptions to that rule ie Harry Potter, but I insisted my 9 year old read the books first).
Ms Styling You says
My teenagers had to wait until the required age to get a Facebook account (much to their disappointment … because ALL their friends had already signed up). And even then I sat down with them and set it up with them every step of the way. I’m also “friends” with them – as are my parents (their grandparents) and a whole host of relatives. Lots of us keeping a vigilant eye on what’s going on. There is no way I would let my youngest (who’ll be 8 in two years) have a FB account. Full stop.
thesoundandthefury says
Hi all,
I was the one who emailed and asked the question, so thanks for posting my topic for discussion, Maxabella.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far. You all have pretty much summed up my thoughts on this issue and I agree with you all. Now, if I may add my two bob’s worth…
I think if his Facebook account and access to the web has to be monitored, so be it, but you can’t control what some other little freak on the net (read: “friend”) is going to write on his wall. That’s an issue. Plus the fact that anything he writes up there will be almost available for eternity, even the embarrassing stuff.
Not only that, he has to break the terms of use of FB to even get a page of his own (he’s under the age of 13) and it’s not ok to lie about your age in a public space like that. It’s also not ok to have/do something just because “everyone else is doing it”. I spoke to him tonight, calmly and rationally, over dessert and let him know my concerns on this issue.
I’m also well versed in online safety and have seen and heard Michael Carr-Gregg speak on this issue a few times and I just don’t think it’s a good idea for him to do this. In my line of work, I’ve seen too many dumb things happen to people as a result of being unprepared for the consequences of their online actions. I just want him to enjoy being a kid for a change!
Thanks again to you all, and to you Maxabella.
Cheers
Kymmie says
Poor Dave. Because one parent did it, we all feel like we need to do it too. But there is an age limit for those who should be on Facebook. To add an eight year old means you’re breaking the law by saying he is older than he really is. Ouch.
I think if there is a law, you should stick to it. That’s why there are ratings on DVDs too…
My few cents worth. And no. My boys WON’T be on Facebook until the law says they can. Sad but true.
xx
E. says
I know a child aged 7 who has a Facebook account. All I can think is Why???
Girl Child wants to play the farming games on Facebook but it doesn’t mean she needs her own account. She can play on my account while I sit with her.
Boy Child is 12 and knows he can’t have an account until he is 13 at the earliest. He is not fussed but thinks it’s hysterically funny that a bunch of people friended another kid from high school on Facebook thinking it was him as they have the same first name.
Apparently Moshi Monsters is billed as being like Facebook for the younger kids. Maybe Dave’s kids can try that?
74 Lime Lane says
At our house, I will admit,we are very open with computers, gadgetry and the internet. Our two have lots of access. However, I’ve already had to say no to Master almost-9 to a facebook account.
Apart from all the obvious reasons, many already mentioned here, it opens them up to stuff they don’t need to know, read or learn, really quite easily.
Their young teenage cousins ~ just turned 13 ~ have fb. They sign up to groups with appalling names, play those stupid games about swears words etc and you would assume they would all want to be “friends”. No thanks, he doesn’t need to learn those words etc just yet. I’ll them a little naive for a little longer thanks!
Jess says
I agree bron! Kids should not have access to Facebook or any online social networking sites…the only ‘networking’ an 8 year old should be doing is at the local park 🙂
Carly Findlay says
I wish kids could be kids – reading books and playing with toys. They want to grow up too fast, and adults often let them. I know a few people whose kids have FB – I wonder what for?
Kellie says
Abso-freaking-lutely it is too young!
Like an 8 year old needs that kind of direct exposure to online bullying and peer pressure. It’s bad enough for me and I’m 24 years old.
There is no way my kids will be getting their own Facebook account (or whatever is cool when they’re of age) until they’re at least 16. At LEAST. Not until they are old enough to be able to brush off the crap that comes along with being a part of a social network.
People have committed suicide over shit that happened on Facebook/Twitter.
Why take that kind of risk?
Cinnamon says
I think even 13 is too young for a facebook account, let alone 8. I firmly believe technology should be used as a tool, not an escape, and teaching our children that might keep them from becoming mindless, brainwashed zombies. Just my two cents…
Glen says
no no no no no no
too young.
definitely.
Anna Bartlett says
DEFINITELY too young. My eldest signed up on Facebook at 11 without us knowing. He’s a sensible kid, and he still has it, but it’s been a problem from time to time. Our second is almost ten, but now knows not to even mention it again until he’s 13, and then we’ll talk about it. So we’ve managed to be ‘uneven’ and ‘just say no’ and it’s working. I can’t believe it myself. And I can recommend it.
Juli's Journey says
TOO YOUNG!!!! Come on, we all want to grow up way too fast and then long for the simpler days of being a child.
Don’t taint your child by social media. I beg you.
Toyin O. says
Eight year olds should not have facebook accounts:)
Imperfectly Me says
Our school had a cyber-safety presentation and one thing they said is that if you do allow your child (under 13) to do FB make sure they don’t put their ‘age’ as something really old as that’s one thing that wierdo’s can prey on…ie they look for FB’ers who have made their age something ‘old’ but the types of things they’re posting are actually really ‘young’….
Out of a class of 30 odd (yr 5&6) there were only 4 kids on FB (ours wasn’t one of them).
Our kids are experts at using the ‘it just doesn’t work for our family’ mantra when asked about something they aren’t doing yet…love that saying, it’s so multipurpose!
Mrs Woog says
There is not one good reason that a child needs a facebook account. I am VERY anti this.
Life In A Pink Fibro says
I’m hoping to keep my boys off Facebook until they’re 30. Right about the time they’re allowed to have a girlfriend and go out at night without me.
I think it’s time to bring out the ‘Well, if all your friends jumped off the Harbour Bridge, would you?’ response that was an essential part of the parenting handbook in the 1980s – well, from my experience – as soon as any child tries ‘all my friends are on Facebook’ on us.
I reckon that if we give it a few years, all the Hipster Kids will be completely un-connected. Old Skool style
Life In A Pink Fibro says
PS: I’m totally in for the Parent Union. Collective Bargaining Power. That’s what we need. We’ll get ourselves an Award, and the right to avoid Facebook until children are old enough to understand it will be right up the top.
And let me know when you’re running your first Parenting workshop. I’m totally there.
Georgie says
Well said Maxabella. Eight is too young. Children of this age will not learn about life by sitting at a computer and ‘socialising’. They will learn about life through tangible experience, adventure, mess and people. Get a grip Dave and don’t even think about it. gxo
Becci says
Agree that 8 is too young. My 8 yr old son would rather go kick a ball around. The only time he’s stuck to the computer is playing Mathletics. On the other hand I’ve just allowed my 12 yr old girl to have FB after proving to me she can be mature about it. She stays in touch with her friends from primary and interstate but I have her login details to check up. Didn’t want her to friend me as some of my ‘friends’ can be quite smutty (well so can I…). If I see any bullying going on I will shut it down but so far its been really silly little kids stuff. And I only let her on there for 20 min a day. Go the manifesto! Count me in, kids get so spoiled it ruins parenting for the rest of us old stick in the muds.
Kylie says
I think eight is too young. My daughter was allowed to have a Facebook page when she turned 14, and even then I was dubious. What I don’t understand is… Facebook won’t let you have a page until you’re 13 (new rules), so how are they doing it?? Fake birthdays? More alarm bells. We live in a world of too much too soon I think. K
Teek says
I think 8 is far to young too.. I have a 9 year old and an almost 8 year old and I could not imagine them being on facebook. I really think it is important to let kids be just kids and not expose them to things that their little minds can not even comprehend…
Thanks for stopping by my blog.
Tanya
**Anne** says
I’m an old fashioned mum with kids 21 and nearly 18. When they wanted something which we considered inappropriate for their age we just told them that other families have different ideas than us. They didn’t like it but accepted it because we gave them lots of other fun things to do. Facebook at 8, good grief, let them be kids PLEASE!
I believe in children being children, having the opportunity to be creative, build with lego or go play out in the dirt with cars and trucks. Get those little hands dirty, play marbles, or hide and seek or make cubby houses and forts with some cardboard and branches from the garden. Give them arvo tea to eat in the cubby or fort Get them out in the fresh air and away from yet another screen. And if it’s raining, give them some blankets, cushions and a table. I’ll guarantee it, they will have much more fun.
Rant over.
Anne
Abbie says
There used to be a time when there was no such thing as cyber bullying. It a shame with each new technological advance, people have found ways new ways to bully.
Children have been losing their innocence earlier and earlier. All to fit in and not stand out. “Keeping up with the Jones” has gotten much worse. Cell phones that at one time where for only the affluent are now being carried around by tweens.
What?!?
I think it is too much too soon. We need everyone to come together for it to work. Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening in the near future.
As parents, we have to do the best we can and hope to God to keep the lines of communication open with our children. To teach them to be okay with themselves and be happy with what they have and to know when enough is enough.
Sarah says
I haven’t read the comments. My answer is NO.
That’s it. x
Sarah says
As in I’d be saying NO to any 8 year old who wanted one. Just wanted to clarify that.
kylie says
It’s simple in our house, if it says on the site no under 13’s then that’s the rules regardless of what the friends are doing. It is also understood that “Tech” is for Friday afternoon and Sunday, monitored by parents, and we have to be friended on our teen’s Facebook accounts so that we can see the conversations that go on. So far no problems. Keep it simple keep it fair and be aware.
Pieni Lintu says
It’s not a place for a child!!
PS. Thank you for visiting my blog and your kind words!!! ♥
Kelly says
I have a 13 year old daughter and I still haven’t allowed her to join facebook.
Sarah says
So true, and so well-written. I’m intrigued by your manifesto idea. In fact I love it, but to be honest, I wouldn’t be game to raise it at school – my kid’s only in kindergarten and I still feel like I’m trying to fit in (hmm, isn’t that interesting?). But I would absolutely sign one. And I’ll be reading with interest if you decide to guinea pig the idea…
Christie - Childhood 101 says
This is exactly why I hope my daughter grows up mad about sport..or dance..or even horses! Something to keep her busy and away from unnecessary distractions like Facebook. I read this post recently which raised some very real concerns – http://easypeasykids.com.au/wpblog/2011/06/06/%e2%80%9cfacebook-%e2%80%93-two-clicks-away-from-the-end-of-innocence%e2%80%9d/
Tammi says
In my opinion 8 is far too young….enough said 🙂
x
Metropolitan Mum says
Very interesting post and very difficult question. Hard to say no when mummy is spending most of her free time blogging and daddy is an internet start-up kind of guy. I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I get there…
quilary says
I’m with you – waaay too young. Can I sign up to your manifesto please! I’m currently “the worst mother in the world” because I haven’t given my 14 yr old a phone…and I have her fb password (if she changes I’ll know too!)They do have to learn how to get through the minefield of fb, but they need us to help teach them how to respond to bullying, nasty stuff and potential dangers. C’mon parents lets work together so the kids can’t say “but so-so’s parents said they can”!! and it is easy to say know – ’cause you are the PARENT not the best friend.
PS Happy to hand over the “worst mother” title to any takers…
Hi I'm Rhonda. says
I let my son get one this year. At the end of 5th grade. He’s just turned 11. I think I will always monitor his internet activity, until he is old enough to actually make his own decisions. So that won’t change magically at 13. I will still require the password to everything he does online and I will check occasionally. Not because I don’t trust him but because there are too many weirdos in the world. I think more than a specific age being too young is that it’s based on child to child, that being said I don’t think many 8 year olds have the needs for social networking. My son wanted it because we moved 1200 miles away from all of my family and it’s a good way to keep in touch with them, as well as his aunt and uncle who are both stationed in Iraq. Of course we also still write letters and send cards.