Kids & FB

I will not allow my daughter to get an account until she is mentally able to handle the stress that can come with it. She is 11 now, and has been begging for an account for two years. It will not happpen before she is ready for it!

My children are too young to have a FB so atm i cant really give a yes no answer.. i have a FB but am barely on it. once ina while i jump on there for no more than 20 minutes. i dont tell any personal business type things or post a million pictures just a few every so often so my friends and family who live far away can see how much my little girls are growing. I think that if your someone who uses it all the time and your children are aware of them it will want them to also have one. also im sure the kids at school have a huge influence on whether other kids get interested in FB. If and when my girls get a facebook it will be monitored as regular as they may use it. and thats that! if they dont like it... well then i guess they wont be getting one at all!

Each of my grandkids have their own FB accounts. I put them in as adults and block all access on them. That means that only people they friend can see them at all. I have tested it too and they are just not listed. They are friends with their siblings and mom. They play a few games with them but I am always right there.

It is not someone else's job to monitor the kids in my family, it is my job and they can have FB accounts for the purpose I have allowed.

They don't even know their own passwords yet. I may not tell them until they are much older. They do not get on and post anything or chat with friends. They do post occasionally if I tell them it's okay.

I am not worried at all about them playing the games they like. They play for a little while then they are done and want to go do something else.

When they get more computer literate I will still have access to their accounts since it is on an email address they don't know about nor do they know those passwords either. SO they won't be able to change the passwords or block me. I can always go in and fix anything they mess up.

There are tons of free games on FB, a lot of them are already geared to children. Games that require higher functioning and planning/strategy like FarmTown where you have to plan your crops according to what you need in your businesses is not something they will find fun. But some game like Happy Aquarium, Barn Buddy, Egg Buddies, (Lil) Farm Life, Animal Ranch, FishVille,
Toy City, and the list goes on and on and on. The games are already there. The kids already play them. They play games on their own accounts and on their parents accounts.

I got caught by a mom of a friend of mine and she mentioned her daughter had asked her a question about one of my posts. It was not a naughty one or anything like that but more deep, requiring some processing and thought. I realized, just like you mentioned, that I don't want to be posting stuff and not remembering that kids are looking on. SO I have lists. If I post something I think I'd like to not show kids I click on the "custom" option of the post. Then I select my "fun friends" there are not children on this list nor any of my baptist preachers from high school nor my preacher relatives. They would be offended sometimes by just a word or something. I don't post naughty things but occasionally it will be a bit rank...

So I do have tons of friends that are kids, most are over 14, but still, I would not want them seeing some of the pictures I like and share.

I do think they will have better regulation on kids if they implement some kind of kids accounts. They are already on there, why not go ahead and do them so that even more safeguards can be done.

They are already on FB in the thousands and there is nothing anyone can do about it unless we pay for our accounts. Then they will have credit card numbers on each person that logs on. I don't want to pay, I want the choice to monitor what happens in my home to be my choice.

My personal (not so humble) opinion: As a society we have so many people that struggle with social skills/people skills...I can not see how having a facebook account would in any way, shape, or form, help a child. We're talking kids that are at the most important point in their lives as far as developing the skills they will need to interact with people...real people...face to face. If something exciting happens in my children's lives, I can post it...they can share their comments on my account, etc. I have my account set to the highest privacy settings possible. I would just rather my kids be out doing things with other people - building and creating...riding bikes...hiking...fishing...getting involved in extracurricular activities..ANYTHING other than sitting in front of a screen. Anyway...I could go on and on...there are so many things and reasons that pop into my head when I think about kids on facebook...I already know too many...and it just seems like kids trying to fit into a teenage/adult world instead of enjoying the things that kids should be enjoying at this point in their lives. There's no way of really knowing which ones will latch onto and really get obsessed and addicted to it (like many adults I know :p). Anyway - I'll step off my soapbox now ;). There aren't many things I have strong opinions about...but this is one of them! ;)

Just as kids are at an age where they are only learning how to make real, living, breathing friends, and how to talk to people like, well, people....let's get them FB and let them deal with online "friends" instead! Hooray for FB, making more money and spreading the daily drama down to kids way too young to know the difference between a real live friend and someone who has a computer and an attitude!

Yeah, we're not FB fans here. Don't have it, don't want it, don't see it doing much but causing drama and more drama no one needs. Look at all the Mamapedia posts about FB problems for adults -- why let that kind of stuff go on with kids who are younger and have no experience with ignoring idiocy when they encounter it online?

No Facebook in our house.
My son is 13 and not interested in it.
There are quite a few people who feel FB should raise it's minimum age limit to 18.

I let my two teenagers on FB - BUT they're only allowed to "friend" people they actually know; I have their passwords and monitor what they do; their pages are restricted so only "friends" can see their profile/info. I check periodically and make sure they haven't changed anything. They're allowed to post a picture but ONLY if it's respectable!!! There are no "butt," "boob," or "tongue" pictures!! Those are disgusting.

My nieces got me to use FB a few years ago - we are in different cities and have fun using it to stay in touch, show off our kids, etc. I am VERY restrictive - I have less than 20 "friends" and they're almost all family. I have absolutely no intention of "friending" anyone I work with or know just on a casual basis.

Kids are going to use it whether they have a "kids" FB or not. I do not feel parents monitor their children enough, or even care in some cases. I told a mom once about a disgusting picture her son had posted and she couldn't have cared less! The picture is still there a year later! Then another mom asked me about the restrictions, etc., set up an account for her son (he's only 11) but didn't put on the restrictions as I had suggested. I tested it and sure enough, within minutes, I knew what town he lived in, his birth date, his school, etc. All kinds of personal information! Then she proceeded to tell me he only "friends" people he knows! It was like talking to a brick wall!!

I think FB has turned into a pedophile's smorgasbord and it's only going to get worse as long as parents have their heads stuck in the sand!

Just one person's opinion!!!

um yea unless I moniter who my kids friend and then if things get all 'cyberbully' then the account closes.

I heard about it.. but I still wouldn't let my kids have a FB until they are 13. They are looking forward to it.. one turns 13 this aug and the next one next aug.

Im the same way as you... some of my stuff that I post isnt always children friendly. I do have my 15 ( almost 16 yr old on my page) but unfortunately we have the same twisted humor. Honestly he is old enough to see it.. with him having his own page ( even though I do monitor it occasionally) some of the same stuff is posted by his friends.

Come this aug Im going to have to watch some of the stuff I put.. or atleast block them from seeing it ;)

Define "kids". No I do not think pre-teens should have facebooks accounts. I allowed my daughters to have FB accounts when they entered high school. Rule: I must have your password. My oldest abused the privledge and didn't follow the rules. She had over 300 friends. We made her close her account and I've just allowed her (age 17) to open it up again.

I've also attended internet safety seminars but on by police officers and highly recommend anyone allowing their kids to have FB attend one of these presentations. A real eye opener.