I personally believe that the age restrictions for setting up a Facebook page is quite reasonable. A child 13 and over is able to make far better decisions and possesses a much greater depth of perception and maturity than a pre-teen. I think it is very unfortunate that millions of children under 13 have bypassed these restrictions and currently have their own Facebook accounts. The potential harm of misusing Facebook can not be overstated:
Millions of children are active on Facebook in violation of the site’s terms of service, which require users to be at least 13 years old, according to a survey released Tuesday by Consumer Reports.
The magazine said it estimates that 7.5 million of the 20 million minors on Facebook are younger than 13. More than 5 million children in this group are 10 and younger. These youngsters are vulnerable to predators and bullies, as well as Internet viruses and malware, because they are using Facebook with little parental oversight, Consumer Reports said. The magazine said it projects “1 million children were harassed, threatened or subjected to other forms of cyberbullying on the site in the past year.”
Minors can skirt Facebook’s terms of service by falsifying their birth date when they register for the free site. Facebook has procedures in place to find underage users, including reports from other users, and will permanently delete those accounts if detected.
Consumer Reports said the best way for parents to monitor their children’s Facebook activities is to “friend” them via the site. However, only 18 percent of parents of children 10 and younger have done so. This figure rose to 62 percent for parents of children 13 and 14.
In a response to the Consumer Reports survey, Facebook noted that “there is no single solution to ensuring younger children don’t circumvent a system or lie about their age. We appreciate the attention that these reports and other experts are giving this matter and believe this will provide an opportunity for parents, teachers, safety advocates and Internet services to focus on this area, with the ultimate goal of keeping young people of all ages safe online.”
Online security is a concern for adults as well as minors. Consumer Reports’ survey showed that 21 perent of Facebook users with children at home have posted those children’s names and photos on the site. According to the magazine, 15 percent of Facebook users have posted their current location or travel plans and 34 percent have shared their full birth date. This exposes consumers to identity theft and stalking, Consumer Reports said. In addition, one in five Facebook users has not used the site’s privacy controls.
The magazine compiled its results from its national State of the Net survey, which covered 2,089 online households and was conducted earlier this year. About 150 million Americans are on Facebook.
The social networking company has addressed safety as recently as last month, announcing that it has revamped its Family Safety Center, an online portal with resources for parents and teens. Facebook also said in April that it plans to release a free guide for teachers on how to safely use social media in the classroom.
“We agree with safety experts that communication between parents/guardians and kids about their use of the Internet is vital,” Facebook said, adding: “Just as parents are always teaching and reminding kids how to cross the road safely, talking about internet safety should be just as important a lesson to learn.”
So is it the role of a teacher to teach children about safe internet practices and responsible internet use? Yes, to an extent. However, as one of my readers, Anthony Purcell, wrote so succinctly in a comment on a similarly themed post:
I am a little frustrated that teachers are being the ones that are to teach children how to be good digital citizens. Where are the parents? They should be helping out as well. Unfortunately, I know that many parents don’t know how to be a good digital citizen. There are sites out there that teachers can build to help students out with this. Should they be on Twitter and Facebook in primary school? No, but we can set up ways to help them begin their good digital citizenship roles.
I couldn’t agree more. Parents, we can only do so much to ensure that your children make responsible decisions on the internet as well as in other spheres. The rest is up to you!
Tags: Age Requirements, Consumer Reports, Cyber Bullying, Cyber Safety, Education, facebook, Opinion, Responsibility, Safety, social media, State of the Net survey, Teacher, Twitter
Topical Teaching 
May 11, 2011 at 8:01 pm |
This is good! I am totally baffled when I see what younger kids are up to online. Well done!!
May 13, 2011 at 4:10 pm |
Thank you Tola Awe. I appreciate the compliment very much.
September 5, 2011 at 6:30 am |
This is why we should go back to hitting out children. They don’t learn through “Please don’t do that.”, they need a hand across the back of the head. In my day, it was called discipline. It both toughened me up and made me the respectful young man I am today. Now don’t get me wrong, with laws the way they are I won’t be doing much hitting of my children when the time comes. I do have a certification as an early car and education assistant teacher. If the “hands free” methods taught there work well with other people’s kids, they’ll work with mine too. Hitting is just quicker.
January 31, 2012 at 7:36 am |
There are way too many underage chlidern on facebook. it’s crazy and very few parents monitor them. Even if you report abuse from a younger person they don’t take them off. It’s like giving them fake id’s. some say their birthdays are in the 40’s and 50’s. it’s crazy.
January 31, 2012 at 11:53 pm |
I didn’t realise that reporting them made no difference. Very interesting comment MM.