Children V social media

Anonymous

Children V social media

How do you all feel about kids and facebook accounts, as in their own account?
I have told my kids that facebook and insta accounts arent even up for discussion until they meet the age requirement (which i believe is 13) or the year they start high school i may consider it, they don't even have and won't be getting phones until high school age too.

The thing is, the vast majority of their friends already have accounts. I've been getting friend/follow requests from their 9 and 10 year old friends left right and centre, which i feel a little weird about šŸ˜‚

Part of me is like "maybe I'm being a bit fuddy duddy about all this" but then the other part of me is like "pfft, don't even care, absolutely not".

So just out of curiosity, where do you sit on this one and why?

Posted in:  Life Lessons, Kids, FAQ

11 Replies

Anonymous

My 7yo would like a phone. He'd also like a motorbike. I'll let you guess what my answers are šŸ™„. When he starts night school, we'll get him a simple phone. Until then? Nope. He is not allowed on YouTube or Kids YouTube. They are not mature enough to understand content that is being pushed on to them. I've seen videos pretending to be aimed at kids, have extremely inappropriate material. No thanks!

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Anonymous

Me too. Puppets acting out rape scenes. Not on my watch .

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Anonymous

My children wont have phones until they require one to be able to contact me eg. When they get a job and need to call me to pick them up. In my opinion being in high school doesn't automatically entitle them to a phone. But to actually answer your question- if they aren't the minimum age required to have an account then that's a huge NO from me. If you allow it you're basically condoning lying because they would have have to make up a fake birthday to sign up. Also I would definitely not be accepting friend requests from 10 years olds and I would actually be telling their parents in case they aren't aware if their children's accounts.

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Anonymous

A lot of children I know donā€™t have social media accounts. My niece and nephew are in both in high school (niece 15) now has a smart phone and been allowed supervised social media and is earning less monitoring as she proves she is safe etc.
Nephew an old mobile phone, that he can text and call on (13 years old).
My son didnā€™t have social media until well into high school.

The few young kids I know who do have social media are overly permissive parents in general (no rules or boundaries, kids donā€™t go to school much) so I wonā€™t be feeling pressured into following there lead anytime soon.

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Anonymous

I dont know aboit age specifically.. But I think they will get a phone whenever I feel.i need to be in contact with them for safety reasons. So whenever they start going places more often where I don't drop off/pick up at certain time frames ect.

As for social media, I'd probably say high school is when they first can get it.

I am fighting the urge (And in laws) to even let my little kids have an iPad for games because it just isn't needed.

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Anonymous

My son asks and heā€™s been told no, after seeing all the drama my sisters kids have gone through with social media Iā€™m making my child wait until I think heā€™s emotionally mature enough to let him have it. I monitor his phone, I paid for it and I buy the credit. Heā€™s 13 at the end of the year. Still not old enough in my eyes.

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Anonymous

I'm of the opinion that allowing impressionable primary school aged kids acess to social media is just asking for trouble - it's too much, too soon.
I actually fail to see why a primary school aged kid needs a pphone at all, a lot of my kids friends of this age group have literally the latest model iPhones/Samsungs etc. I really think some parents have more money than sense sometimes...

I have made a compromise with my kids. They'll get a prepaid phone for christmas before they start high school. I figure they'll be starting to be more independent then, they'll be making their way to/from school on their own so i want them to be able to contact me or their dad if they ever need to.

(I caught the wrong bus home once by accident in high school, i had no way to contact my mum. I ended up somewhere i was unfamiliar with, panicked and no idea what to do.
So i don't even want my kids to end up in that position).

I have also said we'd discuss having a FB account that same year.
This is a more strategic on my part, I'd rather them have an account i know about and can monitor as opposed to them ending up setting up a secret one that i don't know about.
So I'm hoping by giving them some allowances, they won't feel the need to lie to me, hide stuff etc.

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Anonymous

My kids got phones around 12 and 2 of them got facebook at 10. We are pretty isolated and facebook was how they got to know their extended family. i had gone MIA for 10 years and then I was reintroduced to everyone when I discovered facebook and thought why not let the kids on there too. They are now young adults and very social media savvy, they can spot scams and weirdos from a mile away.

I'm amazed that people still have this attitude about kids with phones but will happily hand a 5 year old an ipod or ipad, both of which do the exact same things as a phone. There is no difference between phones and tablets these days so if you're against phones you should be against the other stuff too.

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Anonymous

I am against both.

My kid has extremely limited access to an iPad, and computer, same as nieces and nephews. They have to share the 1 device thatā€™s allowed in the loungeroom only and under supervision.

Itā€™s much easier to sneak a phone or iPod into a bedroom/pocket than an iPad and much harder to see over a shoulder with a phone or iPod.

Iā€™ve witnessed too many children watch some horrifying stuff on devices when I was nannying to allow a primary school age child access without supervision.

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Anonymous

My youngest is 16 and has only just got Instagram, no Facebook. A lot of her friends had social media super young and we discussed it numerous times. I have no idea what some parents think.
Even 13 is too young. I donā€™t understand why youā€™d want them to start navigating this world any earlier. I also have full access and passwords. Sheā€™s had a phone since high school so we can contact each other. She has only recently got some data for the phone and only had home/school WiFi but the school is very strict on phone use. I wasnā€™t an iPad mum either.

Mum donā€™t let other parents or 9 year olds sway you. I am considered strict by other kids but kids NEED boundaries. Itā€™s how they feel safe and loved even if itā€™s through door slamming and I hate you words. My older kids now adults have told me that they used us as an excuse when they didnā€™t want to go somewhere. We are more than happy to be the scape goat.
We even had texting codes. If my daughter texted me and it ends in a ā€œcodeā€ I know sheā€™s texting in front of friends and wants me to say she is not allowed. Be that safe place. Strict doesnā€™t mean unhappy.

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Anonymous

Fuckin nope, no social media or phones till at least 15 when they can get a job and pay for it themselves.

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