What’s the right age for your children to join social networking sites like Facebook? In Facebook’s declaration of rights and responsibilities, minors under 13 are prohibited from accessing the site. Children under 13 should get their parents’ approval before transmitting any personal information, Facebook advises.
Although the minimum age to create a Facebook account is 13, many kids create accounts on Facebook or other social media networks by submitting a fake date of birth.
It has been shown that social media plays a significant role in educating children on digital-age life skills. Parents may aid their pre-teens in acquiring vital safety skills by regularly monitoring their use of social media sites designed specifically for younger children. However, Facebook is not suited for pre-teens.
If you’re debating whether to assist your pre-teen in creating a Facebook account, consider persuasive reasons why children should not be on Facebook.
Reasons why children should not be on Facebook
- Children are exposed to adult content on Facebook.
To protect pre-teens from adult content, the minimum age of 13 was imposed. Your under-13 child may be exposed to unsuitable content on Facebook since most of its users are adults and older teens.
- Facebook has the potential to detract from academic performance and focus. Students learn to study and homework skills in elementary school. Introduce Facebook at this key time, and you risk disrupting established study habits and encouraging students to want to socialize while doing assignments.
- For children, Facebook may cause developmental delays.
Young children need to have unstructured playtime, outdoor time, hands-on activities, and face-to-face contact with other children. It’s all part of the process. Introducing kids to the enticing world of Facebook at a young age may be detrimental to their development in several ways. There is also the risk of childhood obesity since it encourages a less active lifestyle.
- To get around the 13-year-old age limit on Facebook, you may assist your pre-teen in establishing a Facebook account.
Furthermore, you’re creating a hazardous precedent by showing your youngster that you believe it’s alright to embellish the facts from time to time.
- Malware is frequently unknown to pre-teens.
When it comes to social networking sites like Facebook, there are several ways your computer may get infected with malware, and youngsters under the age of 14 have little to no knowledge of what it is or how to prevent it.
- Pre-teens are unaware of the threats posed by cyber predators.
Facebook is a popular area for child predators to conduct surveillance. Children who have not yet gone through puberty comprehend very little about the objectives of a child molester or the dangers of communicating with strangers online.
- Pre-teens are especially vulnerable to cyberbullying.
Children of any age may be harmed by cyberbullying. The younger the victim, the less competent they are in managing cyberbullying as a general rule. In particular, children between the ages of 6 and 12 tend to interpret statements figuratively and understand sarcasm personally.
- There is a chance that younger children may become involved in cyberbullying.
Young children are especially prone to following the crowd, which is exacerbated by the anonymity of the Internet. Pre-teens are more prone to follow in the footsteps of classmates who make offensive remarks online.
- Young children often find it challenging to keep track of their friends.
If you’re teaching your 10-year-old how to use social media, it’s important to keep in mind that they are likely to consider the globe a “friend.” When a friend request comes in from someone they don’t know, many pre-teens have no idea what to do.
- Pre-teens’ use of Facebook may lead to child obesity.
Young children need to engage in unstructured play, spend time outside, and connect with other children. A sedentary lifestyle may lead to obesity in children if they spend too much time on Facebook or other internet activities.