For all of you <span title="parents...........thoughts">parents...........thought...</span> on allowing your 12 year old to use Facebook.?

Question

My child is upset with me cause I won't let him sign up on Facebook. Am I being too harsh and too paranoid?

Answer 1

No way.

No way no way no way!

My twelve year old is barely on the net, never mind signing up for facebook or myspace or any of that stuff.

Too much happens there. Keep him off!!

Answer 2

No you have to be 18 to have a face book. Let her use myspace though u only have to be 14

Answer 3

well on my 13th birthday my parents let me sign up for myspace. with boundaries and rules. i think you should let him sign up and tell him to give you his pasword just so you can frequently check up on him and see what hes up to

-hope this helps!

Answer 4

facebook is for people who are atleast in highschool. so no you aren&#039;t

Answer 5

it&#039;s safer than myspace

Answer 6

12 is a little yong yet. I didn&#039;t let my kids use facebook until they were 14 or 15.  I know the kids don&#039;t liek it very much, Gaggle is a good Social Networking site for kids.

Answer 7

I allow my 14 year old too but she can only chat with people she knows in real life and I have acsess to the account(she knows this)

Answer 8

I wouldn&#039;t see a problem with it. Facebook is safer than Myspace as it has better privacy controls. You don&#039;t get the weirdos like you do on My space.

Answer 9

No you are not! Have you seen some of the stuff on there?  He&#039;s too young.

Answer 10

YES! the site want the 12-16 population to join, but with paranoid parents, they make the sites SO much safer, and they have SO protections and privacies.

hope i helped

Answer 11

Although it makes sense that you are worried, I dont think there is any harm in a 12 year old having a facebook.  Maybe you should talk to him about the rules about what he can and cannot put on facebook so he knows for sure how to be safe.  Or compromise and say that he can have one but you can check it at random whenever you want.  If he has anything too personal on there then tell him to take it off.

Answer 12

You are not being too paranoid. Always parent in a way that makes you feel comfortable and that you are doing what you think is best. Having said that, my 8 year old is on facebook. I have her password, and I have to approve all her friends (She asks me before adding or accepting a friend) and also she does not add applications without my approval.

I was comfortable with that. You do what you feel best about. Don&#039;t give in because your child is upset at you. If you change your mind, make him earn it first.

Answer 13

Whats the problem with it?  I dont see the problem.?  I&#039;m serious....what are your concerns about it...maybe I&#039;m being blind here but.... seems fairly harmless to me, especially if you make a rule with him that he doesnt like put his adress and phone number up there and make his page private for friends only.

Answer 14

I&#039;m not a parent, but I am a facebook user, and I must say this is a good choice. Facebook was originally designed for college students and then opened up to high school students. When registering you must put in your age and what school you go to. I don&#039;t know how any of your son&#039;s friends may have facebooks but it is aimed at an older crown and at ties can get a little much. They are also having to lie and basically go against the Terms of Service that Facebook has, in order to sign up.

Answer 15

No I don&#039;t think you are. Now that Facebook allows anyone to join, you don&#039;t know who is on there. He is too young for websites like this and shoud wait till he is older.

Answer 16

Yeah id say you were being too harsh

Ive had social network sites for aslong as i can remember

theyre very safe

especially facebook

id say that facebook is the safest one.

just watch out for bebo

thats the one thats full of c**p you dont want your kids seeing

x

Answer 17

fasebook is alot safeer than myspace so he will be fine.

i am 12 and i have one.

Answer 18

I cannot speak as a parent, but as an elementary school teacher, I would say absolutely not.  You are well within your rights as a parent, and I applaud you for doing what you can to keep your child safe.  

Although Facebook is safer (in my opinion) than Myspace, Facebook (and similar programs, such as Myspace) were designed for older teens and adults as social networking sites and have the ability to expose your child to way too much inappropriate material.  

In fact, use by children violates the terms of use of the site.  Facebook&#039;s eligibility description reads, &quot;Any registration by, use of or access to the Site by anyone under 13, or by anyone who is under 18 and not in high school or college, is unauthorized, unlicensed and in violation of these Terms of Use.&quot;

Your child may not see eye to eye with you on this, but often, children are upset when their parents make decisions that will keep them safe.   However, these are exactly the kinds of decisions that good parents make.

Answer 19

i will never understand why kids not even in highschool join facebook!!!

anyway just let him, those kind of things are dangerous 4 girls not really 4 boys

EDIT: what?

Answer 20

no you are not being paranoid or harsh at all. Your 12 year old will just have to get over it

Answer 21

No you are not. In my opinion he is too young for facebook, I would suggest  maybe when he turns14  and is in high school for the youngest.

Answer 22

Nope, I think you&#039;re right on track.  I also don&#039;t allow my children to use those kinds of sites.

Answer 23

I&#039;m 15 and I don&#039;t even like facebook, I signed up and didn&#039;t really see the point of it. I wouldn&#039;t let them, it can cause trouble with people

Answer 24

Personally, I&#039;d wait until he was in high school. Facebook is much safer, but it is not censored as well. People can post racy pictures and such on Facebook and not get in trouble. If you do let him join, monitor him well! Make sure you know who his friends are, what applications he adds, and what groups he joins.