Would you let your teenager son have a facebook?

Question

Should I allow my 15 year old son to get facebook? If you have a son/daughter and they are around my son's age, do you have any rules or agreements with them so they can keep it?

Answer 1

To me (a 36 year old mom) it does not appear there are many kids on Facebook who are younger than 11th grade. It is a lot more for alumni etc. So I am not sure he would have a lot of fun personally.  My son has a MySpace but is not on it a lot and is only allowed to add people he personally knows with my approval.

Having said that -- Facebook has a lot more privacy and it would be a lot harder for some perv to victimize him because you cannot simply browse profiles or anything. I would let my 15 year old son have a Facebook but I do not think he would have as much fun with it until grade 12/college simply because there are not that many younger teens on Facebook.

Answer 2

I might be a 16 year old myself,  but my mom lets me have a myspace and a facebook, if i wanted one. The only terms she has to letting me use it, is if some creepy old person is hitting on you; to let her know. and one more thing she tells me to do, is not to go around posting bad stuff about her or any of my family members.

I would say Let your 15 year old son have it. Kids in my generation are so lazy that they have to text and email vs. calling the people to keep in touch.  I remember a little while back when everyone called and your phone lines were busy 24/7, but now.. it hardly ever rings and everyone is online or at their jobs.  All i'm saying is facebook isnt all that bad of a website; neither is myspace.  I've had my myspace for a long time now and no one has messed with me, sent me dirty pics,  or sent me nasty mail. On myspace there is a thing called the 'Block user'  Button if that ever happens.  But yeah,  let him have it, the facebook that is. =D

Answer 3

no, those sites get addicting and teens will spend too much time there. i mean seroiusly, he's 15. all his friends are in one general area and i'm sure he hangs out with them all the time and chats and im him. tell him to go play a sport or something if he wants new friends.

Answer 4

I'm 14 and i think that he can but you need to go on once a week at random times and look at it look at his friends list look at what he writes etc.. if you trust him then yes.....however if his grades drop then i would say get the account frozen or suspended facebook people can do this

Answer 5

I am right around his age and my mom let me have one. Although i may be young, i have some tips that might help you. First of all, if he really wants one, then let him have an account! Teenagers love talking to friends online, it's the new trend! But, my mom made a few rules that i believe will be helpfull. My mom is allowed to view EVERYTHING on my profile. This way, nothing is there that might prevail him getting a job, and it's a clean profile. That rule definitally works! Many people (including myself) are afraid of sexual predators on websites. Look at his friends about every month to make sure he has physically met all of them. Lastly, (i'm not sure if you can do this on facebook, though) make him have his account on private. This way, people who know him are the only ones who can add him. You won't have to fret too much over it, after all, he is a teenager and we know if you were in his spot you would want the same thing! (i hope i helped you!)

Answer 6

let them use facebook they definitly old enough!!!

Answer 7

i'm 15, i have one, i only add people i know, like friends and family members, tell him to add only people he knows

Answer 8

I would allow him to have a Facebook account but I would make sure the computer was in a "public" area of the home (family room kitchen, etc) where his online activies can be monitored and supervised.  He doesn't need a computer in his room at 15.

Answer 9

Go ahead and let him have a facebook, with these guidelines:

No cyberbullying--Either if he was the victim of it, or if he started it, he must tell you about it right away

No adding friends that he does not know

You have the right to check on his Facebook at ANY TIME, even without further notice.

No adding applications or groups which are sexual in content or which spread harmful things to his thinking. (i.e. ones which encourage violence, gangs, etc.)

Add your own terms and violations, but remember to also give him a breather. Don't be a Police officer over him, or you'll find that he'll make another account and go on it behind your back. Same thing goes with telling him not to make a facebook, he will do things without your knowledge.

But I think 15 yrs old is an age of maturity, and he'll know what to do.

Remember that MySpace is waaayy worse, and that FaceBook's privacy can be edited to a point where nobody even knows you have an account. MySpace is what you should be more nosy about, but I don't think FaceBook is much of a problem since all his friends will know what he's doing, who he adds, and what kinds of messages he sends.

If anything happens which doesn't please you, talk to him in a reasonable, calm tone about what went on so that he can confide in you again.

Good luck!!

~Rahoom

Answer 10

He could get one but you shouldn't really need any boundaries for him....he may be old enough!!Just let himknow that he should be responsible and that he needs to NOT add any people he doesn't know.

Answer 11

I'll put it this way, just yesterday in the news there was a law passed that made Facebook as well as MySpace take down all the child p**n.  This had to go to court.

The internet is a dangerous place.  My generation lived without computers and without internet and we were able to socialize and socialize WITH PEOPLE, not typing.  We went out and did things, we kept busy, and there were very few overweight people then.  Real relationships were formed and we had less to worry about with pedophiles.

Answer 12

Yes, whether you like it or not, they are going to have one, they'll sign up at school/a friend's house anyway.

Why not use this as another way into their life? Build your own profile and become "friends" or whatever the equivalent is on Facebook (I only use MySpace). Not only will you be able to monitor what your son posts, but you'll be able to see what their friends are like and how they communicate with each other by viewing their pictures as well.

However, don't ever make it seem like you are "spying" on him. AND don't post any "comments" on his profile. This will be embarrassing and inevitably hurt your relationship

Answer 13

Yeah, facebook is generally safe. Myspace is the one to watch out for. Facebook has alot more security measures in place.

Answer 14

i don't get what parents are afraid of it's not like they hunt you down and start stalking you. it's a lot less safe to go out on the street cause there people can really kidnap you or rape you or whatever. on the internet people can just talk to you, who cares? and besides, you can block them.

oh and don't go on facebook and read his messages and stuff cause then you're the real stalker and he'll hate you forever and that is just being a bad parent. you don't go reading your kid's diaries..

oh and if he is a normal teenager he'll probably not listen to what you say and he'll create one at a friend's house or something. he maybe already has one

Answer 15

yea there isnt many problems they can get in to there

Answer 16

YES I would he needs some privacy he needs to express his individuality . He needs to know where you stand on illegal images that sort of thing but yes you should allow it in my opinion.

Answer 17

I would if I knew the password so I could check and see what he was doing...

Answer 18

facebook is alot more secure than myspace.  So, although I have small kids, I think that 15 is old enough as long as you make sure he understands that you are to have access to it as well to monitor who he allows as friends and what content he puts on there.  That's what I would do, anyways.

Answer 19

if u dont let him, he's gonna do wat i did. my mom said no to a myspace page, so i did it anyway and didnt tell her til i had had it for almost 2 monthes. the conditions for me to keep it was that i cud only add ppl i knew and wasnt aloud to tell anybody where i lived, what mi name was or anything like that. i also am not aloud to put pics on my page, but i do it anyway. she used to check it but now i dont think she really cares anymore.