Minimum age for social media?

K

Kirk

Mastermind Talker
PF Member
Do you think there should be a minimum age for youngsters to use social media? If so, why?

I believe Facebook's age limit is 13 and over, but needless to say plenty of younger people sign up to create a profile. Personally, I think the age limit *could* be raised to something like 16, even though it probably wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference. There's too many people now-a-days that are unaware of the risks social media can bring and children/teenagers in particular are vulnerable; there's many cases where content posted on social media such as Facebook and Twitter have been the result of people losing their jobs or even getting arrested.

Alternatively, we could teach children/teenagers into becoming more aware of what they share on these sites.


What do you think?
 
They should just teach children at school (or wherever) not to give out personal infos like home address, phone number, etc. Back in my time we were warned about the dangers of the internet and we KNEW that we shouldn't share these things online for our own sake. The main problem is that most people are not even aware of privacy settings on these sites and they keep everything visible to everyone. That's dangerous because evil people can use their infos / photos for illegal stuff or whatever... Anything's possible. (Sorry for my crappy English).
 
Maybe they should institute an actual law. Too many parents are unaware of what their child is doing on website X, and when something goes wrong they blame the website, rather than their own inability to parent.
 
15 would be fine.
they are old enough to "know what they're doing".
well, at least they have the perception of what facebook and other social media is really like
 
I don't reckon changing the minimum age laws would do much, but having more education about privacy settings and internet safety is a good idea.
Can't really stop kids joining social media below the minimum age, so educating them is pretty much all that can be done.
A couple of lessons in school staying safe on the internet wouldn't hurt.
 
^ I like this idea.

To be honest we do have lessons now but they aren't hard hitting enough. Kids need to start understanding about the real risks and sending naked pictures/personal information etc to ANYONE.
People still do it all the time.
 
I think it's easy to say a minimum age once you're past that age :L

I think strict privacy settings could maybe be automatically in place when someone is like under 14
and then the same when you're like under 16 but you have the ability to change it around idk
But people are always going to lie about their age, and something with a high age rating will just make people more curious

I think educating people in school (through short films not boring talks) and having clear instructions on how to change your privacy settings is the way forward :D
 
Starry said:
I think educating people in school (through short films not boring talks) and having clear instructions on how to change your privacy settings is the way forward :D
Click to expand...

I agree with this. I think most restrictions are just asking to be broken. I never took DOB things seriously anyway you need to get the parents to be more restricting.
 
I first joined facebook when I was fifteen. The reason I got it, was I'd met a lot of friends on holiday and it was by far the best way to keep in touch and share all our pictures etc.

However, my personal opinion is it should be up the individual sites what the minimum age should be. Not an affair for the authorities to be meddling in imo.
 
I wouldn't like to let my kids online on social media without a proper sit down and talk about the dangers inherent with it. I think to be able to "use" the site 13 is a fair age, but I believe restrictions should be in place that stops certain information being shared, that last until they are at least 16. By 13, I'd expect to be able to explain to the child what not to do, and the dangers of "the online world", and for them to soak it in. Do it much earlier and it's almost scaremongering, and much older, it might be a little too late if they're already set in their ways and principles.
 
Where there's a will there's a way, I don't think you'll ever be able to stop kids getting access to stuff they shouldn't. Besides, just because someone is a certain age doesn't mean they're more responsible or mature. I've lived with people my age who acted like 13 year olds.

Education is definitely the best (and only, imo) solution. It's up to the parents to make sure their kids know what they're doing on the net.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top