Is it good for teenagers to use social network ?

[Bright point]

Hello everyone, we are a group called “ bright point " and we are working on a topic that " Is it good for teenagers to use social network".

We come from China and work in European Union Education Foundation.

We problem is

1.What do you think about "how old is most suitable for teenagers to use social network like FaceBook?"

2.Do you worried about your child use social network too early?

3.Do you worried about the bad words and sex words on social network will be browsed by your child? What you will do on this case?

Many Chinese parents and teenagers also have these problem.

Could you give us some arguments ? Thank you !

[Cynthia Mosher]

Welcome to Mothering! Thought I'd bump your post up for feedback attention. :)

[Ragana]

1. Well, first of all, I believe Facebook's rules state that children should be 13 to open an account. I don't think it's appropriate for parents to let their kids break that rule that is in place to try to protect them. I am happy to wait until 15-16 (and demonstrated maturity/good judgment) with my kids.

2. My kids are 9 and almost 13, and they do not use social networks online although they have e-mail and the older one texts with her friends (both only with people we and they know well).

3. I am concerned about inappropriate content, predators and bullying. We have the family computer in the living room, we have their passwords for e-mail, and we hope that by waiting until high school, they will have some skills to deal with those things if they come up. Also, we make it clear that phones, etc. are privileges that can be taken away if necessary.
 

[kazjayne]

I have two young teenage children, a boy who is 13 and a 16 year old daughter. FB has become a HUGE problem with my daughter, she became totally addicted to the site to the detriment of her studies. So I have banned FB after 7:30 at night and asked her school to remove her accessibility to it on her school laptop. Of course they can access FB using their smartphone or ipod and we told her not to use them after the curfew time for FB. She was caught out on her phone, so now she has to remove her phone and ipod from her bedroom at the correct time. Now this may sound very strict and mean, but her grades have improved and she is more involved with the family now. She simply couldn't control herself.

FB "sucks" teens in to the constant melodramas of their friends. So many arguments start by comments being made on FB. It is a great site, but it can overwhelm teens. When she joined she had to friend me, so I could keep an eye on her activity (she was 14). Be aware though that they can block specific people from viewing certain posts on their page. So you might check your child's page and it all looks good, but hidden from you may be posts they really don't want you to see. Ask your child to show you their security settings occasionally. Our daughter had several posts hidden from us that contained swearing and bragging.

The number of friends you have is seen as a status of sorts, so most teens will just about accept anyone, no matter what you say. So monitor your child's involvement on FB, if you see them getting obsessed with it, discuss this with your child and come up with solutions to monitor and restrict their time on this site.

[ollyoxenfree]

I've noticed that FB is considered "old school" and out of fashion by 19 y.o. DS and his friends. They are all on Tumblr or hang out at Reddit or other sites for the most part. 16 y.o. DD still uses FB daily but she's pretty good about checking in and then moving on. She doesn't hang out on FB for hours and hours. She is careful about her privacy settings, accepting Friend invitation and that sort of thing. She doesn't have a smartphone or iPod Touch and she shares a computer with the rest of the family, so there's also a natural limit to the time she can spend on the computer. 

1. Suitable age - I know FB has a minimum age requirement of 13 yrs. DD was a little younger - about 12 - when we let her set up an account, but we were careful with the privacy settings and she isn't screen obsessed. She wanted to keep in touch with friends and family overseas. It didn't seem fair to refuse when we knew she could use it responsibly. These days, she tends to check in once in the afternoon after school and again after dinner, but she's probably on FB for half an hour or so - often less. 

2. Using social networks too early - Like any tool that a child learns to use, it's important to supervise and teach responsible use. I wouldn't let an infant dial any old number on the telephone. Likewise, you don't have to let a child have free access to a social network. If a child is really young, I think you can set up controls, provide over-the-shoulder supervision if necessary, and gradually let them be more independent. 

3. Bad words - I'm not too concerned about language, but there is a lot of inappropriate content that I wouldn't want to expose to young children. Again, supervision and controls.

[Ragana]

Originally Posted by ollyoxenfree 
Likewise, you don't have to let a child have free access to a social network. If a child is really young, I think you can set up controls, provide over-the-shoulder supervision if necessary, and gradually let them be more independent.

Agree with this totally! I think some parents think it's either/or, or that they have no "choice." For instance, I have a couple of friends whose kids set up accounts after being told they couldn't, and *they let the kids keep the accounts* - huh??

[pattimomma]

Originally Posted by Bright point 

Hello everyone, we are a group called “ bright point " and we are working on a topic that " Is it good for teenagers to use social network".

We come from China and work in European Union Education Foundation.

We problem is

1.What do you think about "how old is most suitable for teenagers to use social network like FaceBook?"

2.Do you worried about your child use social network too early?

3.Do you worried about the bad words and sex words on social network will be browsed by your child? What you will do on this case?

Many Chinese parents and teenagers also have these problem.

Could you give us some arguments ? Thank you !

What social network do Chinese teenagers have access too? I have several friends who have moved to the US, from China, for grad school and they told me that Facebook was banned and not accessible in China. Is there a Chinese version of Facebook? What are the regulations on it? I see you work in the EU but I was just curious about China.