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10 Year Old - Wants Internet Forum

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1K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  moominmamma 
#1 ·
My daughter sees me use the forums on BoardGameGeek.com a lot, and is interested in doing something similar. BoardGameGeek is a great site, but like most websites, they don't allow anyone under 13 to have an account (understandably).

Do you know of any good/safe forums out there for kids?
 
#4 ·
I realize that this is somewhat tangential to the original post, but I have been happy to honour the intent of the no-under-13 rules without honouring the actual rules. In other words, when I've felt it was appropriate for my kids to use mainstream social media I let them lie about their year of birth. The intent of the age rules is, I believe, to protect the hosting organization from being found liable for inappropriately exposing young children to content and situations that they're not equipped to deal with. Since (a) I'm providing parental guidance and taking responsibility for monitoring my own kids' use of social media, (b) I'm not going to sue and (c) by declaring them over 13 when they're not we've clearly contravened their guidelines in a way that would prevent me successfully launching a suit even if I did develop some weird litigious streak .... I'm okay with it.

I'm not sure if I'm explaining it very well, but I think the reason for the age limits is not because it is absolutely wrong for younger kids to take part in social media, but rather to protect the company from lawsuits. Having to lie about one's age is an act that serves to protect the company from potential lawsuits, that's all.

I'm not saying unfettered use of social media is good or normal or necessary for pre-teens. But as a parent if I have good reasons for thinking that for my particular child access to a particular social media network is on balance a positive thing, and am willing to take responsibility for their use, then I don't think of faking a birth-year as an act of moral turpitude.

Miranda
 
#7 ·
Hi there! I just read this and I have let me 11 and 9 year olds sign up for Instagram recently. I told them they have to run every post/photo by us (their parents) first. Right now, it's cute stuff - pics of their nail polish, video of them doing flips on the trampoline. BUT, I'm still concerned that they will post something they shouldn't or follow someone I don't know. It's starting to get overwhelming. Just wondering what anyone else is doing to monitor their kids social media activity.
 
#5 ·
Agreed, Miranda, and I had considered that option. I chose not to do it this way because I wanted to keep away from the big social media networks for now (which I know she'd want to be on if we went down the circumvention route). But yes, I'm sure in the next couple years, we'll be "13" even before we are.

--

So, now that my daughter is on NewMoon, my son (9y/o) is interested in a similar thing for boys (or boys and girls). Any thoughts?
 
#6 ·
http://clever-dragons.com/ is one for boys (the girl version is http://www.always-icecream.com/).

It's a pay site (though I see NMG is, too), and it's more focused on educational games than message boards, but it could work. We felt it worthwhile enough to pay for a lifetime family account, and my kids go through bursts of using it.
 
#8 ·
When my oldest was 11, I set up a Yahoo Groups page for her and her friends. I was moderator. We needed to approve membership. I let the parents know what I was doing. It was a great way for everyone to use message boards in a safe way. Once they got Facebook, the group dissolved, but it did what it was intended for.

Amy
 
#9 ·
I don't make any real effort to monitor my kids' activity, because I've seen enough evidence (finding open browser windows, "following" or friending them from my own account, eg.) that they know how to behave, and I trust them. But ... they've grown up in a family that talks a fair bit about all this stuff. Not via parental mini-lectures. More like casual dinner-table conversation about things we've seen on-line, stupid behaviour we've witnessed, things we've discovered about memes and click-jacking and click-baiting, inappropriate posts we've seen from friends and acquaintances, trashy websites, and so on. Often it'll start with someone saying "Oh yeah, and I read on-line that ..." and someone else asking what website it was, and offering a critique of that site's content, and someone else mentioning something really suspect they saw there, and another kid commenting that her classmate is constantly sharing photos from that site, and how she doesn't think that's appropriate, and then there's a discussion about people lacking critical thinking skills, and how easy it is to make judgements about others' intelligence and values and beliefs based on what they share on-line and ...

Anyway, I think a family that talks freely and discerningly about the on-line world will tend to produce kids who are aware of the issues and know how to avoid problems. I admit I will occasionally glance through a logged-in browser window to see what my kids (the under-sixteens, anyway) have been up to, just to reassure myself that there aren't any glaring issues. So far so good. I have four kids, from 11 to 20, all very savvy with social media.

Miranda
 
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