Michelle Obama, America’s First Lady, who champions health and exercise with her Let’s Move campaign, has some pretty strict rules about social media and television. In the Obama family, the First Kids can only watch TV or use the computer (aside from homework) on the weekends and they aren’t allowed on Facebook until they are 17.
Facebook allows teens 13 and older to open an account, but that’s too young for the Obamas. I can see their point. Facebook can be a scary thing, with all the oversharing. My kids are way too young for me to think about them using social media, but what about you? Are your kids on Facebook? Have you allowed your tween (against the rules) to have an account? When is it okay for kids be on Facebook?
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(Photo: Flickr)
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The 13 age comes from the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
Even after that age, it’s really important to monitor what your kid is doing online – just as you would/should in “real life.” Just search “sexual predators on facebook” and you’ll find many horribly-ending stories of serial sexual predators using Facebook to find potential victims.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/08/peter-chapman-admits-usin_n_489674.html
http://facecrooks.com/Creeps-of-the-Week/facebook-sexual-predator-claimed-55-victims.html