I knew it was coming. It was bound to happen. The time is now.
The 10 year old has discovered the world of blogging, twitter, and facebook. The trifecta of social media. It doesn’t help my case that her friends are all over it. It doesn’t help my case that her Mom and Dad are all over it. So how young is too young?
Technically speaking Facebook and Twitter require you be at least 13 to sign up. Of course, we all know that simply inputting a fake birthday solves that dilemma. And the countless horror stories about kids meeting predators online is enough to give a blanket “NO” to all social media. But realistically, my kid is really bright. She writes well and has a lot to say. I can monitor everything she does, right?
I still come back to “NO”.
They are just so damn tech savvy these days. They use computers at school. They are encouraged to do research online. They even get extra credit in class if they go online and play math games. It gets kind of hard to say no when they want to go on the computer.
When I was 10 I was still playing with dolls and watching cartoons. We had to use the Encylopedia set we had in the living room to research our reports. We had to go to the library and learn how to use the card catalog. We wrote letters to our friends. Hell, we even picked up the phone and CALLED THEM! What a concept.
Oh, I forgot. She also wants a cell phone. Who is she gonna call? Nobody. She’ll spend her day texting. Texting who? Texting Mom and Dad most likely, since NONE OF HER FRIENDS HAS A CELL PHONE!!!!!!
Okay…. I’ve calmed down. I still think my answer is “NO”.
I reserve the right to change my mind… tomorrow.
Who's she gonna call?? GHOST BUSTERS!!!
Blogging sounds like it would be okay for a 10-year-old. The more someone writes, the better their writing gets. This sounds beneficial and educational so I'm good with this.
Twitter…NO…way too young…a venue for predators to know where you are? No thank you.
Facebook? Wait until she's in middle school. What's another year?
Cell phone? No. No need at this point. Too young. Wait until middle school and then consider how it will be used. I just got my 13-year-old a cell phone in the spring because:
1. We do not have a home phone and he'll need it for emergencies.
2. He may be home alone and needs it to communicate with us.
3. To communicate (text)with his big brother who started college.
Yes, my kids may have been the 'last' in their class to get with the new technology but I'm glad I waited.
Why do we have to indulge their every whim just because, 'everyone has one'?
If you fold and get her one make sure she works for it by doing a certain chore ritualistically as payment for her portion of the bill.
my 9 and 6 yr old have fb's! everything is set to private, and the 6 yr old only has relatives as friends. the computer is in the living room and i control all the passwords, so i don't see any problems with it. they love to play the games with me. 😉
I think that's such a hard and personal decision.
Having a private blog might be a good compromise. I adore cell phones and could totally see myself getting one for my kids young. But I'd say that my kids won't be on facebook or twitter until they are teens. I feel like a cell phone is easier to monitor and may be helpful if they got lost in a crowd or something. My big thing would be the language and adult topics people post about. (even relatives!)
One parent I know just has all her kids passwords so she can check everything.
So I think it's your decision — you've got GREAT mama instincts! And I see lots of young people on social media stuff who do great.
Plus my oldest is four so WHO KNOWS what I'll do in six years!
Check out Everloop.com. It's a new social network for kids that offers great (but unobtrusive) parental controls and teaches kids good digital citizenship in a safe environment.