Do your kids under age 13 use Facebook?

[Scurvy]

Certainly there is a difference between lying to Facebook about your birthdate and lying to your parents, and I would guess most kids are smart enough to know the difference.

I definitely think most kids are smart enough to understand the difference between those two things. I also think most kids are smart enough to notice that their parents are saying some rules are okay to break. I don't want to open that door for my child. I don't want him to be able to seize on what could be viewed as hipocrisy on my part. I think it will be easier for me in the long run if lying and following rules are black and white issues. My son knows he has to respect my rules and that we as a family respect the rules of other places or websites. If we don't want to follow the rules (or if we object to the rules) then we don't put ourselves in the position of having to follow them - but we don't decide that they don't apply to us and that it's fine for us to break them. And I agree that these aren't things that are worth breaking the rules over. It's easy for kids to see R rated movies that their parents approve of without having to break the rules of the theater in order to do so. It's easy for kids to play the games on Facebook on a parent's account without having to lie about their ages to get their own accounts. For me, the conventience of my child going to a movie without me or avoiding telling my child "No" about Facebook are not worth teaching him that some lies are okay and some rules are made to be broken.

 

[mamacatnv]

I definitely think most kids are smart enough to understand the difference between those two things. I also think most kids are smart enough to notice that their parents are saying some rules are okay to break. I don't want to open that door for my child. I don't want him to be able to seize on what could be viewed as hipocrisy on my part. I think it will be easier for me in the long run if lying and following rules are black and white issues. My son knows he has to respect my rules and that we as a family respect the rules of other places or websites. If we don't want to follow the rules (or if we object to the rules) then we don't put ourselves in the position of having to follow them - but we don't decide that they don't apply to us and that it's fine for us to break them. And I agree that these aren't things that are worth breaking the rules over. It's easy for kids to see R rated movies that their parents approve of without having to break the rules of the theater in order to do so. It's easy for kids to play the games on Facebook on a parent's account without having to lie about their ages to get their own accounts. For me, the conventience of my child going to a movie without me or avoiding telling my child "No" about Facebook are not worth teaching him that some lies are okay and some rules are made to be broken.

Well said - I agree 100%

 

[punkin]

I find it completely amazing than no one on these boards ever lies. IRL people lie to me all the time. I consider myself a fairly truthful person and I still lie occasionally. My DDs lie a lot less than some teens and tweens I know, but they also lie occasionally. I guess in my book lying on facebook is not even worth noticing.

 

[luvsJack]

Facebook is just one of those things that parents have to make a decision about for themselvs and their kids.

I don't have a problem with dd seeing that I say its ok to break some rules, because I feel that there are many "rules" that sometimes it is ok to break. (sort of like the pirate's code: "more like guidelines than actual rules" ) I just don't see many rules as black and white issues, there are many shades of grey in my world.

I made the decision to allow dd to have a facebook page and I am comfortable with that decision. If someone else is comfortable with their decision not to allow it, that is all well and find for them. It really doesn't make either of us wrong or one a better parent than the other.