Facebook & kids???

[SaraJayne]

you can change the default email address. DH just did. His old email was from his last job and he changed it to his new job's email.

Yes, I know you can change the default address.

But if the address you are changing it to has already been used to set up a different Facebook account, it won't let you change it to that email.

 

[mickeylove2]

My almost 9 year old DD has a facebook account, myspace, plays webkinz and Club Penguin, has her own cell phone, ipod, digital camera, video camera, youtube account and laptop.

I monitor EVERYTHING.

She takes videos and posts them on Youtube, I see every video before it gets posted. I listen to every song and watch every video before she downloads them to her ipod. I view every pic before she prints them or posts them. I log on to her myspace and facebook accounts more often than I log onto my own. I see every comment that she posts and I will delete any comment that is posted to her account that I do not like.

I go through her phone and monitor her texts, she is only allowed to have certain contacts in her phone. She is only allowed to accept friend requests from people that I approve. I get into her webkinz and club penguins accounts periodically and play around in there as well.

She cheers and dances, so along with older relatives, she has older friends from there too, they ALL know that I monitor her accounts and I will not hesitate to inform their parents if there is anything on their pages that shouldn't be there.

Some of her former and current Sunday School teachers, coaches and teachers are her friends, so she is pretty good about what she posts anyway.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

DH and I don't have a FB account yet. We have discussed it and will probably get one eventually.

My 18yodd has a FB account, I have never seen it. However she just texts on her phone as her main communication anyway.

My 13yodd does not have an account yet, she is just not interested in having one right now. I am sure that will change. She is a computer nerd however she is on other sites and does not want to manage a FB account. I am sure she would love it once she gets on there.

We are just not big FB people I guess. Part of it is laziness. We know once we join up we have to manage it. That is really what it boils down to to be honest.

I would not have a problem with my middle schooler getting a FB account if she wanted one.

 

[Becky2005]

I will just chime in and say not so much middle school but definitely at High School level, Facebook really IS used a TON for groups for information.

Our school puts on student directed shows -- it's all done by the students (with teachers approval of scripts, etc...). I know last year DD was an assistant to the director for one of the performances and basically if she was not on Facebook, no one would have known what time rehearsals were, changes to the schedule, etc... was ALL done by the Facebook group they had set-up for this. It turned out DD actually had to perform in the show -- she found out on Wednesday that she was performing on Friday. Now, the director did give her a call on her cell at 11 pm to tell her (her phone happened to be downstairs & I heard it going off) as it was a last minute she was the understudy thing. She had found out via Facebook that it was a possibility, so was on the alert for it.

A TON of their clubs use it. I'm pretty sure it's not school sanctioned but the kids in the clubs choose to use it as the easiest way to put information out all at one time -- similar to an e-mail blast.

 

[pyrxtc]

My DD13 does not have one. I don't think she needs one, some of her friends have one and at first I added them as a friend so I could see what they were doing on there it most of it was inappropriate and I don't want them reading everything I write so I removed them as friends. There area lot of things on there that don't need to be seen by kids. Facebook was designed with the college kid in mind.

 

[mrsv98]

DD12 may create an account the day she turns 13. But fb does not have an option for "under 13 with parental permission." So underage kids are lying when they create an account and check the box declaring themselves of age.

I have no desire to teach my kid that it is ok to lie if she really really wants to do something that's against the rules. Where do you draw the line? You can lie to these people but not to me???

It is so funny, since I set up the account I guess I "lied" but DD doesn't even know the rules so she doesn't know she is breaking them! I think in our case, since she is using it to play Farmville and chat with her beloved auntie it is different from kids who use it as a social tool. If she wanted to start adding friends and posting, then we would say no, she is too young for that use.