and she’s really not very happy about my husband’s and my decision that she cannot have one, but tough kitties. I say that there are rules for a reason, and one of the rules when signing up for a facebook account states that you must be 13 years of age. Sure, more than half of my daughters’ classmates have accounts, and they’re not 13, but I’m a geek. A rule-follower. A nerd. Whatever. My husband said she can have an account when she finishes college, so she should be more angry with him. I know that my daughter is a good kid, and I trust her. It’s some of the other kids she’ll be connecting with that I don’t trust, and I am kind of paranoid. I read a story about 2 months ago about a 14 year old girl in England who intended to invite 15 of her friends to her 15th birthday party. In error, she ticked off a box, allowing anyone to view and RSVP to this “public event”. Now her personal information, including her address were online for the world to see. She received 21,000 RSVPs to her party. Although the original invitation was removed from the site, a new version was visible to all Facebook users a few days later. This new version was not created by the girl herself but her address was again posted on the site for all to see. The party was cancelled and there was a large police presence staked outside the girls’ home at the time the party was to start. It scares the be-jeezus out of me, how one simple ticking of a box can compromise privacy and safety. Here’s the article. Check it out:
http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/09/21/5150049-teen-posts-birthday-party-invite-on-facebook-and-21000-rsvp
http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/09/21/5150049-teen-posts-birthday-party-invite-on-facebook-and-21000-rsvp
Nancy...as a parent, I totally understand what you're saying. It can be scary. But on a positive note, both my daughters have one and we have fun communicating on it. I also get to see who she's talking to and what they're saying since we are all "friends". I think if a parent let's a tween or teen have one, the condition should be that they must have the parents as friends and keep it set at "friends only" privacy status. So many of her friends and their parents are on it. It's more of a "friendly" communication tool. It's nothing like MySpace (which by the way, a lot of kids have secret accounts there). But I know where you're coming from, and it's not easy being a parent these days!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your rule! My nephews are 11 and 13 and my sister allows them to each have a Facebook account. Needless to say I told them they weren't getting another birthday or Christmas gift ever from me unless I became their friend. I monitor what they are doing on it all the time. So far at this point they just play games, and such. I think (and I hate to say this), it's a different kind of site for young boys versus young girls. I know my nephews would rather play games online or Wii then tell the Facebook world their comings and goings. I think Facebook is a bigger attraction for young girls than for young boys.
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