Should seven-year-olds join Facebook?

Engaging in various forms of social media, like Facebook, is not an uncommon activity for children anymore.

According to Forbes, “today, the number of young children joining Facebook is rising, even among those of primary school age. Reports found that of the 20 million minors who actively use Facebook, 7.5 million were younger than 13 and more than 5 million were younger than 10.”

Although there are real benefits to kids accessing new technologies, there can be serious downsides.

We asked several parents on their views on whether or not a seven-year-old child should be allowed to have a Facebook account. Here are their opinions:

No! I know the type of information shared in FB and I believe that my children are not old enough for it. It’s very hard to filter the information not meant for their age. And I am not always there to explain things to them. ~Armida

No. I will make her wait ‘til she’s in high school. ~Des Cee

No. Some FB infos are not suitable for their age. ~Dino

No. It takes too much effort (actually near impossible) to monitor a 7-year-old wandering in the world of FB. ~Mayette

I don’t have any problem with my kid having a Facebook account; however, I will be monitoring it closely. I’m the one who makes their account so I know their passwords. ~Tanya

Absolutely NO! This is one of the ways to corrupt the innocence of our children and expose them to all kinds of cyber bullying. Let them be kids without any involvement in social media! ~Marina

During registration, it's 13+, so how can a 7-year old kid sign up? Unless it is tolerated by older siblings (or parents), or the kid is too exposed to social networks,which is inappropriate for his/her age. It's like letting them watch PG13 movies (or worse, R18) at the movie house and old guys lie that the kid is already the right age. Sorry to my nephew, but if I were his dad, I would disable his account now. ~Philip Andrew

The Freeman with the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. is running weekly features on Early Childhood Care and Development to emphasize the importance of Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) and to increase public support for ECCD. For comments or suggestions, e-mail [email protected].