Age for Social Media?

I have a 13 and almost 15 year old. I wish I had held off as long as possible with my 15 year old. My 13 year old could care less about it but my 15 year old has gotten into things I wish she hadn’t on there. I say hold off until at least high school age when they can have a more mature discussion about it. Especially anything with a chat feature that you can’t track.

Noooooooo

1 reply

I told my hubby I think 9th grade is more appropriate. He’s not as mature as I personally think he should be, saying the word boobs makes him giggle still lol and I love that he’s slowly growing up and not so fast as most are, but I just worry about too much too soon.

Personally I feel like social media plays a big part of the problem we have in our schools.... When kids use social media, they sit on Facebook/snap chat what ever it is all day..:(kids should be outside)they follow stupid trends like the tide challenge and anything to be noticed, it’s where the School bullying really starts,you have predators on social media... people lose there self in this crap I think the age limit on these sites should be 18+ and better monitored

I use Snapchat way more, then FB. They both land in the social media area but Facebook has changed a lot. I used to enjoy it, but now it’s a very negative place. At least with Snapchat it’s more controlling. For example, you can go ghost and snap pictures without someone finding where you are in location. Snapchat has lots of filters that change in what town your in so you can change that. Another thing that’s great is you can decide who you want to add or block. Set your story for only friends to see. Another thing that is great is that you can see your friends faces, connecting with your friends is important. Snapchat saves my friendship with my husband when we were just friends. Weird right? It was because we got to use funny face filters and see each other help us reconnect our friendship back in the day, and what do you know, we got married 👏married my best friend. :) I would go over rules. What’s okay to record and what’s not okay and only add your friends people you know.

I think you should have a talk to both kids about stuff that's they will eventually see on social media. They might go to a friends house and their friend may show them. Try to educate them on stuff that's ok and not ok. Social media is crazy stuff now a days!

Hm. If my daughters were 12 and wanted social media I’d decline only bcuz there’s no filter and grown people are on there. Who knows who they may connect with, what sexual messages they may be exposed to, etc. if there’s some kind of social media for kids then I’m all for it. But Instagram, Snapchat, etc aren’t meant for or targeted at kids.

You might as well let them have it just check it. You’d rather know they have it then them do it behind your back

I vote not yet.Facebook and social media is a way (even for adults) to display mainly the positives in their lives and shows a false reality. I honestly don’t think any good comes from it at that young of an age. Facebook came out when I was in college and at the time was solely available for college kids to network. Though I will say, if your 12 yo can give you five reasons of why he needs/wants it, and if they are valid reasons, I might change my mind hahaha

I just let my almost 12 year old get Snapchat. I put up restrictions and we set guidelines and boundaries with her. We talked about making wise choices in what stories she watches and not to accept friend requests if she doesn’t know the person. She can also only be on it with WiFi, so at home is it. We don’t have Facebook, so there wasn’t a request for that.

Having been a middle school teacher, I would say no. No. Noooo. 80% of the issues, fights, disruptive behavior came from social media. There are so many apps that they can use- the icon looks like a clock or calculator and it's really a texting something... or someone sends an inappropriate Snapchat and it gets screenshot and sent to others.. or messages get screen shot and forwarded.. and if something were to happen and it lands on your child's phone and it gets investigated, they can be become a part of something they never intended to. It's very scary how fast things can escalate and become dangerous because of their phone and social media.

Well ladies, I let my hubby see all these comments . We had a long talk last night and I told him I was not comfortable giving out son that type of outlet and he agreed that we should wait . I personally am thankful my son asked, but I just don’t really trust his maturity is ready yet. I’ve seen what it does to kids and how much it can literally ruin lives marriages etc, and it’s just not happening . Thank you all so very much for all your advice. I was able to see it from many perspectives and it truly helped. Love that I found this app ❤️❤️❤️

I’d say no. People his age are too young to understand the permanent consequences of impulsive actions and they can get mixed up in it without trying.

I feel like 13-14 is the "appropriate" (used loosely) age to introduce social media. Although personally I would only allow my daughter Instagram (I would have full access to) & maybe messenger for kids (parents have to add & approve all contacts). I wouldnt allow snapchat or facebook until 16 because of personal experience when I was a teen.

3 replies

Be aware that Instagram now has a “Snapchat” like feature in the messaging part of the app. I, too thought I was tracking everything. Sadly learned the hard way with my 15 year old.

But you can disable the camera on an iPhone.

I first got me a facebook at 12 and i wasnt even on it but the way this generation is you do have to be careful because these kids are more terrible than we were growing up

I would say avoid it for a bit longer, if you’re able to put restrictions and passwords in for your child’s safety and innocence then go ahead!

I was that bratty kid that wanted social media at an early age so my dad made a family page with his email so that we can have access but so could he. Also, if it makes you feel better, 13 is the minimum allowed age for social media

When I was 12 if my parents said no it was no. When you as a parent are strict and discipline there should be no reason why they would do it behind there back dont give in to that idea. Because what you see on social media today is not censored. A lot of harmful things that for a 12 yr old it can be damaging and hard to understand. On facebook ive seen videos of beheadings links to tortured adult content. Trust me a 12 year old can live a couple more years without fb or social media.

I got Facebook at 16... seemed like a HUGE trial when I was little, but now I’m so glad I don’t have all those 12-15 year old angst and obnoxious pictures and drama that I would never share now that my friends have on their pages. Plus, cyber bullying is real and there’s no need to rush kids into situations like that early. That being said, if you’re monitoring closely it should be totally manageable:)

I would let him have Facebook but with lots of supervision. Not snapchat because the messages get deleted.

We followed the laws that social media set out!! 13..... however, she got instagram at 12 i believe...

I’m a 19 year old mom , I feel like the good start is that your son asked for permission , that’s a huge Win for you and him that means he trust you , the more he trust you the more he won’t want to let you down he will trust you to tell you things and to show you things , the stricter you are the sneakier they will become .