How Young is too Young for Facebook?

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Recommended: Risks and consequences of children using the internet

Social networking websites such as Twitter, Myspace or Facebook are becoming increasingly present in our society. Such systems allow people to communicate with each other, find old acquaintances, plan events or even share trip pictures. While teenagers have been using these services for more than ten years, a trend has been recently noticed where children younger and younger have been joining social networking websites. Under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA) in the United States of America, any website which will contain information about someone under 13 years of age must require parental consent before said child is allowed to utilize the website. In Canada and other countries, however, there is no such thing as COPPA and websites are free to operate for whichever audience intended. This essay will attempt to demonstrate that websites such as Facebook should impose and enforce a minimum age requirement nonetheless. Having a reasonable age limit for social networking services including Twitter or Facebook would permit the prevention of exposure to inappropriate content, prevent the formation of narcissistic ideals, and it would either prevent or delay biased perceptions of what is socially and morally acceptable in our society.

First, while Facebook is great for sharing amusing or interesting content, it is unfortunately also great for sharing offending and disturbing images, videos, or text messages. According to a nationwide survey of the United States, more than 40% of Americans between grades 4 and 8 were bullied online in the year 20031. If this staggering statistic is applied to the Canadian child population, this represents more than 2 million children, being bullied through the means...

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...tworking websites such as Facebook. Three compelling arguments have been presented in support of this topic. It would allow to avoid offensive content, make the future generation much less egoistical and permit children to fully understand the values of our society before taking part in it. The minimum age requirement is a way to help our future generations, and while it may even appear impossible to enforce, it should be made a priority to protect our youth from the dangers it is presenting itself with. While censorship may not seem like the best of solutions, it is often the only way to protect a population from itself.

Works Cited

I-SAFE, Cyber Bullying: Statistics and Tips, USA, 2004

Laura E. Buffardi and W. Keith Campbell, Narcissism and Social Networking Web Sites, 2008

CTV News, Man fired for applauding Vancouver riot on Facebook, Vancouver, 2011

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