Sunday, June 5, 2011

Should Kids Be Using Facebook?

According to recent polls, over 7.5 million American kids are under age 13 have Facebook pages, and over five million are under age ten. The New York Times reported in March of this year that 3.6 million of Facebook's 153 million monthly visitors in the U.S. are under 12.

In a recent statement by Facebook:

"Recent reports have highlighted just how difficult it is to implement age restrictions on the Internet and that there is no single solution to ensuring younger children don't circumvent a system or lie about their age," the Facebook press release said in a written statement. "We appreciate the attention that these reports and other experts are giving this matter and believe this will provide an opportunity for parents, teachers, safety advocates and Internet services to focus on this area, with the ultimate goal of keeping young people of all ages safe online."

Over the past year, Consumer Reports said more than five million online households in the U.S. have been subjected to some kind of Internet abuse, such as virus infections and identity theft, via Facebook. About one million children who went on Facebook were exposed to bullying, the survey found. One million is too much. Is it Facebook's fault, or our lack of imagination in finding and using alternative sites for our youth to safely learn to navigate the inevitable waters of social networking? Read more...

No comments:

Post a Comment

DISCLAIMER

Know4LIFE's YES News is a blog designed to bring alternative news and information that is relevant to Youth and their Parents. As such, any and all views and opinions expressed herein, regardless of authorship, do not represent the views or opinions of any author's employer or people, institutions or organizations that the author may or may not be related to or affiliated with unless explicitly stated otherwise. YES News includes links to other sites/blogs operated by third parties. These links are provided for convenience and informational purposes only. As such, the information, opinions, products, and/or services contained therein do not reflect the views and opinions of or represent endorsement Know4LIFE or YES Media. All images that appear on YES News are under the copyright of their respective owners. Know4LIFE's YES News does not claim credit for any image unless explicitly stated. If you own the rights to any image appearing on YES News and do not wish for it to appear, please notify Know4LIFE immediately and the image shall be promptly removed.