Facebook Founder Says Kids Under 13 Should Be Allowed on Facebook: Do You Agree?
SodaHead News
2011/05/26 11:00:00
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There are two kinds of stories about kids under 13 who use Facebook: the kind where they post about wanting dead terror mastermind Osama bin Laden to kill their stupid-dummyface math teacher and the kind where they say mean, hateful things about girls they're jealous of.
That's about it. So why is Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg all up in arms about a British law that bans those under 13 from using the site under what the Brits call a voluntary "good practice" code?
The U.S. also has a 13-year-old age limit, due to laws aimed at protecting young children, but England's Daily Mail reports that Zuckerberg, 27, thinks the educational benefits of playing Farmville and virtually connecting with strangers should outweigh safety concerns about lurking pedophiles and cyberbullying.
"My philosophy is that for education you need to start at a really, really young age," Zuckerberg said recently at a summit on innovation in California schools where he vowed to take on the age limit at "some" point. "Because of the restrictions we haven’t even begun this learning process. If they’re lifted then we’d start to learn what works."
The site, which has been criticized for its sometimes lax security measures, has more than 600 million users worldwide, and a recent report found that one in five British kids between 9-12 has a page, despite a company policy that claims to police profiles to ensure those under 13 can't register.
Should kids under 13 be allowed on Facebook?
That's about it. So why is Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg all up in arms about a British law that bans those under 13 from using the site under what the Brits call a voluntary "good practice" code?
The U.S. also has a 13-year-old age limit, due to laws aimed at protecting young children, but England's Daily Mail reports that Zuckerberg, 27, thinks the educational benefits of playing Farmville and virtually connecting with strangers should outweigh safety concerns about lurking pedophiles and cyberbullying.
"My philosophy is that for education you need to start at a really, really young age," Zuckerberg said recently at a summit on innovation in California schools where he vowed to take on the age limit at "some" point. "Because of the restrictions we haven’t even begun this learning process. If they’re lifted then we’d start to learn what works."
The site, which has been criticized for its sometimes lax security measures, has more than 600 million users worldwide, and a recent report found that one in five British kids between 9-12 has a page, despite a company policy that claims to police profiles to ensure those under 13 can't register.
Should kids under 13 be allowed on Facebook?
Top Opinion
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Junior-BN-0 2011/05/27 03:35:23No
+6Facebook is way too crowded already. Kids should try for more kid friendly sites, with the supervision of parents. When I taught in the after school program, the kids loved going to Cartoon Networks site. And Nickelodeon's. And we had games installed on the computers for them which they loved.
I know young kids on there from families, 13, 14, 16 and they post vial things on there that I never heard from a grown up.
Facebook is a Joke.
WTF is a kidfriendly site?
do u mean ceebiebies?
coz thats just not on lol
I just think older ppl dont trust under 13
sometimes they dont even trust the older ones!
If I had a child of say ten and they wanted to set up a facebook account then I'd be ok with that provided I have access to it and I can confirm that that security settings are properly set. It's up to parents to monitor their kids, not governments...
while reading your first post "I don't like FB..." I had accendentialy put an "I" at the end making it look like "I don't like FB... I" (lol)
Also, I know some families that have a 5.5 year old girl and a 7 year old boy on Facebook because their teen siblings are. They like playing the online games. I think it's a bad idea...but they aren't mine. Some of the subjects can get rather mature - like in Sodahead. I know kids will log-in anyway...but it shouldn't be encouraged.