As a father of a 12 year-old daughter I am very aware of the influence that social media sites like Facebook can have on teens and pre-teens. So when should you let your child onto these social media sites? That is one of the questions of Retrevo.com‘s latest Gadgetology study that looked at parenting, technology, and social media.
Study Highlights
- 30% of parents think 13 – 15 years old is the right age to get a social media page
- 36% of parents think 16 – 18 is the right age to get a social media page
- 26% of parents say over 18 is the right age to get a social media page
- 8% of parents are okay with kids under 12 having a social media page
- 48% of parents on Facebook are “friends” with their kids. 52% are not.
- 29% of all parents don’t allow texting during family meals. 36% of parents of teenagers don’t allow texting during family meals.
Hello Mother… Hello Father… On Facebook
Should you friend your child on Facebook? FaceBook-using parents in this study were almost evenly divided with about 48% saying they are Facebook friends with their kids, where as 52% said they are not. Andrew Eisner, director of content at Retrevo adds,
“It looks like more parents with teenage children are more likely to be friends with their kids, although many admit it can be awkward at times but they say they do learn a lot about their teenagers, which is probably why children are so hesitant to friend their parents to begin with.”
Just Being a Protective Parent
Eisner added, “Not that it would be easy (how about impossible) to prevent a kid from having their own Facebook or MySpace page if they were determined to have one, most parents agreed that teenage years were the right years for a child’s first Facebook or MySpace page.”
I am really surprised that almost one in ten parents of pre-teen kids will allow them to have a Facebook or MySpace profile. And that number rises to almost 40% for kids under 15. That is a situation that as a father I am really uncomfortable with.
Listen to Your Mother; Put That Cell Phone Away and Eat Your Dinner!
If you ever have to tell your kids to stop texting at the dinner table, you’re not alone, but we were surprised to discover that only 1/3 of parents said texting was not allowed during family meals.
I am shocked at this statistic. I could never imagine interrupting a family dinner to exchange text messages with someone else.
Really interesting numbers from Retrevo. I feel that I am very much in the minority with how we protect our daughter. But part of that is because I am in the social media world every day and there is a lot of stuff that I would rather not expose her too at this point in time.
What do you think is an appropriate age for a child to have a Facebook or MySpace account?
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