It's all fun and games...

I have a friend, who shall remain nameless, who has a Facebook page for his dog.  Yes, his dog.  All four legs and cute wagging tail of him.  And no, he’s not alone.  Notwithstanding the four legged invasion, the smaller two legged invasion is happening as well.  Today, 15% of the total population of users on Facebook and Twitter are under seventeen!  So my question today is what age is right to get your kids into social media platforms?

In full disclosure, I have an eighteen year old daughter, and six and four year old sons.  When setting up my daughter on Facebook, I think it was a harder decision and process than the cell phone one!  Conversely, my boys mostly interact socially through xbox games or ipad games, not in actual conversation platforms. 

It was about three years ago that we got my daughter on Facebook.  We gave in to her pressures, but with rules around it.  Password control, friends rules, scheduled time, etc.  I’ll give you a bit hint here, there is no right answer to the posed question in paragraph one, but whatever is the answer for you and yours, it is best when wrapped around rules!

I think about my two boys and how they are growing up with Social Media interlaced in everything they do.  While my 6 year old may only think of being “social” as his time at baseball practice, he sees Facebook every time he boots up the Xbox to play a Lego game, and has a small group of friends he can play with online.  At the same time, he understands leaderboards, as does our four year old, and how he can ping those people who are higher up than him.  When you think about it, it’s not too far of a leap to social sites like Facebook and Twitter from there.

Kids my boys’ age today are going to grow up with Social Media sites and networks as much of a normal part of their life as you and I did with TV.  To them, their generation may very well be the most “open” or “connected” generation ever.  But if we don’t teach them about being “open”, how to manage these things, well, it’ll just be like me going through high school and looking back now wishing there was a stock market class!  No teaching means unskilled use of tools!  (And trust me, I’m not blogging because I’m an investment millionaire who is bored… well, not yet at least!)

Don’t get me wrong either, this is hard stuff.  We had friends call us “Fuddy duddies” for all the rules we put around our daughter’s use of Facebook.  Name calling aside, my wife and I know we helped her understand the impacts of good and bad “social behavior” and helped her think about the image she projects, which at her age, being seen as responsible and reputable is a huge factor for college bounds kids!

Now when it comes to my boys, I have yet to see a benefit for them, at this point in their lives.  While many schools have teachers on Facebook to help answer kids questions, or groups to help, that is still geared at the teen ages and not the elementary level.  That said, I’m a big fan of positive social connections in this manner, as if I had a direct line to my teachers, I may have passed a few of my tougher subjects with a higher grade.

Depending on your situation, you may be ok with your six year old on Facebook, and for that matter, they may be comfortable with it as well!  Nothing is wrong with that in my opinion, providing you are involved and engaged with them.  There is no right or wrong answer, but as long as you know the rules, and more importantly, play by them, there are benefits to be found.

Yes, I know the underlying discussion here is parenting and parental involvement.  No, I’m not going to preach to you about what I think you should do.  Only you can determine what’s best for you and your family.  That said, most things are good… in moderation.  This is true in social media as well, be it six or sixty.  The key is finding the balance, where the benefits are, and if the benefits out weight the risk, especially when we are talking about our children’s safety!

Speaking of, here are some great resources for parents with connected kids:

Kids Rules for Online Safety (for pre-teens), from Safekids.com:
http://www.safekids.com/kids-rules-for-online-safety/

Netsmartz information for kids of all ages:
http://www.netsmartz.org/Parents

FBI Parent’s Guide to Internet Safety:
http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/parent-guide

I highly recommend this to be one of the “talk” opportunities for you and your kids.  It’s both a positive chat, one that’s laced with technology (which will make you look cool to know this stuff) and will help keep them safe, which is the most important part!