By
Brooke Anderson
BEIRUT:
Facebook’s announcement earlier this month that it would consider allowing
children under 13 to access the site has been met with little reaction from
parents.
In
fact, many young kids already have accounts, and some parents and educators say
it can be a good thing with the right supervision. Hana Ghannoum was with her
son two years ago when he opened a Facebook account at the age of 10.
“I
was against him lying about his age. But he had two older sisters on Facebook,
and he wanted to be a part of the whole thing,” Ghannoum says, noting that her
son added her as a “friend” on the site, which allows her to see his activity.
So
far, Ghannoum, a psychology instructor at the American University of Beirut,
says Facebook has been a good experience for her children, who use the site to
share photos of their vacations and stay in touch with friends.
In
fact, as the family prepares to relocate to Germany, her children have already
made friends with their new classmates through the world’s largest social
networking site, which she believes is a good way for them to ease the
transition to a new country.
But
she understands the concern many parents might have over increased access for
younger users, who might not be mature enough to handle certain content,
language and interactions online. Several months ago, her children’s school
sent a note to parents, asking them to speak to their kids about online
bullying, which had become a problem among some students.
While
some have criticized the company for considering the inclusion of young
children, many acknowledge that the move would change very little and would
only formalize an already existing situation. It is common for parents to set
up accounts for their kids, and some have even created accounts for their
babies as soon as they were born.
The
social networking site currently bans children under 13, in line with U.S.
regulations which require parental consent for data collection of children.
This applies to all the countries throughout the world where it operates. But
the company itself admits that the rule is difficult to enforce, particularly
with so many children wanting to use the site.
According
to a study in November by the Internet journal First Monday, 19, 32, 55 and 69
percent of children (ages 10, 11, 12 and 13 respectively) in the families they
surveyed in the United States have Facebook accounts.
The
same study found that 95, 88, 82 and 82 percent of children at those ages who
joined the social network did so with the awareness of their parents, while 78,
68, 76 and 60 percent of them did it with the help of their parents.
Still,
in a move that it hopes will expand its user base while being acceptable to
parents, Facebook says it is working on prototypes that will allow preteens to
use the site under parental supervision. This would include allowing parents to
decide who their children can or can’t “friend” and what applications they use.
The new features might also allow Facebook to charge parents for the games
their children play.
While
this new move might not change much in practice, it is causing parents and
social media experts to evaluate the need for better privacy settings, parental
supervision and communication with the much younger generation that’s now
socializing online.
“Parents
need to play a more active role in terms of awareness,” says Ayman Itani, media
professor at the Lebanese American University. “It’s the same online: stranger
danger, being careful about what they share.”
However,
at an age when kids are not only vulnerable to strangers, but also have not
developed time management skills, Itani stresses that it is important for
parents to help get their children into the habit of limiting their time
online, especially on a site as engaging as Facebook.
“A
conscious effort needs to be made for a more balanced lifestyle,” Itani says.
“I’m seeing more families making efforts – like saying no phones at the table.”
John
Hess, who works at an NGO in Beirut and is the father of four children
including two teenage boys, is against the idea of Facebook lowering its user
age, which he believes is already too young.
Because
of the company’s lack of enforceable regulations, he says he has a strict
schedule for when his kids can go online, an agreement to share their passwords
with him until they are 16, and he monitors their activity on a weekly basis.
“We
have had to correct some bad language and communicating the wrong emotions to
girls,” he says. “What’s interesting about Facebook and other social networking
sites is the amount of raw emotion that seems to come out in text. Closing
messages with ‘I love you’ and ‘do you love me back’ are exploratory feelings,
but also ones that need direction.
“This
is where we as parents can address the positive side of these emotions, but
also point out how these statements can send someone down a path that they are
not mature enough for.”
Even
with parental supervision, he wonders if some from the older generations are
able to understand the nuances of their children’s online language, such as
“hooking up” and “WTF” – which, in his opinion, is all the more reason for
parents to have open communication with their children in their daily lives
rather than just close supervision online.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Jun-26/178203-parents-educators-welcome-facebook-for-kids.ashx#axzz1ymctop8c
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