Social media for kids

[georgeharrison]

How common do you think it is that kids have their own social media account?

My kid is too young - technically and maturity-wise, but he claims EVERYONE is on social media amd he was really mad at me when he asked me again this morning.

I am not going to relent, but I'm wondering if a lot of underage kids do actually have social media.

He is 12 btw, in 7th grade.

[whitemerlot]

I think it’s very common at the high school level. I think 1/2 of the kids I know in middle school have some social media. I will wait as long as possible for my kids.

[illgetthere]

I think it's pretty common. My 12 year old used to make group plans via group chat on his iPod. Now, it seems you are left out of a lot without snap chat because they don't individually call each other to make plans. It's just "skating rink Saturday" (or similar) and everyone comments when they'll be there

Many of his friends have more than one

Edit: he got it the summer between 6 and 7 and was behind a lot of his friends

[katb]

A lot of my daughters friends have instagram and snap chat. Some have twitter, facebook (that is only for us olds it seems). My girls are mad at me because they don't have phones - apparantly they are the only losers in 7th grade without a phone.

[dani302011]

Not a parent, but my 12 year old nephew does not have any kind of social media. He just was able to have his own email when he turned 11, and got his own cell phone when school started since he now is home an hour alone before his mom gets home. He is only allowed to use it to call/text family. My sister checks it daily, along with his email.

I do love the fact that he now has a phone. He is my oldest nephew and I like that we can text each other about random stuff like football games and camping and stuff. He lives 12 hours from me so it is nice to keep in touch with him.

[imojoebunny]

It is pretty common for DD's friends to have social media, phones, ect, but she doesn't have it. She is 11 and in 6th grade. She has email, which I have access to. That is enough. She mostly emails girls from summer camp and my BFF's DD, mostly about playing Sims. She has a phone thing, but it only calls 4 numbers. She doesn't need it yet, and until she does, I will keep it minimized. I would rather be the last parent to let my kids have it, than to have them be at the center of some of the messes I have heard about.

[textbookcase]

In my experience, most middle schoolers are on Snapchat and a lot are on instagram. It seems like all of the girls friends started w social media around age 10-11. C is 13 and uses Snapchat. K is 11 and isn’t on any social media.

[lovebeingmama]

I taught middle school (7th and 8th grades), and it was my impression that the majority of the students were at least using Instagram and/or Snapchat.

[pinkdutchtulips]

My dd uses my IG and she has a music.ally acciubtbthst I have full access to.

Her own - not until middle school and I have full access to it.

[abs]

Very common. My niece has had IG since 5th grade and Snapchat for awhile, too. Maybe summer between 5th and 6th. She’s 13 now and has had a phone since 3rd grade.

I will not be allowing social media that young.

[Leeham Rimes]

I’m gonna keep them Wrapped in a little bubble and they’ll never want a social media account ever.

That will totally work, right?

[erbear]

He's right; everyone has one.
You're right; he should not.

I teach middle school. Social media is the bane of my existence as an administrator. 90% of my meetings are over the misuse of social media. If you're going to relent, you have to be in there with him - passwords, rules, consequences.

[W.T.Faulkner]

I’m with you here, but most kids do have all that stuff at his age now.

Can you allow him to have it, but you create an account together and you monitor it? You have his username and password, so you can log in at any time and see what’s happening. If it’s no good, then he loses it.

[sessy]

My kids are younger but as someone who works with youth in churches they all had Instagram accounts in 7th grade and wanted to friend me. Which I accepted. I figured them wanting to follow their pastor was a good sign.

[killercupcake]

A lot of kids have at least a Snapchat. Most have Instagram. They all seem to have twitter. FB is for the olds so they stay away from there.

I don’t like it. It causes way more problems than it's worth.

[CloudBee]

I've seen a few teens on Instagram (including my niece's friends, who have friended me as I've known them for years), whose bio says "account managed by parents". I assume they aren't allowed to upload anything without getting permission.

[keyslover]

Nov 20, 2017 17:28:53 GMT -5 pinkdutchtulips said:

My dd uses my IG and she has a music.ally acciubtbthst I have full access to.

Her own - not until middle school and I have full access to it.

How old is your DD? What are you thoughts on Music.ally?

I feel uneasy, videos automatically play and that squeaks me out.

[pinkdutchtulips]

Nov 20, 2017 18:18:07 GMT -5 keyslover said:

Nov 20, 2017 17:28:53 GMT -5 pinkdutchtulips said:

My dd uses my IG and she has a music.ally acciubtbthst I have full access to.

Her own - not until middle school and I have full access to it.

How old is your DD? What are you thoughts on Music.ally?

I feel uneasy, videos automatically play and that squeaks me out.

she's 8 and her use ebbs and flows ... more in the summer, way less during the school year. I'm not opposed to deleting it off my phone either if I think she uses it too much - I've done that a few times too.

It drives me nuts bc of the often questionable songs they have on there.

[penguingrrl]

My 5th grader has started asking and so far my response is that none of the social media platforms allows children under 13 to have an account, so she can’t. Once she’s 13 we’ll talk about earning the privilege. Right now she has a phone (a handed down iPhone) but is only allowed to use it to contact me, H and her grandparents and it’s mostly restricted to when she’s home alone or walking/biking somewhere without an adult. We’re years away from allowing her to have friends numbers in her phone. Many of her classmates are texting each other, which I’m not okay with yet.

[cupcake0214]

In my grammar school it is very common. Many of them are to immature and cannot it. I have had a number of bullying cases because of social media.

[IrishBelle]

My DD is 12 and in grade 7. She has Instagram and so do all of her friends. I regularly go through her followers to make sure it is only her friends on there. I don't allow Facebook or snapchat though.

[Eagles]

The shit that my cousins' kids post on VSCO makes me clutch my pearls all the time. I want to put my nieces in a convent.

[lolalolalola]

My DD is in 7th grade as well and I’m lucky as her crowd does not use social media. They text or iMessage each other but that’s it.

I will not allow it before 13 because that’s what the ‘rules’ say.

I asked have a 5th grader and she and her friends FaceTime and iMessage all the time.

[dale]

My kids go to a small private school and the current contract between the school and parents specifies that the students are not to have social media. Last year there was a huge issue in a middle school grade with snapchat, bullying, and sexual harassment that caused the administration to draw the line this year. Students found to be on social media will be asked to leave the school.

[RoxMonster]

All of my HS students have multiple social media accounts and I think several MS kids do as well. Some of my FB friends are parents of 6-8th graders and will tag their kids' accounts in their own statuses, so I know their kids at least have FB.

[cjcouple]

I agree it is probably 50/50 as far as social media. My 11yo just got a phone but no social media. Texting, video chat only and only with his close friends. No random kids I don't know. I monitor his phone as well

[kath16]

You're both right.

12 year old SD had an awakening when we found all her stuff. It feels really impossible to keep up with the new social media sites/apps. I had never heard of VSCO until we found hers.

Go with your gut. If you do allow him to get something, just make sure you monitor it frequently and randomly (like, surprise him).

[Shreddingbetty]

My niece who lives with us got her first phone in 8th grade and it was not a smart phone/no access to internet. I think we let her have Facebook when she was a freshman in high school and we had her password. When she was a freshman in high school she had a senior as a boyfriend and I looked at all her msg via the Verizon app (that was without her knowledge but we paid for her phone and services and it was under my name so we don't feel guilty about that). I haven't looked at her msg the last couple of years since he broke up with her. Also put her on birth control at that time. She just turned 18 this summer and is a senior in high school and wanted a smart phone. We told her she could have one but she had to pay for the phone (we still pay for th service). So now she is on snap chat and instagram and who knows what else but she is 18. She also got her own laptop for her bday. Prior to that she was on our desk top and had her own sign in but we had access to it.
She was one of the few without a smart phone but she lived to tell about it. It's a huge distraction and not something they can manage well. Hell most sdults have a hard time managing their smart phone. I'm glad smart phones weren't around while i was in high school or college. I would've wasted a lot of time playing on the phone instead of studying.
I have a friend whose 9 y/o who is on instagram with her moms knowledge (and need her moms phone to use it). I had a 7 y/o patient one time who asked me if I would be her friend on FB. That I judged.

[esdreturns]

I just let my son sign up on Instagram, and he was one of the last of his friends to do so (6th grade, turning 11 in a week). I've been checking it but I have no idea how to use it so I really need to take a crash course it in.

They also use Skype a lot to video call each other rather than just actually calling.

[Eagles]

I strongly disagree with kids under 13 being on social media. There are terms of service, and you're teaching kids that it's okay to go around them because...why? They're special? You say it's okay?