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I don't think comparing Michelle Obama & kids to every day America is really appropriate in this context. There are far larger issues at play of why the President's children couldn't have something like Facebook.
I think the Internet should be restricted for people under 16 , there causing the rest of us to get restrictions and rules put on us. And its not fair , the Internet wasn't mean't for younger users , but older teens to the Elderly.... I will say i do have a few 14-16 year olds on my Facebook due to my hobby , they do look up to me (I don't know why).... Although they put me in a tough position when they post things they do on there trips that are illegal and dangerous....(trips being w/o parents) Theres no reason to prevent someone form owning a Twitter , theres nothing really bad that you can follow... Myspace is a dying website , but i wouldn't let anyone join that site , its to open and has really no control over things atm. Youtube is a tricky one , i do know alot of people who are below 15 and upload videos , i see no problem with that site. But the younger youtube users need to be taught not to steal videos or pictures and upload them as there own....
We don't allow social networking accounts until the kids are in high school. We just don't see a real need for it until then. (Technically, there's never really a "need" for it at all...) And then, the house rules are: we have to have their username and password, we as parents are allowed to log-into their account at anytime and if they gripe about it they lose internet privileges, and we have to be added as one of their "friends". We don't actually have a legitimate friendface ( - IT Crowd, anyone?) account, we set up a fake one just because our oldest son was interested in trying FB out. Our last rule - (and this applies to their cell phones, too) - no pictures. We have disabled their ability to send and receive photos and videos on their phones, and they are not allowed to post photos on their FB accounts.
We have no interest in those kinds of sites, but so much networking is done at the high school level (at least at our kids high school) that we felt it would benefit him at that stage.
We haven't had any problems. In fact, it's been used as a convenient and helpful tool quite a few times. Hubby works a techie job, so the kids have grown up with it big-time. You should embrace new tech concepts and trends. You don't want to fall behind and you should want your kids to be able to keep up as well.
And the no photos rule has worked to their advantage a few times as well. A few of their friends of friends have been disciplined because of sexting and inappropriate photos and videos on their phones and being sent to other friends. Because those features are disabled on our kids phones they were left out of that loop.
We don't allow social networking accounts until the kids are in high school. We just don't see a real need for it until then. (Technically, there's never really a "need" for it at all...) And then, the house rules are: we have to have their username and password, we as parents are allowed to log-into their account at anytime and if they gripe about it they lose internet privileges, and we have to be added as one of their "friends". We don't actually have a legitimate friendface ( - IT Crowd, anyone?) account, we set up a fake one just because our oldest son was interested in trying FB out. Our last rule - (and this applies to their cell phones, too) - no pictures. We have disabled their ability to send and receive photos and videos on their phones, and they are not allowed to post photos on their FB accounts.
We have no interest in those kinds of sites, but so much networking is done at the high school level (at least at our kids high school) that we felt it would benefit him at that stage.
We haven't had any problems. In fact, it's been used as a convenient and helpful tool quite a few times. Hubby works a techie job, so the kids have grown up with it big-time. You should embrace new tech concepts and trends. You don't want to fall behind and you should want your kids to be able to keep up as well.
And the no photos rule has worked to their advantage a few times as well. A few of their friends of friends have been disciplined because of sexting and inappropriate photos and videos on their phones and being sent to other friends. Because those features are disabled on our kids phones they were left out of that loop.
Do you not trust them though?
I know they could have received those pictures but at the same time you have to trust that they wouldn't really be involved in that in the first place.
Do you not trust them though?
I know they could have received those pictures but at the same time you have to trust that they wouldn't really be involved in that in the first place.
It's kind of like defensive driving. It's not about not trusting yourself or not trusting your kids - it's about not trusting everybody else out there driving, so you drive cautiously, wear your seatbelt, and buy insurance.
As long as we're paying for the devices and the plans, and we're in charge of our kid's happiness, safety, health, and education... we're playing it safe. I'd hate for one of our kids to get suspended because some friend of a friend sent around some video a friend took of girls changing in the locker rooms. That happened at our oldest son's middle school. Parents were very unhappy that their kids were suspended for a video that their kids did not actually take. But it was on their phones, because the video went "viral" all over the middle school. And the school found out and confiscated phones and had all the numbers it was sent to, and honestly I don't know all the details because - happily - it didn't involve our son (because of our parental controls), but it is a current problem in the schools and a huge headache for parents and school staff.
I just think it's better to avoid those kinds of situations altogether, if you can.
Oh... just remembered another thing that happened a few months ago at our youngest son's elementary school...
So this boy poops in the bushes on school grounds. And this other boy - a City Counselor's son, no less, who's mother works for the Chamber of Commerce - takes photos of it. These are two bright normal kiddo's who both play football and are among the popular kids. You'd never guess these kids would pull stunts like this, but they did. And this is in an affluent area, not a rough or poor area at all. This is a nice school. Of course, those photos got sent around, too.
This is the kind of stuff that happens at school when the kids think no adults are watching, and so... with camera phones and phones that take videos do video messaging and photo messaging and all that... it's just ridiculous. And the schools, because of budget cuts, often are shorthanded and really don't have the time or staff to handle these situations. So as parents, we just try to do what we can to keep our kids out of it so they can focus on more important things.
So this boy poops in the bushes on school grounds. And this other boy - a City Counselor's son, no less, who's mother works for the Chamber of Commerce - takes photos of it. These are two bright normal kiddo's who both play football and are among the popular kids. You'd never guess these kids would pull stunts like this, but they did. And this is in an affluent area, not a rough or poor area at all. This is a nice school. Of course, those photos got sent around, too.
I can assure you that wealth, social status, color, the position of the parents in the community, religion, sexual identity, or type of dog they have has absolutely nothing to do with kids doing stupid things. I've known kids of tremendously wealthy parents who didn't have any sense what-so-ever. Zero. Zilch. Zip.
This would have surprised you less if it had taken place in the barrio?
My daughter has had a facebook since the age of 11 or so. That said, she never accepts from anyone she does not know, she actually does not even accept from some people she does know. If friends of friends try to message her she ignores the requests. She is more cautious than even an adult and is a highly mature overachiever so I absolutely don't worry about her. She is 15 now, and even so barely gets on facebook however her private school does send event notifications such as school dances, etc through facebook, or for example the volleyball team sends each other messages before games or planning. So there are benefits for her, but again, she is and always has been highly informed and cautious so I do not worry. I check on occasion, but I think I get on there more often than her !
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I used to read the exploits of her mom, brother and her. It was quite eventful.
