To refuse my 9yr old a FB acc,even though her 9yr old friends have one?

[FreeBirdsFlying]

There seems to be a lot of bitchiness going on,on them and to be frank,don't want my daughter to participate.

Yes Tantrum I do :0) well he was when he started a few years back ,myself Ive been on it since 2006 and have seen a lot of changes

raven with respect, you will know a great deal of what is going o but not all, I dare say my teachers did not know all of what was going o in my day! [grin

I agree wholeheartedly with your comment *they need to know about safe internet use younger than this.

Doesn't have to = allowing them on FB*

Just because my dd will not have Fbook at a young age does not mean she won't be educated in internet safety

thatisall ,that is why i have set up accounts for them so that they dont have to sneak about when they are older ,not to say that they wont ,I can but do my best ;0)

ponders if I should sign them up to MN and throw them in the deep end

oops that wasnt supposed to be in bold ,cant you tell I'm new here 'blush'

That'd be a sink or swim lesson star maker

thatisall 'They are however implying that if parents prevent children from having FB until the required age, then they will get one anyway and probably won't be able to talk openly about things to their parents.

That is quite a generalisation wouldn't you say....I would never make a generalisation the other way.'

If you swap 'will' for 'might' then it's not quite such a generalisation!

Not suggesting for a moment that it's an inevitable consequence. Just an extremely common one.

So you would actively encourage breaking the rules rather than trusting your DCs to do as you have told them to?

Will you give them their first cigarette aged 12, first alcoholic drink at 13 and encourage them to be sexually active in your house then?

I mean otherwise they might sneak about and do it underage anyway?

'raven with respect, you will know a great deal of what is going o but not all, I dare say my teachers did not know all of what was going o in my day! [grin'

No indeed, Tantrum, & that's the thing - how do you deal with the fact that FB exists, anyone with 5 minutes unsupervised internet can register, & it can be used for truly horrible purposes?

I say, de-mystify it, educate, allow from ayoung age under strict supervision.

You say, not for U13s.

I would argue that we're tackling the same issue with different methods, not on opposing sides. .

No but I have broken the rule not them afaik they arent aware that fb is for over 13's only

They have tasted alcohol already (is that going to start another kefuffle) its not illegal in the home ,if you make something taboo it only makes it more tempting

Ok I now have to leave this thread.

Raven, I get where you are coming from, I really do.
I will never understand a 6 yo on FB but I see your point.
I've just lived through some very nasty situations regarding underaged, supervised FB users so I will never think its a good idea.

I do agree with educating from an early age about Internet safety, I just feel there are more age appropriate sites for a 6 year old to start learning from.

Star maker, I can't continue this with you. I have zero respect or tolerance for parents who allow their DCs to do things totally inappropriate for their age just in case saying no makes it more tempting.

IME the parents who like to use this line to excuse their DCs behaviour and their own also, are perfect examples of lazy parents who will use every excuse in the book to justify why they never say no.

If let them try everything in case saying no makes it tempting is your philosophy, that's up to you.

It is certainley not mine.

I can assure you I do say no to my children and I am not a lazy parent thankyou very much ,sleep well

I'm with you on the tasting alcohol as well, starmaker7.

Tantrum, it depends on the reason you want to use networking sites. 'Age-appropriate' sites like Club Penguin & Moshi Monsters are dull, babyish, far too game-orientated & encourage consumerism.

Ds just wants to chat to family who live too far away to see regularly.

Which is why FB's been pretty much superseded by Skype in our house. I doubt either dd will bother with FB - dd1 is 6 now & has never shown an interest, by the time dd2 is reading fluently I suspect it'll be back to being a boring thing for grown-ups.

('Ds, get on FB & thank grandma for the birthday money!' 'Aw mum! I want to go out on my bike!'

Stick to your guns. FB have a minimum age limit of 13. I know loads of peoples don't stick to it, but they don't stick to minimum age for films and games either. Oh and while they're at it, why not give the 10 year old a cigarette and the 11 year old a botttle of wine!
I am a bit of a monster when it comes to sticking to the age limits. My dd had her FB at 13, had to give me her password and was only ever allowed on the comp in the same room as me. She is now 17 and does her own thing in a lot ow ways, but generally I approve of all she does anyway!
AlfalfaMum, that is too funny, so easy to forget how quickly the time passes and they grow up!

Thanks ,I was beginning to feel like a failure as a mother ,never mind 3 down 3 to go ,I'll get it right eventually ;0)