Too young for Facebook, cellphones?

BY JANE DUNBAR

Ask an expert when children should get access to technology and the loudest answer is: It depends on the maturity of the child and what they've been taught about how to safely use those technologies.

Parents on the other hand (at least, the group spoken to for this article) seem to have quite strong feelings about the right age, with 13 being the average age most seem comfortable to let their children have greater independence in their use of cellphones and the internet.

You only need to spend a short time with a group of 11 to 12-year- olds, however, before you'll find that cellphone use and texting is a huge part of their social lives - for the many who have phones.

Ask kids aged six and up, and you'll find many have email accounts and belong to online clubs that are junior versions of social-networking sites.

As for Facebook, it's not unusual to find 11 and 12-year-olds with a Facebook page, even though that means they've had to be less than truthful about their age - Facebook requires that you state your age is 13 before you can sign up.

Mostly, parents are positive about the benefits of technologies such as cellphones - being able to keep in touch with their kids was seen as a major benefit by all the parents interviewed.

But the capacity for bullying through texting, and the loss of privacy through the posting of photographs on social-networking pages, is the flipside that has many parents concerned.

Researchers such as Associate Professor Geoff Lealand, Screen and Media Studies, University of Waikato, caution against over- reacting. He urges parents to tread softly with their desire to control their kids' use of technology. "Strict, inflexible rules tend to be counter- productive and can increase the allure of 'forbidden' technology," says Lealand. "Better to be open and fair-minded about it - and acknowledge that your children are often more at ease and competent with technology than you are."

Similarly, Martin Cocker, executive director of NetSafe New Zealand, says that "protective mechanisms (of which denying access is the most basic) have limited value as safety tools".

Netsafe is a non-profit organisation that promotes safe and responsible use of cyberspace, and Cocker says the best path for parents is to educate their kids about the benefits and downsides of each technology. Parents should play a supervisory role while their kids are young, preparing them to make good decisions when they're old enough to be independent.

Meanwhile, your offspring will undoubtedly have a wide array of tech skills to teach you in return.

CELLPHONES

Parents and experts made clear distinctions here - it all depended on how the phone was used.

Parents all said cellphones were OK for their kids from whatever age they were first out and about on their own and might need to contact their parents. One family had a "family cellphone" which the nine or 11-year-old could use if they were out on their own.

A survey at one local school recently reported that 60 per cent of the year seven and eight children had a cellphone. Many of the parents interviewed for this article however felt high school, or age 13, was the more appropriate time for kids to have their own phone.

All parents expressed concern about the risks of text bullying. One mother said she wanted to hold off as long as possible from her 11-year-old having her own phone. She said face-to-face contact was the best way for kids to have contact with their friends. Other parents said texting was an inevitable part of their children's social lives and the important thing was that they knew how to text responsibly.

As for Martin Cocker from NetSafe, he says cellphones can play an important safety role, but the flip side is that the phones can be used to bully others.

"The question is not so much about access to a phone, but when a child is old enough to have their own private mobile phone."

And as for web-enabled phones, they are "definitely not for young children - if you don't think your child is old enough to have a computer in their room - you shouldn't be giving them a web-enabled phone".

FACEBOOK

When is the right age for a social- networking page such as Facebook? According to Facebook, age 13. But all you need to do to get a Facebook page is to say you're at least 13 (even if you are not) so there are many under- 13s with a profile. Geoff Lealand from Waikato University says the minimum age set by Facebook seems reasonable.

Parents interviewed for this article also felt that 13 should be the minimum age. One dad said he thought social-networking sites were a poor way of socialising; and that it was too easy to write hurtful things or be hurt. "You don't want your kids to be part of a mob, or be victims. Young ones don't have the skills to sniff out when things are turning nasty."

But among parents and researchers there's also a certain acceptance that if kids want to use social-networking sites, they will - with parents' permission or not.

So if you have a child using Facebook, the key thing to do is talk about their privacy settings. Facebook, for example, lets you limit access to your account to only people whom you've accepted as friends - a better option than allowing open access for anyone, anywhere to browse through your social life.

And make sure you talk about possible consequences - a teacher trainee in Pennsylvania in the United States posted a picture of herself on MySpace with a plastic cup in her hand and wearing a pirate hat, with the caption "Drunken Pirate".

The educational institution where she was enrolled decided the photo promoted drinking, in virtual view of her under-age students.

Only days before her graduation, she was denied her teaching degree.

INTERNET ACCESS

Experts and parents interviewed for this piece were pretty much in agreement here - for the under- 13s, computers are best in communal areas where parental supervision is possible.

One dad said although computers were needed for a lot of homework, his family just had the one family computer in a shared space. He was concerned at the potential dangers of general computer roaming (exposure to spam, viruses and porn) so his kids were only allowed to access pages that had been bookmarked as favourites.

One mum said her 13 and 15-year-olds had to have laptops for school, but they used them in the lounge only.

Another said she thought computers in kids' room were OK from the age of 15. One mother, however, said her son, who is academically gifted, had had a computer in his own room since he was very young and had never given a moment's concern over his use. As a general preventive measure, she recommended letting kids know you can check their email accounts and Google histories at any time.

Martin Cocker of NetSafe advocates a cautious approach.

"Unsupervised internet access is a big step. The internet is a window to the world, with all of challenges that brings [including] sexual solicitation, harassment, online scams and fraud, time management, and negative digital footprint issues.

"Assuming a good relationship with supportive peers and family, most secondary-aged school children would be equipped to deal with those challenges. The majority of primary-aged children are not."

CAMERAS

Appropriate age for use of a digital camera ranged in parents' views from age four to 10. Most of the parents said it depended on the child's ability to hold and use the camera.

Most reported that their children had used cameras at primary school (or even preschool) for projects and that had led to an interest.

Many of the children had hand- me-down cameras, and some had been bought their own as presents. One of the mothers said she'd let her daughter use a camera from a young age, and that it had been a great diversion at cafes and restaurants while adults were sitting around talking and being boring. The child was now an avid photographer.

EMAIL

As one mum put it, email is the new postal system, so it's hard to argue for restrictions. She let her children have email accounts from age six up. Other parents, however, said their kids were aged up to 13 before they got an email address. Given so much work is increasingly web-focused at primary schools however, an email account for pre-teens will be increasingly common.

As Geoff Lealand of Waikato University says, an email account is "pretty much a necessity, from primary school age, to assist with study and homework and generally connecting with a world beyond their usual experience.

"But they often need guidance in making judgments and evaluating content."

Martin Cocker of Netsafe, too, says children should have access to free email accounts as soon as they are "technology literate". Parents could help by setting up email accounts for their children and helping them learn how to manage them. It was a good idea to talk to kids about appropriate use.

- © Fairfax NZ News