I believe technically, no one under the age of 17 or 18 is supposed to have an account on facebook. However, just like with myspace and the other social networks there are plenty of younger kids on there with accounts. As parent’s should we allow this?

My eleven year old has just gotten into some of the internet perks of email, instant messaging and fantasy football with his dad. He has been talked to about the dangers of talking to anyone he doesn’t know online just like out in the real world. He doesn’t spend hours online and usually we are in and out of the room checking to make sure when he is on he’s using it wisely.

One of the advantages that I have as a parent is that I stay pretty current with things. I have a facebook account and I know the deal with much of it. It doesn’t take much for me to look up things and see who’s on what and monitor not only my son but his friend’s as well. But I’m still not sure how comfortable with this that I am?

A friend of mine said that she made the decision of no for her teen due to the fact that anyone could contact her child from the outside. While I can definitely understand this rational, I also feel that there is a real world out there that your kid will eventually be exposed to where they will have to make decisions and now is your only real chance to guide them in it. We also know pretty much where our son is at all times and who he is with, so I know he’s not going to be meeting anyone he met online somewhere.

Ultimately he’s got the facebook account and I am his number one “friend”. I was a little surprised by his chipper profile description but not by the fact of his “I’m bored” comments that he sings at home also. I write on his wall that he needs to find something constructive to do then and it’s probably not him on facebook - lol.