Cyber safety is a critical issue for parents and their children in the digital age. According to Common Sense Media, as of 2017, 89% of American teenagers reported going online daily, and 24% say they are online “almost constantly.” This means that almost all teens are using some form of social media, and most likely aren’t taking the necessary precautions to protect themselves from cyberbullying, predators, and other dangers.

While there are no federal laws regulating how old someone has to be to use social media, many states have passed their own laws. For the most part, these laws dictate that kids must be at least 13 years old before they can create an account on a social media site. But even if your state doesn’t have a law about age restrictions on social media, it’s still important to follow some basic cyber safety tips to keep your child safe online.

Age Restrictions On Social Media

Did you know that there are age restrictions for all social networks children use? Thus, to register and enjoy communication on Facebook, your son or daughter must be at least 13. However, many kids neglect these rules. As surveyed, 52% of them use social media much earlier than the age specified.

Below, you will find a list of the most popular social networks among kids and the age restrictions set for them.

Social networks are restricted for the underage, not without reason. First of all, children’s personal information is at risk as soon as it appears online. That’s why it’s strongly recommended for parents not to allow their kids to post pictures of themselves as well as phone numbers, addresses, school info, etc.

Though modern kids are more tech-savvy than most contemporary parents, they are not supposed to see everything posted freely on the Internet. Their minds are simply not ready to realize many adult things and understand real consequences. Much information one can find online is a lie or fiction. Moreover, we try teaching our children from the perspective of always telling the truth. False Internet content and our strives to encourage truthfulness are mutually exclusive.

There are much more reasons why social networks must be restricted for some ages. The point is you should prevent your children from dangers they may face.

Sure, one may say it’s not wise to deprive kids of online reality these days. We say if not depriving, at least monitoring. Supervise your children when letting them enter the web. Pumpic will gladly help you with it.

Popular Social Networks and Age Restrictions

age restrictions on social media

13+

16+

17+

18+

What do you think of all these age restrictions? Should Internet access be limited for kids?

Share your opinion with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. It will reasonably support our childcare activity. Let’s protect our loved ones together!

Cyber Safety Tips

age restrictions on social media

In the modern era, when every child has an online connected device and can access the Internet right in the middle of a country field, the importance of cyber safety is crucial as ever before.

What is cyber safety, you may wonder. From a parental control perspective, it can be explained as a set of rules to follow to create a secure environment for your kids’ interaction with computers, smartphones, tablets, and the Internet.

In other and more simple words, cyber safety for kids refers to what you should do to protect your children online and prevent them from dangers like online predatorscyberbullyingsextingexplicit content, etc.

Below you will find some recommendations on how to maintain safety on the web. Have a look at them and try to stick to them as close as possible. Thus, you will protect your children when letting them use the Internet.

1. Make sure that your kid doesn’t spend all their free time near the computer or with a mobile phone in their handsSet limits on when and under what conditions he or she is allowed to use the Internet for fun. Encourage your kid to spend more time with friends, playing football, or just going for a walk rather than surfing the web, wasting time on social media, or chatting online.

2. If you have a desktop computer or laptop at home, keep it in a place where adults can monitor it (living room, kitchen, etc.). Thus, you will always know what your child is doing online and be able to check the websites he or she visits at any time.

3. Educate yourself to know enough about computers, mobile gadgets, and other modern technologies. Thus, you will be able to enjoy your kid’s time spent together. Moreover, you will be able to give your kid advice and be sure you know what he or she is up to.

age restrictions on social media

4. Explain to your kid that he or she should never meet online friends in real life alone. There are many misgiving strangers on the web. If your child decides to go and meet anyone from the web, an adult should accompany him or her there.

5. Monitor browsing history and bookmarks to always know what websites your kid visits. Block inappropriate ones in advance. Make a list of allowed web sources.

6. Talk to your kids. Teach them online safety. And make sure that he or she feels comfortable coming up to you and talking if something goes wrong.

7. Don’t let your kid use social media or online chats unless you know how to monitor them remotely.

8. Teach and encourage your child to share with you what he or she likes or dislikes online. What are his/her favorite websites? What kind of videos he or she likes to watch or blogs to read?

9. Explain to your kid to protect personal information. Thus, he or she shouldn’t share phone numbers, addresses, school, parents’ names, and plastic card numbers neither with strangers or friends.

10. Try to get to know online friends that your children communicate with. Just the same way as you know their friends from school or neighborhood kids.

11. Explain to your kid that online strangers he or she chats with can pretend to be anyone. That’s why he or she should beware.

12. Make a list of family rules. You can use some of the aforementioned and make up your own ones. Agree on them with your child. Print them and put them or hang them somewhere near the computer in a visible place.

Hopefully, these online child safety guidelines will be of help. Additionally, have a look at the infographics on How to Protect Children on Smartphones and Tablets to learn more about online security. Keep your eyes open with Techncrypto.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *