If I had been asked this 6 months ago, I would have thought the question was ridiculous and the answer a no-brainer. OF COURSE NOT! Facebook is a social network for adults. It is uncensored and contains plenty of material that is not appropriate for young children. However, my 9-year-old step-daughter (we'll call her Jenny) now has her own profile set up by her mother so she can play Facebook games.
Further conversation revealed that she has the profile "only to play games" and she's not allowed to add any friends "unless Mommy says it's okay." Given this and previous lapses in judgment, this does not make me feel better. In fact, visions of legions of pedophiles lining up with friend requests for my beautiful Jenny dance through my head. Along with a vision of Jenny sitting at the computer calling to her mother in another room, "Mommy, Johnny wants to be my friend. Is that ok?" And Mommy in the other room calling a distracted answer, "Okay, honey."
Now I'm as addicted to Facebook games as the next vidiot, wasting hours digging for treasure in Treasure Isle, harvesting crops in Farmville and visiting friends in Yoville. These games are designed to foster social interaction. To further your score and achieve higher levels, you must add neighbors (feel free to add me!). With years of adult interactions to draw from, I have a bunch of friends and family to harass to join me in my time-wasting activities. But this child only has people she doesn't know. I hope there are not other parents suffering these same lapses of judgment and allowing their 9-year-olds on Facebook.
I panic at the thought of her uploading pictures of herself, clicking on a "How sexy is your profile pic" link and accepting friend requests for "the nice man down the street." She is still innocent and naive. She believes the best of people and trusts what she's told. Even more panic-inspiring is the fact that my husband and I can't do anything to stop it short of starting a fruitless argument with her mother.
So, I ask you... am I over-reacting? Do you think it's okay for kids to be on Facebook?
To answer your question, NO, plain and simple. A nine year old should not be on Facebook regardless if their parent says its "for games only". There are other sites out there for children to play games one. PBSkids.org or learn4good.com are some sites for children to play games and their parent(s) don't have to worry about who (or what) is out there watching their children.
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