"Must be at least 13 years of age." This is typical language often included within the Terms of Service of sites that our children frequent. It indicates the minimum age required to use the site. But, does minimum age actually reflect the appropriate age for usage? The answer to that question is sometimes, not always – it depends. So why do most mainstream sites use 13 as the minimum age? Basically, it's the age in which a minor can create an account without the online site being burdened with legal requirements governing information collection. Thirteen marks a threshold for easy entry.
As I mentioned above, not all sites are appropriate for a young person. It depends heavily on two main factors: mature content allowed on the site and treatment of that mature content (whether allowed or not). As parents, we can't rely solely on the stated age for use. We must review the site for content appropriateness taking into consideration the age and maturity level of our children. Here are some helpful tips:
- Review the Terms of Service to understand what content is allowed on the site. Does it include prohibitions against sexually explicit content? If not, the content will be available and minors will be exposed to it.
- If a site allows mature content, do they have protections in place minimizing the risk of exposure to minors? Protections would include tools such as a safe search filter and/or age gate to prevent access.
- Search the site using explicit terms or the acronym "NSFW," meaning not safe for work. What's being returned? Were you able to easily find a significant amount of mature content even though the site prohibits it? If so, this is a good indication that the site may not take steps to enforce their terms.
- Is there report abuse button for consumers to alert the site of potential violations? Report a violation to test the effectiveness of the tool.
We don't have to actively use the sites that our kids use; however, we need to understand what they are exposed to on these sites. Once our children are exposed to age-inappropriate content, we can't take those images, thoughts or words away.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Samantha 11-26-2012 @ 8:32PM
It's so hard to know when is the right time to allow your kids to start using the internet or to get a smartphone. Where do you start when you have conversations with your kids about these things? What is the "right" age? I found this app called FamZee, its a safety app that gives me peace of mind. I can set up warnings and rules and alerts to ensure my two teens (15, 17) arent using their phones during school, and aren't up at all hours of the night sending text messages. It gives me peace of mind. My husband and I work full time, and its hard to coordinate with the kids sometimes. With this app, I know where they are and I can ensure they get a good nights sleep (and me,too) instead of watching videos all night on their smartphones. I love finding out about safety apps, because they truly help parents!
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neloy abaydin 12-29-2012 @ 8:43AM
Hi,
Fast i am thanking you for the post.I an impotent information for us.
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Jacob McMillen 4-23-2013 @ 12:53AM
This provides some really good starting points for parents. I would like to add that, for many websites, NSFW content is not going to tagged "NSFW," so searching that acronym will most likely be ineffective in determining a site's content. A great example of this is Facebook. Due to its unregulated approach to content uploads, there is an abundance of NSFW content available to be viewed, little of which would come up through a "NSFW" search. In fact, the argument could be made that sites that use NSFW tags are actually safer than those that don't, as those sites are typically well-regulated by moderators. Just another angle to consider in an inherently tricky topic.
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Eddie 5-06-2013 @ 2:23PM
I think that the minimum age that is appropriate for websites depend on several other things than just the age of the kid. Some kids are more advanced than others and some parents are more open minded and let their kids do more.
On my website http://lblhomedefenseproducts.com/ I have a section about safety kits. One of the kits on there is a http://lblhomedefenseproducts.com/child-safety/child-online-safety-kit/ .I advice parents to use this until they have decided that their kids are well informed about the online risks and know what to do.
Great post and thanks for sharing.
Eddie
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