I just read in the New York Times that kids are using Facebook! But Facebook says you’re supposed to be, like, 13. So, some kids are even [gulp] lying about their age!
Says one concerned person: “It’s lying — and about age,” Ms. Kaune said. “What happens when they want to drink beer?”
Uh, last time I checked, when you want you’re underage, you lie about your age and drink beer. Actually, you don’t lie about your age until you want to buybeer. Kids still do that, right? I hope so.
Is that really this parent’s fear? That her son will drink a beer before his 21st birthday?
The only think I celebrated on my 21st birthday was no having to use my excellent fake ID.
You know, it’s one thing to have an absurdly high 21-year-old drinking age for beer. It’s another to think that these prohibition laws somehow make sense.
Beer, weed, crack, shooting up heroin: the slippery slope starts with 11-year-olds on facebook! Stop them before it’s too late!!
LOL!
(On the other hand, stupid parents are the primary reason society feels the need to legislate common sense…)
There are genuine challenges and hazards to using the internet, and it's not clear that preteens are good at negotiating. It may well be the case that exposure to social networking in the internet may have some harmful effects on these children. The age minimum for facebook is sound policy, especially considering that it is an adult arena, replete with highly sexual content and people trolling to serve that end.
It's the parents, however, who should be supervising their children better. That is what parenting is about. Facebook and playing in traffic are both no good for little kids, and mom and dad need to keep you away from both.
I agree. I'm not saying there's no need for parental supervision. I am saying that a parent who worries that such things will lead to underage beer drinking needs to get a grip.