Earlier in the month there was a report by Consumer Reports that of Facebook’s 20 million plus users 7.5 million of them are under the age of 13.  5 million of those same users are under the age of 11.  Our world is different from the one where you and I grew up.  At 11 years old the only thing you and I had to worry about was breaking an arm or leg in a football or hockey game.  Kids today are more concerned with their online reputation than with their reputation on the basketball court.

Not only is it against Facebook’s terms of service for children younger than 13 years old to be on Facebook, but it can be against the law without parental consent.  The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) requires websites obtain verification of parental consent for those users under 13 years of age.

The law was enacted in 1998 and made effective in 2000.  This brings to question as to how relevant the act is to today.  We all want to protect our children, but today’s children are much more web savvy than they were back then.  Some would argue that exposing children to social networks at a young age is a form of training for the future.  Mark Zuckerberg is one of those people.  If he had his way, there would be a “Facebook Jr.”  He was quoted at a summit recently as saying:

“My philosophy is that for education you need to start at a really, really young age,” Mr Zuckerberg said. “Because of the [legal] restrictions we haven’t even begun this learning process. If they’re lifted then we’d start to learn what works.”

Source: The Telegraph

The Internet is a dangerous place.  Look at the 12 year old that was raped by a man she met on Facebook or the pedophile ring that was shut down.  As much as we want to believe our children are smart and responsible, we all know from our own experiences that kids slip up from time to time.  One lapse in judgement can prove dangerous.    We don’t need Zuckerberg teaching our children on how to use social networking.  The 27 year old billionaire is far from an expert on child rearing.

It just a few years ago we were all debating on how old was appropriate enough for a child to have a cell phone or an email address.  Now were are talking about our children setting up social networking profiles.  You can’t be around your child 24/7.  As much as you think you know about computers, well, 8 times out of 10, your 12 year old will know more than you do.  It is the modern day version of programing the VCR.  I wouldn’t take my chances.  Would you?

So, which begs to question… how young is too young for social networks?