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(CNN) – This can happen anytime: Ultimately, your kids may want their own social media accounts.
"If you have a teenager or teenager, you should expect them to come home early in the school year and say," Oh, I want to download if "no," says Caroline Knorr, a San Francisco-based parenting expert with the non-profit Common Sense Media organization.
Yet at what age do most children launch their own social media presence?
In the United States, "to our knowledge, about half of all children have some form of social media at the age of 12," Knorr said, referring to a 2016 Common Sense Media report.
The report was based on a nationally representative survey of 1,786 parents in the United States whose children are aged 8 to 18 years. The survey was conducted in July 2016.
The report found that, overall, 56% of kids had their own social media accounts, according to parents' responses. Of these children, parents indicated that the average age at the time of registration was 12.6 years.
Separated by age group, 80% of all teens (aged 13 to 18) in the group had their own social media account, compared to 23% of all preadolescents (ages 8 to 12), revealed the parents.
Vivian Friedman, a child psychologist at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, showed how children aged 6 to 12 develop the ability to think concretely, and then, in adolescence, between the ages of 12 and 18, they acquire the ability to think in a more abstract way.
Since children think more concretely before adolescence, some may not be able to fully analyze the truth or validity of abstract questions related to social media, said Friedman.
So, whenever parents allow their children to have social media, "I think the best way to do that is to sit down together and explore the program that your child is interested in using – and explore some privacy settings that they can use, "Knorr said.
"Then it's important for parents and children to talk about what should be put in place and what is not appropriate," she said. "I think that by the age of 12, kids have the ability to follow your rules and understand that these rules are really important and put in place to help protect their safety.
An American law gives parents control over the information that websites can collect from their children.
COPPA, the Child Privacy Act, imposes certain conditions on website operators and online services – including social media sites – to ensure that the personal information of children under the age of 13 is not infringed. not collected,
For example, a page on Facebook indicates that the social platform "requires everyone to be at least 13 years old before they can create an account … Creating an account with false information is a violation of our terms.
The page provides a link on how to delete an account if your minor child has created one, and it provides a form to complete if you want to report a minor account.
"It is not technically forbidden for children to sign up for an application that is supposed to be for more than 13 years." According to COPPA, all that is needed is that parents give their consent to companies to Follow the data attached to this account.Privacy policies contain so much gibberish, it is very difficult for parents to understand what they accept, "Knorr said.
"Many parents believe that the reason that age is 13 is to help protect the safety of children, but the reason is that most social media shares data and actively exploits them." data. authorized to do so for users under 13, "she said.
In order to help protect your child's safety, "the great thing is to have a conversation with your child about using social media early and often and to be aware of what that they do, and have filters and the use of strict privacy settings while you're still monitoring their social media frequently, "said Dr. Candice Dye, a pediatrician with the childhood of Alabama and assistant professor at the University of Alabama in Birmingham.
Tell them, "If you do not know someone and you ask to be your friend, you do not accept that. If someone does something offensive there then you defuse it, "and then you talk about general security. Like "passwords are private, and you do not need to write them or share them with others," Dye said.
"It's just having these conversations with them and setting those boundaries and making room for conversations to continue," she said. "You want them to feel free to chat with you when they arrive."
Although privacy and security are important, Knorr considers that the time spent on the screen is one of the biggest concerns when it comes to enrolling children in social media.
"Many parents find that what concerns them most in the fact that their kids are getting social media is not really the security and privacy, but the aspect of" time sucked "" , she said. "Of course, more time spent online leads to more potential risks. So it's another good reason to help kids try to limit the time they spend."
For children and teens from 5 to 18 years old, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends not sleeping with appliances in their rooms, they avoid using the appliances one hour before bedtime and avoid sleeping. Use appliances during family meals.
The academy also recommends developing a media use plan for the family that includes constant limits on the number of screen hours per day while allowing at least one hour of daily physical activity and eight hours or more of sleep.
The group warns that too much screen time can expose your child or teenager to obesity, sleep problems, cyberbullying and negative outcomes in school, among other concerns .
"I see a lot of teenagers whose feelings are hurt by seeing pictures of an appointment with another boy or girl, some peer groups use social media to hurt themselves," he said. said Friedman.
"Watch your child for safety," she said. "Certainly raise issues that involve security."
However, she said, these other potential risks should also be included in family discussions.
The-CNN-Wire
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