Smart or not? Navigating Social Media

The Significance of being 13 years old

As part of their privacy policies, social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube specify that users must be at least 13 years old. Parents may be unaware of this requirement.

The minimum age stipulations are based on the requirements of the US Congress as set out in the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.¹ The act specifies that website operators must gain verifiable parental consent prior to collecting any personal information from a child younger than 13 years old (O’Keeffe et al., 2011). Many social networking sites avoid this requirement by setting a minimum age of use at 13 years old but there is no onus on website operators to verify the age of users.

– Office of the esafety Commissioner, Australia

Online Safety Basics

Help your children safely navigate their digital world and educate them to avoid harmful online experiences. Explore websites, games, apps and social media together and set some rules. To assist you use the follow strategies:

• Be engaged, open and supportive
• Set some rules
• Use the available technology

Key questions to help determine your child’s readiness for social media include:

• Is your child able to withstand negative online experiences? 
• Does your child understand the importance of protecting their personal information?  
• Does your child understand how privacy settings for social media work? 
• Does your child understand what is safe to share online? 
• Does your child know how to report cyberbullying and other kinds of abusive content? 

Use Parent Controls

Parent controls can be used to effectively manage your child’s use of technology. These can be used:

• On your home wi-fi network
• Built into devices, including computers, mobile devices, gaming consoles and smart TVs
• Through third-party software
• In apps and programs, including streaming services, web browsers and search engines

Parental controls are software tools that allow you to monitor and limit what your child sees and does online.  

They can be set up to do things like: 

• Block your child from accessing specific websites, apps or functions (like using a device’s camera, or the ability to buy things). 
• Filter different kinds of content – such as ‘adult’ or sexual content, content that may promote self-harm, eating disorders, violence, drugs, gambling, racism and terrorism. 
• Allow you to monitor your child’s use of connected devices, with reports on the sites they visit and the apps they use, how often and for how long.  
• Set time limits, blocking access after a set time. 

This information was summarised from the esafety Commissioner website, for more information please go to https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents.

– Joanne Sharpe
Acting Head of Junior School – Student Life