Facebook Age Limit

In this day in age, almost everyone has a Facebook page. Elderly people have an account, adults, teenagers, and even young children. Perhaps that’s what makes Facebook such a controversial topic; the fact that people of all ages have a Facebook account. Nevertheless, Facebook is made up of nothing but pixels and negativity which is why its age limit should strictly be eighteen. One of the biggest concerns on any social media website is cyber bullying. In the article, “Should Children be Allowed on Facebook?” Aislyn Greene reports that one million children were harassed, threatened, and subjected to other forms of cyber bullying on Facebook. Bullying is a serious matter, especially when the bullying is being performed on the internet. Even when a post can be deleted, it does not change the fact people still have seen it; even if a person can be blocked, it does not change the fact that that person is still saying things they shouldn’t be saying. The point is, no one can defend the bullying that happens on Facebook by coming up with ways that make the bullying seem unimportant or insignificant. Facebook makes it easy for people, specifically children, to post anything from a comedic image to an insulting, degrading, and inappropriate status. Even though kids ought to know better, these types of things still happen and Facebook makes it easier for these types of things to occur more frequently. A child’s reputation may be ruined due to a bully’s inappropriate post on Facebook which is why children are simply too young to have Facebook accounts. A young child’s health should always come first, never last. Facebook tends to jeopardize that. According to the report, “Poke Me: How Social Networks Can Both Help and Harm Our Kids,” by Larry D. Rosen it is stated that teens that use/ overuse Facebook become narcissistic, become sadistic and passive/aggressive, and develop antisocial personality disorder. Thousands of children are addicted to internet which by definition means they’re addicted to social media sites like Facebook. Due to a child’s addiction to Facebook, their emotions and behaviors become as unhealthy as the addiction itself. Also, by analyzing the hard facts, it can be concluded that Facebook makes money off of a child’s unhealthy state of mind. Do parents really want some guy by the name of Mr. Zuckerberg to make millions off of their child’s/ children’s unhealthy addiction? Do parents want their child to be consumed by overwhelming narcissism and depression due to Zuckerberg’s website? As Judy Siegel-itzkovich states in her article “Dangers Lurk Among Kid’s Facebook ‘Friends’,” “in the past, it was said that the day a person could express himself digitally and not face to face, he will become depressive, and today this is the question in…children.” It is unfortunate that this quote is for the most part targeted towards the youth for the simple fact that they are the ones glued to technology and expressing themselves through emoticons and typed words instead of facial expressions, gestures, and voice. In order to survive in the world, a child needs to have an amazing education. Once again, Facebook tends to interfere with that. According to the article, “Facebook Pros and Cons for Teens,” studies showed that middle school, high school, and college students who checked their Page 3
Facebook account at least once during a fifteen minute study period achieved lower grades in school. Social media sites such as Facebook should not interfere with a child’s academic life and children shouldn’t let it. A child’s goal should not be to have a thousand friends on Facebook; a child’s goal should be to pass classes and graduate. What is going to earn a child a good career and a steady salary- education or having a thousand friends on Facebook? Facebook is simply far too distracting for a young child to handle which is why the age limit needs to be eighteen, the age where maturity fully kicks in as well as common sense. The opposing viewpoint is that the age limit on Facebook should remain the same or completely be eliminated. People believe that the age limit on Facebook should either be gone or remain the same because according to the article, “Kids Who Use Facebook Do Worse in School,” by Bonnie Rochman it is stated that Facebook helps young teens develop virtual empathy. However, virtual empathy isn’t as important as the empathy one is able to show when face-to-face with another human being. Back then, before computers were invented, people were able to show empathy just fine; they did not need the internet to sympathize with others therefore kids nowadays do not need the internet to sympathize with others. Also, Dr. Rosen’s reports in the article “Poke Me: How Social Networks Can Both Help and Harm Our Kids,” makes it easy to conclude that Facebook is a perfect way to help children, shy or not, socialize. This is not true. Due to the fact socialization is not best performed virtually but face-to-face, Facebook is not a perfect way to help children socialize. Chatting with friends over the internet isn’t socializing, it’s just sitting in front of a computer, typing meaningless words that have no significance due to the fact there is no real emotion behind the words. Besides, before computers were invented, people, shy or not shy, were able to socialize perfectly fine. Human beings do not require the Page 4 internet in order to develop strong emotions and build character; it is absolutely ludicrous to even suggest that Facebook helps young children show virtual empathy which is not even an important quality to possess. The so-called “benefits” Facebook gives to children should not even be called benefits as they barely help young children at all. A Facebook account is unnecessary in a young child’s life. A child should be going outside to socialize, not on a website where socialization means to send emoticons or acronyms. Besides, Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook in college as a place where he and his peers could chat and gossip without having to make time to see each other. It is to be highly doubted that Zuckerberg’s intention of creating Facebook was to have nine year olds messing around on the site. When the pieces of the puzzle are put together, the image is this- the Facebook age limit should strictly be eighteen.