In a study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 75% of 7th through 12th graders surveyed said they had created a profile on a social media site. Considering the high percentage of online crime and deception, many parents are justified in fearing their child’s presence and interaction on these social media sites.
Parents can make the social media experience safer for their children by making sure they create profiles on child friendly social media sites. Here is our list of three kids friendly social networks:
Parents can sign up their children on this Facebook-like site. Parents are the ones who will select friends for their children, add family friends, and send e-mail invites. Once the set up is complete, children have access to selected YouTube games and videos.
This site appeals to the older child as profile pages function much like a Facebook wall and the website has the feel of a typical social media site. One of the core appeals are the fan pages of celebrities where the children can received updates from their favourite celebs via their Twitter streams. A great safety feature is that parents need to verify their identities and sign their children up by either providing the last four digits of their social security number (for those living in the US) or by using their credit card to pay for the 1cent fee.
The goal of the site is to teach children between the ages 6 to 11 about how to use a social media site…the only downside is that it might be a bit boring for the kids on the older end of that age group.
To sign up for ScuttlePad, kids provide their birthday, favorite colour, first name, and parent’s e-mail address, and they’re not allowed on the site until their parents approve it (so once again parents have some form of control). Other safety features include pre-set communication options thus making it tough to bully or harass someone online.
