You've got to hand it to the Facebook censors. They may act like big boobs poking their noses into breastfeeding moms' photo albums, but they get it right with underage kids.
A new report from Facebook itself puts the number of kids kicked off the site by the censors at 20,000 a DAY. A DAY folks. Before you start grumbling that you as the parent should be allowed to determine that your youngster is old enough for the site, if you think about it, Facebook is protecting kids from themselves ... and their overly permissive parents.
Because if you're not mature enough to follow the rules of a site, you probably aren't mature enough to use it. And the rules of the site are pretty clear: "You will not use Facebook if you are under 13." So when they sign up, 20,000 kids a day are flat-out lying about their age.
I've seen a lot of parents justify letting their younger kids sneak in with some big excuses: "But I'm their friend, and I watch what they do." "I stand behind them at all times and don't let them talk to strangers." "They only play games!"
I don't think the average parent is a BAD parent for letting their kid on Facebook. The bad that happens on there can be weighed out by the good (the kid who used it to save his mom's life recently comes to mind). With good management by parents, it's a great place for kids to connect with other kids and relatives.
But rules are rules. I can't help wondering if parents who would be angry at Facebook for requiring kids to follow its rules aren't setting themselves up for something much worse down the road. They just told their kids it's OK to lie "sometimes." And this isn't the "don't tell the lady she's fat because it's not polite" lie of omission but a blatant skirting of the rules. You have to physically enter a fake date of birth to get on Facebook if you're a kid. Arguing that Facebook is in the wrong for kicking the kids off is to argue that your kid doesn't have to follow rules.
So what's next? A fake date of birth on a porn site? A fake date of birth on a beer manufacturer's site? Hey, Mom, it's just a fake age, right?
Are your kids allowed on Facebook? What do you think of the censors?
Image via Facebook