Middle School help

[Anonymous]

Our oldest goes to middle school this year. We have already decided he is getting my ancient IPhone. He will be 12 in October. What social media are young middle schoolers using? He will friend us/link to us/etc. All of the social media terms of agreement say 13 years old. Based on what I can tell no one is following this. Do parents allow their kids to put in an earlier birthdate? I am all about letting kids have something to look forward to based on age, but this is new territory for us and I want been there done that advice.

TIA

[Anonymous]

I don't think teaching him to lie is a good way to start middle school.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely not. If you allow your child to ignore the ToS, will you allow him to ignore traffic signs, tax deadlines, etc? It is a slippery slope. Rules are rules.

[Anonymous]

18:21 this is OP and I agree. I am trying to navigate this whole thing.

[Anonymous]

I do not let my kids use the services that have a minimum age of 13. I strongly encourage you to teach your child to follow the rules.

[Anonymous]

Many kids have a second profile they hide from parents. That's where the real socializing takes place.
--MS teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many kids have a second profile they hide from parents. That's where the real socializing takes place.
--MS teacher

Yup. Almost all of them who friend their parents have a second account.

--another MS teacher

(What I heard kids talking about most last year was Snapchat, Kik, and Twitter, in that order)

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the info. I wanted to be prepared for the fact that there may be a "secret" account and that we will discuss why he is not allowed to sign up for accounts when he is not old enough.

[Anonymous]

Instagram and snapchat. She's not 13. It's a guideline, not a law.