S/O How old for Instagram?

[Anonymous]

I have an 11 yr. old daughter who is obsessed with the idea of having an Instagram account. She says all her friends have one (which is true, she showed me) and she desperately wants one too. I'm concerned because I know technically you have to be at least 13 and she's not; I've heard about some awful things showing up on Instagram; and I think she's already distracted enough by YouTube, texting, etc. We monitor those last two and only let her do it in moderation, but it still seems to take up a lot of her brain space.

At what age did your kids get IG accounts and are there any things I should be particularly concerned about, or am I worried about nothing? TIA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have an 11 yr. old daughter who is obsessed with the idea of having an Instagram account. She says all her friends have one (which is true, she showed me) and she desperately wants one too. I'm concerned because I know technically you have to be at least 13 and she's not; I've heard about some awful things showing up on Instagram; and I think she's already distracted enough by YouTube, texting, etc. We monitor those last two and only let her do it in moderation, but it still seems to take up a lot of her brain space.

At what age did your kids get IG accounts and are there any things I should be particularly concerned about, or am I worried about nothing? TIA.

IG will shut down accounts if they find out a user is not 13 years old. Legally it is the right thing to do so if you want to set a good example for your kid then you need to make her wait. Integrity.

[Anonymous]

I let my daughter at 14. At 15, she is too busy and over it. Worked out well.

11 is illegal, immoral and really why? What is the point if you are not allowed, your daughter knows she is not allowed, but yet still asking. Red flag

[Anonymous]

Immoral?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Immoral?

I had the same question. Possibly the lying? You have to attest to being 13 or older when you sign up...

[Anonymous]

Are you really going to wait until her 13th birthday to allow her to have an account? Or will you cave when she is 12? You realize that by the time she turns 13, all her friends will have hundreds of followers and she will appear to be unpopular because she has so few followers. You have to ask yourself if you are going to truly hold out for another two years. If not, just let her have it now and monitor the account. You can have the app on your phone signed in as her and see everything.

[Anonymous]

Imo if you have to lie to get something, it isn't worth having. Teach her integrity.

[Anonymous]

Look we can all talk a big game about waiting until 13, but that is not the reality these days. I have heard many a parent say they don't allow it, and then see their kids acct.

By the time they are 13, their friends will have been on for years. Supervise an acct closely now because hopefully they will listen to your advice. Down the road, it won't be as big a deal to them as if it was the forbidden fruit. Ymmv depending on your kid's personality and friend group.

[Anonymous]

I let mine at 12, when he got to middle school. I think elementary school is too young and I don't recall that IG had a 13 year old requirement. Perhaps it did. I made him wait to 13 to get Facebook (which he barely uses)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Down the road, it won't be as big a deal to them as if it was the forbidden fruit.

Down the road it won't be as a big a deal, period, and hopefully they'll have better judgment as they get older.

[Anonymous]

Dd got one when she was late ten or early 11. She "likes" every single pic ppl she follows put up. She's 12.5 now. Went through an Arianna Grande stage on Instagram but is over it now. It's fine. She follows some accounts that are offensive but I pick my battles. I care much more about accounts that make jokes about raping women than accounts with curse words.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look we can all talk a big game about waiting until 13, but that is not the reality these days. I have heard many a parent say they don't allow it, and then see their kids acct.

By the time they are 13, their friends will have been on for years. Supervise an acct closely now because hopefully they will listen to your advice. Down the road, it won't be as big a deal to them as if it was the forbidden fruit. Ymmv depending on your kid's personality and friend group.

Well those kids who get accounts without their parents permission before age 13 should be arrested. I would drive mine personally to the police station. I would also pull them out of school and lock them in their room with iron bars until they turn 18. With no access to the outside world. And no I'm not being sarcastic. I take laws seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you really going to wait until her 13th birthday to allow her to have an account? Or will you cave when she is 12? You realize that by the time she turns 13, all her friends will have hundreds of followers and she will appear to be unpopular because she has so few followers. You have to ask yourself if you are going to truly hold out for another two years. If not, just let her have it now and monitor the account. You can have the app on your phone signed in as her and see everything.

Just wow! Do you also teach your kids to have sex and drink underage like the cool group, otherwise they will be unpopular??

Parents like you that try to be the cool friend and not an actual parent is what is wrong with this generation of entitled brats. You actually think a child lying about their age and getting something IG specifically says minimum 13 is the right way to parent? All so your child can be popular? What about honesty and integrity - are they no big deal as long as you are popular?

I am just dumbfounded why parents want their kids to grow up faster than they already are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look we can all talk a big game about waiting until 13, but that is not the reality these days. I have heard many a parent say they don't allow it, and then see their kids acct.

By the time they are 13, their friends will have been on for years. Supervise an acct closely now because hopefully they will listen to your advice. Down the road, it won't be as big a deal to them as if it was the forbidden fruit. Ymmv depending on your kid's personality and friend group.

Well those kids who get accounts without their parents permission before age 13 should be arrested. I would drive mine personally to the police station. I would also pull them out of school and lock them in their room with iron bars until they turn 18. With no access to the outside world. And no I'm not being sarcastic. I take laws seriously.

Well I agree that waiting until 13 is the only right way but arrested?? A bit much.

[Anonymous]

this is so foreign to me. My 11 year old doesn't even have a regular way to access instagram. (even if he wanted to)

He doesn't get that much time on the family computer, and when he does tends to use that time for homework and composing music. I don't know when he'd have time for instagram. I'm assuming I'll need to get him a phone sometime before high school, and in high school he'll probably need his own laptop. Then I suppose he can check out things like instagram, but even then I can't imagine him being really into it.

I can imagine my daughter being into it though. I suppose we'll wait til 13.