The Legal Age For Social Media Should Stay At 13 Years Old

Imagine this… you befriend a 13 year old on Facebook, and are so happy that you have a new friend. Well, what if you became good friends, like really good friends and shared information, and told them secrets. However, you later find out that they are only 11 years old, or even worse, 8 years old.

Tena Koutou Katoa, Hello. I’m Amelia and let me just ask you this… What would happen if we changed the limit for most things on social media from 13 years old to 18 years old? What would happen if we changed it to 8 years old? Yes, people can just fake their age, but let me tell you the downsides of that childhood dream of going on whatever social media platform you want.

What do you think would happen if we dropped the age limit to 8 years old? Picture if you were a parent, would you really want your kids looking at inappropriate content? It’s easy to stop them from playing a game or a movie that has a rating and you know if it is suitable or not, but social media can not be controlled!

Eight year olds should be playing outside, seeing the world and exploring or making up fun games in the backyard. There’s no creativity on social media. Even teens and adults can get obsessed with social media–and they’re supposed to have self control!-- how much worse will it be for little kids?

For instance, when I was 9 years old, I lost my creativity after joining the world of social media. I used to make play kingdoms in the garden before I was on Hangouts but when I was 10, I tried to play it again, but I couldn’t see how I had ever played it.

When children are young, they are able to learn more. So it is a good time to be learning new things. Such as basic maths, how to read, or even learning an instrument or a dance. Being on social media at that age, would prevent them from being able to complete basic things. Although, when you're 13, you would have already learnt these kinds of things, which would mean you can join social media, without it affecting your learning too much.

When you're a teenager, you are trying to find out who you are. You also begin to become your own person. So if the age minimum was at 18, you would have already drifted away from your parents, which would cause you to not talk to them about the safety on social media. However, a 13 year old might still be able to talk to someone about safety on social media.

When we are in our teens, we learn how to interact with others. If teens are kept off social media until they are 18, they will not have a chance to learn how to act properly towards each other. After all, by the time they are 18, they will already be adults! As you can see, 13 year olds would have a chance to make mistakes and learn from them, rather than starting adulthood clueless.

Currently, we contact people outside of school, whether it´s hanging out or talking online. Most people choose the second option, so if your an 18 year old who only just got social media, or who doesn’t have social media, it can be way harder to keep in touch with other people. This isn’t good for teenagers, who often feel lonely and cut off from other people. Social Media isn’t perfect, but it can help teens stay in touch with other people their age.

In conclusion, I am certain that the social media age should be changed from 13 years old. 8 year olds should not be on social media until they are mature enough, and 18 year olds wouldn even be able to know how to manage iit properly. Maybe the age could be adjusted, but in this modern world right now, I believe that 13 years old is perfect.†