The quote has drawn a fair bit of criticism online, including some from us. Much of the criticism is based on the fact that Facebook stands to profit a great deal by collecting the personal details of kids under 13. But what do the experts think? Can Facebook be a useful tool for educating kids online or not?
Experts Aren’t So Sure
However, Dr. O’Keeffe also suggested that Facebook may not be in any position to provide that education in its current form. “The lessons of digital citizenship have to start young, but I don’t feel that Facebook is the venue to have those lessons occur. A lot of missteps happen on that site without a lot of coaching.”
The experts were also skeptical that COPPA was standing in the way of Facebook. COPPA doesn’t forbid kids from using any social networking sites but instead tries to provide protection from unscrupulous advertisers trying to use their personal data. Dr. O’ Keeffe says that function is important. targeted ads on Facebook, along with some of the more dangerous social interactions the site makes possible, can expose kids to a lot of questionable content if there aren’t some restrictions in place.
Denise Terry, chief “Safety Mom” at parental control site Safety Web agrees. “The whole point of COPPA is to protect kids and their privacy and kids have a right to protection. There are things that Facebook can do to comply with COPPA.” The simplest way that Facebook could become COPPA compliant would be simply adding some kind of parental approval form for young children.
While Mrs. Lenhart said that the Pew Research Center didn’t take a specific stand on policy issues like COPPA she also said that kid’s online lives need some formal protection as they learn how to communicate online. “There are certain things we need to learn how to do but we have a licensing process for, like cars. You have to be a certain age and a certain level of maturity before we go out and let you operate that machinery.”
Useful Alternatives for Kids
There are alternatives to Facebook for young children. Dr. O’Keeffe suggests the site Togetherville. Togetherville is a social network created specifically for children. Parents use their own Facebook accounts to help kids sign up for Togetherville and then parents and children can use the site together to introduce children to social networking in a safer environment.
There’s also the possibility that Facebook itself could create tools that would make it more kid-friendly. Denise Terry says she thinks the site could be a great way to teach kids how to use the Internet if Facebook added some robust parental controls along with the previously mentioned parental approval during sign-up.
At the moment though even for parents looking to educate their kids about the web it’s a hard line to find the best way to let children learn about using the Internet without compromising the children’s privacy.