The Appropriate Age For Children and Young Adults to Use Social Media

The question “When is the appropriate age for children and young adults to use social media?” can not be directly answered. While many believe that ages 14 and 15 are the right age when children can be introduced to social media as they are more mentally developed at that age, others argue that age alone can not be a sufficient determinant of mental maturity. Individual mental development plays a key role as a 12-year-old may be more mentally and emotionally mature than an 18-year-old child. How, then, can parents determine the right time to Permit social media usage for their children?

While there may never be a right age for children and young adults to use social media, by stringing together certain factors, parents can determine when to allow each child to use social media. These factors should also include emotional maturity. After these factors have been met, parents should permit their children access to social media only if they are in middle school. A Clinical psychologist from Child Mind Institute argues that: “introducing social media in middle school allows parents to supervise their initial exposure as a condition for the privilege of using the app. If you wait until high school to give permission, they’re not likely to let you monitor their social life” (Anderson, Child Mind n.p.). So what happens next when you permit your child to use social media?

Parental guidance should be the next step after the child has received permission to use social media. As Anderson suggested: “Initial access should come with a lot of talks beforehand and a parent saying, ‘Here’s what I consider to be acceptable and unacceptable behavior” (Anderson, Child Mind n.p.). While this may seem like a foolproof strategy to prevent the abuse of social media by the child, how much control is needed to keep the child or young adult in check?

Too much parental control could hurt children and young adults and they may do exactly what the parent is trying to prevent them from doing. If the determining factors for the use of social media are in place and parental control established, the child should be left to figure things out on their own and parents should also learn to trust their children's judgment because, in the end, they can not 100% protect their children from the adverse effects of social media. What will be, will be. 

Works Cited

Caroline, Miller. “When Are Kids Ready For Social Media”. www.childmind.org/article/when-are-kids-ready-for-social-media/