Age and Social Media

What age do you think is appropriate to start social media for kids? What are the advantages and/or risks to that age? Why do you feel this way?

    Although it depends on the kid, I think he earliest to start social media for them would be 8th grade or 13-14, following the legal requirements of CAPPA. The advantages of allowing them to start social media at that age are being able to connect to other people and becoming a part of a community, finding new interests or gaining new knowledge, and as a tool.

    During middle school is when people are transitioning from elementary to high school and I believe this includes access to a phone and or social media. In my experience, it's typically viewed as odd or inconvenient when someone in high school doesn't have social media. This is because, in high school, social media is often used as a tool to for communication. This is for both connecting with friends and peers in groups and also to befriend new people in real life too as many people are more comfortable giving others their social media instead of their phone number. It is also used by groups like clubs, ASB, and outside organizations to communicate and announce extracurricular or after school activities such as events, meetings, and opportunities. At my school, every club, Class Office, and ASB use instagram to post updates, info, and events so that everyone knows what's going on. Although they also occasionally utilize email, it is almost always going to be through social media. Some clubs use facebook and messenger as a more professional (at least compared to instagram) way of communicating with their members on the behind the scenes information. This is typically done by performance clubs that use facebook and messenger to announce practice schedules and things pertaining to that while they use instagram for the general masses. Messenger is also typically used by club cabinets as well for the same reasons. Social media is also where a lot of important opportunities that would be much harder to find on your own are shared and can be found quite easily. Without social media, students would be at a major disadvantage in high school and that's why I believe they should gain access in 8th grade. It is much more socially acceptable to not have social media in middle school and it isn't vital, especially to 7th and 6th graders. By giving access to 8th graders, it gives them a year to acclimate to using social media and getting comfortable with it. It also allows them the opportunities that are available online, such as the 8th grader who asked for support of her protest online. If there were younger people who wanted to do such things, I definitely think that they should go through their parents in that situation.