How Old Is Too Young To Go Online?

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A new survey finds that people let their kids go online unsupervised at a surprisingly young age. How old do you think a child should be before hitting the internet unsupervised?

The poll asked, at what age would consumers allow children unsupervised access to technologies such as mobile devices, social sites and online services. In addition, respondents were asked at what age they would talk to children about online risks. The answer: eight years old is the average age at which parents allow independent Internet and device use, according to the survey from Microsoft.
 
I'd probably be a terrible parent, but I think 14 is old enough.

I'd agree with this. By the time a kid is entering high school, they are old enough to use the internet without restriction. By that point, they are reaching an age where they are going to find a way to do whatever the fuck they want anyway.
 
I would say the internet in this respect is no different than the real world ... if you wouldn't leave your child unsupervised outside the house then you shouldn't allow them on the internet alone either (since the most dangerous parts of the internet are equivalent to the most dangerous parts of the real world) ;)
 
As with just about any other parenting choice, it depends on the kid. There is no such thing as one-size-fits-all parenting. But I think by the time you're a teenager its time for you to start learning to fend for yourself and be an adult. Cuz mommy and daddy aren't going to be there to keep your clothes on or keep you from killing that fifth of Burnetts at college.
 
I dunno, I'm pushing 50 and I still see stuff that fucks me up
 
Alternate thread title: New Survey Shows Most Parents are Clueless as Hell
 
I'd agree with this. By the time a kid is entering high school, they are old enough to use the internet without restriction. By that point, they are reaching an age where they are going to find a way to do whatever the fuck they want anyway.

You'd be a cool dad. My dad put an old school patio light timer on my modem when I graduated high school. He was being passive aggressive about me enjoying my first summer without school or a job. :D
 
i can say from first hand experience that a child is a child even online. if they dont know the meaning or the presence of something then they dont go looking for it. it still falls back on instilled values.

this is how it gets messy. {true story} everything was fine with my eight year old son. i kept a close eye on what he was looking at and we also played lan games and listened to lots of music. however, we had company that included a troubled ten year old that is a child of a friend. we didnt know the extent. within a few minutes of me being out of the room where the computer was this older kid convinced my son or entered the search himself, we still dont know. when i looked at the screen and looked back at my son he knew how bad it was. i felt so sorry for him. his experience was ruined by this little pos.

things are back to normal now and there hasnt been another situation like that. that kid is no longer allowed to be alone with my son.

there are just to many good things about the internet to let one thing change our arrangement. my son is now almost ten and shows no signs of that kind of interest about the internet. he doesnt even like being on that long unless we are playing a one on one game.
 
My son has been online unsupervised since age 10. Up till that time I made sure he was going to appropriate places, and the worst places he hit were youtube, and a couple pirate sites.
 
I was 8 when I got my first computer (DSL connected no less) and I'd say I came out right. No parental controls.

Depends on the parents and depends on the kids. Setting an age wouldn't help, and only would lead to atrocious legislation attempting to regulate children and the internet. I've learned from my mistakes of posting stupid stuff online.
 
I will most definately be using a linux distro thats preconfigured for kids. Todays culture will encroach its way into my girls lives too early anyway, so I will do all I can to limit their ability to surf. Call me conservative but I have seen som shiz back in the day. Ill open my vein the day I were to find consumptionjunction, , 2girls, fat-pie, or any of that other crap I willingly sought out in my youth which only warped my sense of humor. The difference between the internet and the real world is annonymity (or perceived)... and that aspect makes people do some wicked searching.
 
parental controls LOL!. people that say that either dont have kids or are eventually going to learn a lesson the hard way.

you will find that when a childs interests are blocked it makes them want to get around the barriers even more. if they cant get to whatever they want at home with no explanation then they will look for access elsewhere and then the parent is out of the loop. parental controls put the childs interests in the closet. if a parent has to install parental controls and keyloggers on their childs computer then trust me, that child should not be around a computer.
 
With a world wide web full of terrorists, white supremacists, communists, drug-buying bitcoins, snuff and child porn?

Sometime between 2 and 3 years old. Internet is a human right. If you deprive your children of it I hope social services sends you to the gas chamber!
 
parental controls LOL!. people that say that either dont have kids or are eventually going to learn a lesson the hard way.

you will find that when a childs interests are blocked it makes them want to get around the barriers even more. if they cant get to whatever they want at home with no explanation then they will look for access elsewhere and then the parent is out of the loop. parental controls put the childs interests in the closet. if a parent has to install parental controls and keyloggers on their childs computer then trust me, that child should not be around a computer.

First off if my kid finds a way around my crazy parental control locks and security traps then he deserves to watch that porn and I would be proud to have a hacker as a son. Just saying.
 
First off if my kid finds a way around my crazy parental control locks and security traps then he deserves to watch that porn and I would be proud to have a hacker as a son. Just saying.

This. Half the rules and restrictions we face in life are just tests.
 
so am I too much of a fuddy duddy that thinks your kids should be monitored until adulthood? at least when it comes to the internet. Last thing I want is my daughter posting up a shit ton of selfies of herself in the bathroom mirror in various states of undress. While I wouldn't throw her into a convent sometimes talking to your children about the horrors of what most likely will happen might actually change their way of think and do things.
 
so am I too much of a fuddy duddy that thinks your kids should be monitored until adulthood? at least when it comes to the internet. Last thing I want is my daughter posting up a shit ton of selfies of herself in the bathroom mirror in various states of undress. While I wouldn't throw her into a convent sometimes talking to your children about the horrors of what most likely will happen might actually change their way of think and do things.

Hey man, stop the "slut-shaming".

Seriously, this is something that feminists now expend their energies on.
 
If I had kids, I wouldn't let them online for general surfing until they hit 10. They could play certain games, but nothing in a regular browser. From 10 to 15, only with guidance and me nearby to watch and make sure they don't go somewhere they shouldn't. From 15 to 18, I'd allow them to have a computer in their room, but I'd have security control to restrict sites down to only those I deem necessary.

After 18, they're adults. I've taught all I can. They should know well enough by then to avoid getting into trouble. I'd add their computer to the unrestricted systems until they move out.

Hey, I'm a network security nut and a conservative. I know the nastiness out there. I would help my kid steer clear of it. Besides, if they go and get infected with malware, I'd be the one to have to clean it up.

Unfortunately, I don't even have a girlfriend, let alone married or have kids. It's not likely to happen now.
 
Call me crazy, but NO unsupervised access till 18. My house my rules. I get to decide how I want to protect my kids.
 
parental controls LOL!. people that say that either dont have kids or are eventually going to learn a lesson the hard way.

you will find that when a childs interests are blocked it makes them want to get around the barriers even more. if they cant get to whatever they want at home with no explanation then they will look for access elsewhere and then the parent is out of the loop. parental controls put the childs interests in the closet. if a parent has to install parental controls and keyloggers on their childs computer then trust me, that child should not be around a computer.
That argument makes no sense, as the alternative is either full unrestricted access or no access whatsoever.

Full unrestricted access means even the slightest curiosity can be satiated, and no access is even more of a reason to go elsewhere.

Parental controls on TV and internet work just fine, it doesn't have to be all or nothing. And the explanation is pretty easy, "I'm your parent, and I'm restricting you to age appropriate material. Betray my trust by actively trying to bypass these restrictions and suffer the consequences. I have 12 years of IT experience on you, and I'm bigger than you, chump."

If your kid then defies you by successfully outsmarting you, all the better, you now have a kid with excellent computer skills at an early age, a must-have skillset in today's world. :D
 
That argument makes no sense, as the alternative is either full unrestricted access or no access whatsoever.

Full unrestricted access means even the slightest curiosity can be satiated, and no access is even more of a reason to go elsewhere.

Parental controls on TV and internet work just fine, it doesn't have to be all or nothing. And the explanation is pretty easy, "I'm your parent, and I'm restricting you to age appropriate material. Betray my trust by actively trying to bypass these restrictions and suffer the consequences. I have 12 years of IT experience on you, and I'm bigger than you, chump."

If your kid then defies you by successfully outsmarting you, all the better, you now have a kid with excellent computer skills at an early age, a must-have skillset in today's world. :D

I went into device manager and DISABLED my 15 year old nieces webcam on her new laptop in order to protect her. SHE WAS PISSED when I told her. She got her best friend to fix it.
 
Call me crazy, but NO unsupervised access till 18. My house my rules. I get to decide how I want to protect my kids.
Just a difference of opinion here, but too much sheltering is actually what makes many kids vulnerable. The turtle shell comes off when they leave the house, and if they are too far out of the information loop that's a great weakness in itself.

I never went through binge drinking issues in college, as I had been drinking smaller amounts supervised at age 14 and unsupervised in moderation at 16, so there was no great mystery or taboo about alcohol. And unlike here, your first mistake about drinking too much is already past driving age, whereas in Germany worst case scenario you fall off your bicycle. IMO baby steps to maturity is a lot easier to handle than perfect shelter to the shock of the unfiltered real world.
 
I went into device manager and DISABLED my 15 year old nieces webcam on her new laptop in order to protect her. SHE WAS PISSED when I told her. She got her best friend to fix it.

Oh I'm sure she was. How else is she going to flash people without even thinking that she is being recorded?

Us guys know what we want, especially at age, and you are very right to be concerned.
 
Well I can sure say without the access I had growing up, I wouldn't be who I am today... I'm a tinkerer, always have been, and I learned more than I would have otherwise and hey it pays the bills now that I'm older.
 
I'd say around high school age. Tell the kid there are good and bad things on the internet, and you are trusting them to not venture into the bad things, and if they do it by accident, then to just get out. Make sure they know they're not allowed, but at same time, show them you have trust, and don't force any control. Of course, that's probably easier said than done. Kids don't listen.

I grew up Christian so porn and stuff was never my thing and I never even thought of checking it and even now it just does not interest me, and my parents knew it and did not question what I did. I was left unsupervised right off the bat when we got our first computer in year 2000. I would have been maybe like 13 then. (crazy how time flies, it feels like year 2000 was not that long ago) My mom was scared I was turning into a hacker and writing viruses at one point though, because I was coding something in C++ and it looked like "hacking". :D
 
From my experience as a child, sheltering and restricting your kids only makes them worse off. If you instill the values you believe in them at a young age, you have to trust them to make the right decisions or learn from the wrong ones.

It was around 8 when I got unrestricted access to the internet. I would search some crazy shit with my friends, we would have a blast. I'm now 22 years old and I'm a pretty well balanced respectable human being.

The kids that are screwed in the head, having issues and always making the wrong decisions are the kids that are forced to live a sheltered protected life from their parents, or they have parents that are just so messed up themselves they don't know how to be a good example for their kids regardless.
 
The vast and numerous images of Pr0n out on the web could convey the wrong image to a child. Sure when we were a kid we might have snuck a girly mag now and then. But it's not lot the full high def movies you find today of a girl getting whaled on with facials in a gang bang. Do you really want your kids to think this is normal? And do you think they will come to you asking about sex when they are exposed to it on the net?

Don't be stupid. Protect your kids.
 
I dunno, I'm pushing 50 and I still see stuff that fucks me up

after reading this I searched for the like button LOL.
which reminds me my parents didn't allow me to go on there til I was 10 or 11 but I was just doing things like checking my favorite sports team and watched video highlights. but it was supervised.
 
Be a responsible parent and you shouldn't have to worry about the age your child is on the internet. However, being a responsible parent also means you set restrictions and limitations on to where your child goes, what he/she does on the internet, and who they talk to and meet. And, being responsible means knowing when your child is old enough to access the internet and whether he/she should gain access to social media sites.

Case in point: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...llied-florida-girl-who-committed-suicide?lite

It also included cyber-bullying. If you feel that your child may be subjected to it, do not subject them to it in the first place. Wait until they are old enough to handle it emotionally, if possible. If they can't restrict access to it altogether.
 
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