How young is too young for social media?

Jacob Biasetti
PrideTime Reporter 

Social Media has become a huge part of the lives of people all around the world. The ages of people who use social media range from elementary school kids up to retired grandparents. Although it is cool that such a wide variety of people can relate to the same things, many issues are brought up. 
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A major problem with the age gap is that there are many things online and on social media that are not appropriate for kids of such a young age. There are many different ways that young children can be exposed to subjects that they are not ready to know about yet. Even something as simple as a meme could have numerous topics that parents wouldn’t want their 6, 7, or 8 years old to look at. 

There are age restrictions on most social media apps, however, kids can easily lie about their birthdays and ages. “While the story of Rebecca Ann Sedwick, the 12-year-old who jumped to her death after enduring a year of cyber-bullying from two girls, ages 12 and 14, has been covered widely by the press, what’s been largely overlooked is that the victim and one of the two perpetrators were under the minimum age required to use the social media sites,” exclaimed Diana Graber, author of Raising Humans in a Digital World: Helping Kids Build a Healthy Relationship with Technology. This story is a prime example of underage kids easily being able to use certain apps and the negative effects that can happen.