'Parents should consider banning Facebook for under-16s '

Published on Sunday 5 September 2010 16:49

SOCIAL networking sites such as Facebook are fuelling an epidemic of bullying and harassment among children, according to the headmaster of a Scottish private school.

Peter Hogan, headmaster of Loretto School, said the problems were so serious that parents and teachers should consider banning children under the age of 16 from using social networking sites.

He said almost all pupils aged 11 and over are using Facebook, often pretending to be older and with no restrictions on what they say or photos they post. Facebook insisted nobody under the age of 13 is allowed to sign up for an account, but admitted there was no way to police this.

Mr Hogan called for no photos to be put online except for headshots - because youngsters lack judgment to know what is appropriate, or fail to realise it can be permanently kept in cyberspace.

Teenagers should not be able to comment on each other's pages or chat via social networking, because of the pervasive bullying that can drive some to consider suicide, he said. And they should be limited to updating their status and viewing other pages, as a matter of child protection.

"A ban on Facebook for under-16s could be considered," he said. "There should be limited access to Facebook and social networking up to age 16.

"Pupils start using it at 11 years old. What does someone that age need with Facebook? What would we lose if a 14-year-old could not post pictures of themselves? Not a lot."