The age at which should children be given access to social media sites in India has remained a topic of debate for quite some time now. On the occasion of ‘Safer Internet Day on Tuesday, citizens engagement platform LocalCircles released the results of a survey that gauges the pulse of citizens on this subject.
The first question was if the government and schools in India should define an age under which children cannot have social media accounts. Seventy-nine per cent respondents agreed with this, 17 per cent did not agree and four per cent were unsure. Citizens are keen that the government defines an age and then enforces this via the Education Boards, Schools and District Administrations.
“In many countries, the minimum age of a person required to join a social media site like Facebook, Snapchat etc. is 13 years.
However, it is commonly known that many children tend to declare false age and create profiles,” LocalCircles said in a statement.
The second question asked was what the minimum age for children in India should be to have social media. Sixteen per cent said it should be 13 years and 36 per cent said it should be 15 years. Another 36 per cent said the age limit should be 18 years while 12 per cent schools or government should not regulate the social media access of children.
Asked if children in India should be allowed social media accounts between the ages of 11-13 with parental consent, 61 per cent responded in a negative while 34 per cent said it should be allowed. Five per cent were not sure about their choice. Citizens also said that government should use education boards and schools as a medium to disseminate guidelines on parents making sure that children under the defined age do not have any social media accounts.
