Question: At what age should children be allowed to use social media?

 

Answer: Thanks for asking this question – it’s on a lot of parents’ minds these days! Social media can introduce benefits like social connection, learning and entertainment but also be stressful, consume a lot of time, or introduce content that might not be appropriate for your child. So, it’s important to carefully consider when a child might be ready to start using social media.

The short answer:

Based on what we know from research into the risks and benefits of early social media use and platform policies, we suggest waiting until children are at least age 13 before starting social media accounts like Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok. And, even after that age, it really depends on a child’s own individual, unique traits and characteristics. Every child is different! One 13-year-old may be ready for a social media account, but another 16-year-old may not be (See below for questions to consider to help determine if your child is ready for a specific platform).

The long answer:

Although the minimum age for creating a social media account is 13, 38% of tweens (aged 8 to 12) report using social media. About 18% of tweens and 62% of teens report using platforms like Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Discord, and Reddit every day. Additionally, 64% of tweens and 77% of teens said they watch online videos every day.

How are so many underage users able to make accounts? When signing up for an account, it is easy to make up an older age by entering a fake birthday. Some social media platforms are starting to use age verification to figure out who is too young, who is a teen, and who is an adult – to help make the experience more age-appropriate for teens – but this doesn’t happen on all platforms.

In fact, in our recent research interviewing parents, Harnessing Parent Wisdom: Community-Informed Solutions for Social Media and Youth Mental Health, many parents highlighted how easily children under 13 gain access to platforms, which frustrated them because many believed that it introduced kids to things they weren’t ready for. Parents described wanting social media platforms to do a better job at identifying who’s too young for their service.

Why is 13 the minimum age for social media accounts? Does this mean 13-year-olds are ready?

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) was passed by Congress in 1998. It states that online services can’t collect or share data from children under the age of 13 without parental permission. This age limit was based on existing federal communications policies that used the age 13, as well as industry lobby resistance to covering all teens up to 18 with data privacy protections. Although age 13 marks the transition between childhood and the “teen” years, this age selection for federal communications policies does not seem to be based on any specific sign of developmental readiness. 

What are the potential risks and benefits of using social media at an early age?

Studies looking at when children began using social media have generally found increased risks for negative outcomes in children who were younger than age 13 (Note: these studies looked at “traditional” social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram but did not include online video streaming platforms like YouTube or messaging apps).

  • A recent survey found that kids who started social media at age 10 or younger were more likely to be victims of online harassment and more likely to have online friends or social media accounts that parents would disapprove of. These youth were also more likely to display unsympathetic online behaviors such as sharing discriminatory or fake content, making passive-aggressive comments, or engaging in cyberbullying.
  • For tweens already struggling with body image, early social media use made it worse.
  • There were major impacts on sleep - later bedtimes and fewer hours of sleep on school nights for kids who started social media earlier.

While there is less evidence around benefits of beginning to use social media before age 13, studies did find that those who began using social media earlier tended to be more involved in supportive or civically-active communities online compared to those who started later. 

What about teenagers?

Given that the research shows more downsides than upsides to social media for kids under 13 and platform policies around age, we suggest waiting until at least age 13 before starting a social media account. After that point, it’s important to consider your child’s own individual, unique traits and characteristics before they start an account. Every child is different! One 13-year-old may be ready for a social media account, but another 16-year-old may not be.

Parents we’ve talked to have felt their child was ready for social media when they showed increased maturity and responsibility, critical thinking skills (so they could identify false information and scams), and weren’t constantly comparing themselves to others. 

Riskier times for teens

Research suggests that throughout the teen and young adult years, there are different time periods when social media might be more harmful for teens. A study following over 17,000 UK teens from ages 10 through 21 found that girls have stronger links between time spent on social media and lower life satisfaction between ages 11-13, while for boys, the links are strongest in ages 14-15. Our takeaway from this study is that there is no perfect age for starting social media within the teen years, but during stressful times in life, social media might amplify that stress. As many of us know, even adults have problematic relationships with social media!

Strong parental relationships matter

Evidence shows that 60% of teens who frequently used social media and reported having poor parental relationships had poor mental health. Therefore, it’s vital to talk with your children about starting social media accounts! Strengthening your relationship with your teen can reduce the risk of mental health issues, even among youth who are frequently on screens.

Before your child starts their own social media journey, it’s a good time to take stock of your own.

More than 80% of adults use social media, so many parents reading this may use one or more social media platforms themselves. As your child starts to express interest in using social media, it’s an ideal time to evaluate your own use and what you enjoy about social media and find challenging or disruptive about it. Do you find yourself passively scrolling Instagram out of habit in a way that distracts you from connection and conversation? Are you sharing content you see on social media that engages, educates or entertains you with your child to create connections? Even just owning out loud an area of your own social media use you’re trying to work on—“I have a hard time shutting off my phone when…” can help open conversations about healthy relationships with social media. If not, then now is a great time to start! By making social media a shared experience you can set the stage for how your family will communicate, share, and establish guidelines for social media use at home. 

Based on our 5 Cs of Media Use framework, here are some questions you can ask yourself and talk with your child about to determine their readiness for social media:

Child:

  • What are your child’s strengths and challenges that might make having a social media account more difficult? (i.e. Do they get easily distracted from things like homework? Do they sometimes make impulsive decisions? Are they very critical of their appearance?)
  • What are your child’s unique strengths, and how can they find creative inspiration or positive connections that relate to these interests on social media?
  • How would you know your child is being a responsible social media user? What types of check-ins will you have? For some families, creating an agreement in which the parent can check the phone is part of their family guidelines, for others, checking in through regular conversation around social media will be the expectation.

Content: 

  • What platform do they want to use, what kind of content do they want to see, and what design features does the platform have around content or privacy?
    • Messaging platforms are great for social connection but can be hard to put down and can be a place where drama/bullying happens
    • Platforms with algorithmic feeds can recommend inappropriate or distressing content
    • Platforms with good privacy controls are safer for teens than those that allow chatting with anyone or livestreaming.
  • Has your child thought through how they would want to use the platform? And any potential downsides?
  • Can they identify when influencers are being fake, when information is unreliable, or other inappropriate content?

Calm:

  • Do they know how to change their feed to keep it more positive, and block/unfollow accounts that stress them out? Can they turn off the number of “likes” so that they don’t compare themselves to others?

Crowding out:

  • Social media can become a main way to connect to friends. What are other non-media ways they can connect with friends? Can they take part in after-school clubs, sports teams, theater groups, or meet up in other ways?

Communication:

  • Set up check-ins with your child as they start to use social media. These check-ins could take place after the first week, first month, and 3 months of social media use. 

Recommended Readings:

Resources for Taking Control of Social Media Settings:  

  • Glossary of Digital Media Platforms  
    • AAP’s Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health has our own glossary, which provides detailed information about the platforms teens use the most. It covers topics like safety settings and ways to support healthy boundaries around media and includes a dictionary offering clear definitions of popular terms and phrases used on social media platforms. 
  • Common Sense’s Tips for the Online World  
    • Under “Parent Tips and FAQs,” parents can gain access to many guides tailored to each specific social media platform including information on how the platforms operate, safety, privacy settings, and parental controls.  
  • Parents can also visit individual social media companies’ websites for parental control guidelines and more information specific to each app.   

Recommended Next Steps for Families:  

  1. Review the resources provided above. 
  2. Talk early and often about social media use. Consider using these conversation starters for talking with teens.  
  3. Create a Family Media Plan to facilitate discussion around safe and practical media use that works for your family’s specific needs. 

References

 

 

Age: 10 - 15

Topics: Age for social media, introduction of child to social media, age restrictions for social media

Role: Clinician

Last Updated

03/07/2025

Source

American Academy of Pediatrics