Is blogging age restriction required?

With the passage of time Internet is normally becoming too accessible to pre-teens.  Social net working sites such as Face book, My Space, Hi5 and blog spots are now obstructed by under-aged, over- devoted kids. However my focus is specifically on blogging. It is growing more popular amongst children, especially above the age of ten.

It is now being observed that, children are now found blogging about a diversity of areas ranging from politics to toys. The question here that comes into my mind is blogging even meant for children? This has perhaps started a hot debate raising some ethical issues as well as questioning whether such great exposure of social net working sites appropriate for children. However I believe these websites also affect children academically. The Internet should be reserved for their knowledge during these critical years, where there brain is till developing. I remember the time when I was a teenager, my access to the Internet was very limited. I would rather be spending time in playing games or doing art. Also I think one reason of using these social net working sites is because these days Internet has become a necessity for everyone. The educational institutes are heavily dependent upon Internet access as well. They enlighten children to make use of it. Social networking sites have become a part of daily routine of youngsters all around the world. Research has found that some of You Tube stars, who earn over $60000 from their shares of the advertising revenue, are under-aged. Sadly, this is attracting more popularity within younger age categories. Also latest studies have found out that 2% of 8-11 year old and 15% of 12-15 year old are blogging. Of those who haven’t set up their blogs yet, 1 in 4 is interested in starting up one. Sonny To and Maelo Manning are some of the many children blogger that have followers by the hundreds. Although Sonny is only 9 and Maelo is 11, they have been blogging for years.

I believe there is no point in putting an age restriction on websites. There are arguments that consent that these sites help people to find their niche and thus increase social interactions. Nonetheless I truly deem that technology will continue to be a larger and a much larger part of our everyday lives, but with a computerized world there comes along many unadventurous risks. As adults it is our responsibility to protect our children as we set up their future for them. The thing here that is to ponder is that do we want to secure our children for the future or the future for our children. This ought to be a concern for every parent these days. This perhaps would lead to another debate on Internet safety for the children, which I believe should also be given a lot preference too.