Why can't kids under 13 ask questions?

There are many reasons for deleting Underage users from Y!A.

The first reason, is a LEGAL matter.

There are laws about marketing and advertising to minors on the internet.

COPPA - Children's Online Privacy Protection Act

http://www.coppa.org/coppa.htm

read ^those details and you may understand why Yahoo! MUST (by law) delete underage users

But more importantly (in my opinion) are a zillion safety reasons.

Kids don't realize that all the little tidbits of information that they post here (in questions and in answers) CAN be used by predators and endanger them in REAL LIFE.

The "friends" that kids (and even naive teens & adults) *think* that they are communicating with online... could actually be your worst enemy, a neighborhood predator, a kidnapper, or worse.

I've seen innocent_looking Polls, that ask questions that are actually common security questions for password reset/recovery systems. So hackers can use these answers to compromise you and your computer.

Adults can pretend to be anything (or anyone) that they think you'll fall for.

(ie: "Hey Im 13 too! email me!") in order to interact in private.

^can be used as a ploy to gain private communications with an underage child. And Yahoo! does NOT want kids to be in private communications with people that could be unsafe.

Posting questions about insecurities and vulnerabilities can also arm a predator with information to be used against kids

Posting about wants, needs, likes, and dislikes, .. can also help predators.

ie: "what can i do to make my Mom get me a Hamster?"..... next thing you know a stranger in a van pulls up to you on your way home from soccer practice and offers you a free hamster.

and kids give out WAY too much information online!

Ive seen kids give out their entire daily "schedules"

Including when & where they go places.

What people don't realize is EVERYTHING THAT YOU POST ONLINE, is searcheable. Even after it is deleted! It can still be found if someone truly wants to find it.

There are other sites that kids can go to. There are also family accounts that can be monitored by your parent or guardian.

There are over 90 million users in Yahoo!Answers. What are your chances that some of them could not be who they appear to be?

I recommend that ALL users read up about internet safety BEFORE ever posting a word online.

http://safely.yahoo.com/

http://kids.yahoo.com/parents/online-safety

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EDIT for additional details

Y!A is not the only site that restricts user ages. Facebook has launched a crackdown on under 13 users too.

See: http://critograph.lynchburg.edu/x28804.html

In fact they have a "Governance page" for friends, teachers, parents/relatives and neighbors to report underage. Facebook is deleting about 20,000 accounts per month.

Formspring also has the same restriction.

See: http://about.formspring.me/terms

"The Site, Services and Formspring Content are intended solely for persons who are 13 or older. Any access to or use of the Site, Services and Formspring Content by anyone under 13 is expressly prohibited."

And Twitter says:

"Twitter is not for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you become aware that your child under the age of 13 has provided us with personal information without your consent, please contact us at privacy@twitter.com, and we will take steps to remove this information and terminate the account. You can learn more by visiting Twitter’s Privacy Policy."

see:

http://support.twitter.com/groups/33-report-a-viol...

Ask lestermount

i dont like that either

Because of legal and safety reasons, the Community Guidelines dictates that anyone who wants to participate on Answers must be at least 13 years old. Anyone younger than that will risk getting reported and subsequently get their accounts suspended. It's been done for their own good because pedophiles are lurking among the members of this community and would otherwise take advantage of them.

Edit: It's also found in the Terms of Service, Part 3, under the Heading "Your Registration Obligations."

It's not as if kids under 13 aren't allowed to post questions, they just aren't allowed to post them on YA! But Yahoo has a special site for kids: http://kids.yahoo.com/ . Maybe not too many kids know about it (neither do adults...)???

It's because that is the rule, throughout life there are rules which we must abide by it's that simple no one owes anyone an explanation here, it's the Yahoo way or the highway.

It's kind of strict to disallow them from asking questions but I guess it's for privacy issues. Let's say Erica is 11 and is immature for her age, mom and dad aren't there 24-7 to supervise her but they want her to have access for homework help. Erica feels like she doesn't get attention from guys and uploads pics and asks guys to add her on Facebook. Doesn't sound common but it's more typical than you would think. And a 40 year old man takes a fancy for her and meets her. Yes, it sounds paranoid and over protective, and most girls her age have enough wits to stay safe but Yahoo answers doesn't want to be responsible for that. And by all means, there are websites out there that are easier to target vulnerable young people but still, if Yahoo follows privacy policies, they're name won't be in the equation. And they will have their own peace of mind. Or let's say Christopher is a little twelve year old bully without discretion and writes inappropriate questions and responses that may offend others. We assume by age thirteen you are mature and civilized enough to know right from wrong. Now not to say that there are no mature children under 13. There's plenty! But that's like being a grandmother and saying to her six year old twins, Lisa, you're calm enough to handle eating cookies without getting hyper but Ben, you can't have any because sugar makes you crazy! It's all rules and regulations.

because it is a violation of the Terms of Service; they are reported for their own protection, they are not allowed to be here, and yet already at 13, they think they are above rules. Sad. and lemme guess Kayla, you''re about 11, right? anyone under 13 who got to the point to be able to ask a question is a liar, having lied to make an account. Period.

Does that really happen? I didn't know. That's unfair. I'm 13 and I've only just signed up, they probably don't let under 13s ask questions because they might be like 5 years old or something. What if a 5 year old was asking about something inappropriate.

Because you're supposed to ask your mommy for permission first.