Should a 10-year-old have Snapchat?
No, wait a little longer. The age limit is 13, and it's there for a reason.
Snapchat's own rule is that you have to be 13 to use it. That number wasn't plucked out of thin air. It comes partly from American children's privacy law and partly from what the app is actually built to do. Three things are worth knowing before you decide:
- Messages delete themselves. That makes it easier to send things you'd never say otherwise and much harder to untangle what happened if something goes wrong.
- Snap Map can share your child's location with friends. The default settings weren't designed with a 10-year-old in mind.
- Streaks reward showing up every single day and nudge the app from self-chosen use towards dependence.
Something you can do today
Ask your 10-year-old: “Why do you want Snapchat?” and just listen, without correcting a thing. What you learn will help you shape your own version of the words above, and explain why the answer today is still no.
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