social network for kidsNot too long ago, Brandy from NotSoAverageMama.com introduced me to a wonderful, free, social networking site for kids called YourSphere.

One of the main reasons that I was extremely interested in YourSphere, was because Kylie was begging for a Facebook account, and I refused.  YourSphere is completely free, and a great place for her to be online and safe at the same time.

Now that she is on YourSphere, she has met other friends with similar interests, and she hasn’t asked for a Facebook account again.

A big factor, when deciding on YourSphere as a social network for my preteen is the fact that it is a non-bully, controlled, social environment for kids, and at any time, you (the parent) can check out what your kids are doing.  A big selling point for me……  for her to sign up for this children’s social network, I had to give my information, right down to the last four digits of my SSN, to make sure we were a real family with a real interest in our child’s online endeavors.  It’s pretty cool, because it’s only for kids up to 18 years old.

Parent Dashboard:

Here you can activate your child’s account and manage your family memberships. This includes viewing the community postings your child has contributed if they are under the age of 13, according to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

Parents have complete control of their children’s accounts.  They sign up themselves, but you have to activate their membership!  I cool feature is that you can suspend their account at anytime (like, if they spend more time on YourSphere than homework!)  You can even read the personal messages they send to other members!

Since signing up with YourSphere, Kylie has created a new Sphere (group, basically) called Christians 101, and she’s having an absolute blast.

Thank you, YourSphere for providing a safe social networking environment for kids, preteens, and teens.