In my opinion, Facebook isn't for kids Parents, when it comes to our kids, we need to unfriend Facebook. A report out says that Facebook is developing technology to allow children younger than 13 to become part of the online community. Don't get me wrong: I am an absolute Facebook addict. Most of my family is on there, much of my life's activities, amusements, questions and interactions have resided there for a while now. It is home to my digital personal life. Indeed, I shared a video of the very first time I saw my son minutes after his birth. That I was willing to share, but I'm not willing to share Facebook with my child. While my husband and I are currently deciding how to cut the social network umbilical cord and taper back what we post online for and about our child, we are both very clear he won't have a Facebook profile in his formative years -- assuming it's still around and we aren't all on to the next enveloping thing. Facebook has literally redefined friendship. In many plugged-in circles, "friend" is now a verb, not a person. It is something you do, not someone you are with. Birthdays, for instance, are no longer occasions; they're just events in your Facebook calendar -- a time to join the rest of the herd in posting a thoughtful note and moving on with your fast-moving digital life. Phone calls, cards and in-person greetings are passe. For most of us, the formative years are about learning to better navigate the quirks, pitfalls, pratfalls and triumphs of human interaction. And face to face, not face to screen, is the best way to experience that. I'd like for my child to experience the robust realness and the shallow falseness of interpersonal connections and gain the essential skill of being able to distinguish between the two. How can you do that if every relationship you have is merely a dotted-line outline of a relationship with nothing of consequence inside? Truly, in those awkward and just a little bit awful and awe-filled preteen years, it's hard enough to have to navigate friendship in the real world. Bullying in our schools, it seems, has reached epidemic proportions with far-too-dire effects. Why would parents want to invite 24-7 access to their child's precious psyche in the sanctuary of their homes on computers and mobile devices? There's a line from Shakespeare's "Hamlet" about friends that has stuck with me over the decades. Never mind that the words were spoken by a bit of a buffoon, the advice is sound. Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, / Grapple them unto thy soul with hoops of steel, / But do not dull thy palm with entertainment / Of each new-hatched, unfledged courage. How can you try their adoption really when the basis of the friendship is about sharing links and liking posts? And as much as Facebook says it aims to connect the world, there's often more of a disconnect than not. Facebook is fraught with conflict. In the adult realm, colleagues confront each other in the cafeteria about a seemingly innocuous post. People who managed friendships in the real world end up "unfriending" one another over political assaults. Ex-lovers pop up and want to reconnect. Adults haven't managed to use Facebook without fights, why would preteens and teens be any better at it? It's not to say I think kids should remain offline completely until age 18. I'll probably invite the ire of many a parent by saying this, but I don't think it's realistic in a modern era to shield young eyes completely from electronic screens. Yes, the recommendation is to shield small children from screens. The reality of this endeavor, at least in my household, is much more challenging than telling a toddler to look away. A child who sees Mommy and Daddy using technology for work and communication emulates that behavior. And having a complete blackout throughout a child's development would do more to hinder children in the long run than protect and prepare them for the world at large. That said, parents do need to parent -- that is, be vigilant, engaged and filter what their kids are exposed to. And Facebook isn't the right playground for tweens. They'd be better off just hanging out at the mall. Thank you, Facebook, for thinking of the young people, but no thank you, really. I want my son to know what real friends and sharing are really about before venturing into what truly is a slightly degraded online facsimile.