( CNN ) -- Will elementary and middle school students soon be able to put up their own Facebook pages ? It looks like it . According to news accounts , Facebook is considering doing away with its rule that no one under age 13 may have a Facebook page . Cranky math instructors and tyrannical P.E . coaches must be at least a tad nervous at the thought of what the little darlings might post about them . But the change could be a good thing if it encourages a reasonable amount of parent involvement . The things the rest of us do on Facebook -- reveal what we had for lunch , post way too many photos of our kids and pets , comment on what Queen Elizabeth wore for her 60th anniversary jubilee -- are considered too dangerous for 10- , 11- , or 12-year-olds to do , even if their `` public '' consists only of people they 've invited to be their friends . One result is that millions of pre-teens -- 7.5 million , according to a Consumer Reports account last year -- have established profiles on Facebook , some using fictitious names . Five million of them are younger than 10 . What 's most disturbing is that in many cases , parents have helped their kids circumvent the rules . What , pray tell , does that teach their children ? The parameters of the policy under consideration at Facebook are undetermined but would work something like PG-13 movies . One idea is that the child 's page would be linked through the parent 's page -- a sidecar , if you will . Savvy parents would give their children as much privacy as possible even if wincing sometimes at what they saw . But they 'd also have the opportunity to step in if they noticed something that was hurtful , dangerous or inappropriate . Schools of thought : My kids wo n't be on Facebook anytime soon . Despite what some adults might think or read , teens , at least by their own account , are pretty responsible when it comes to social networking . According to the Pew Research Center 's Internet and American Life Project , more than 7 out of 10 teens say that other teens with whom they 're online are kind , not mean . Of course , they 've seen instances of cruelty . But let 's not forget they see that in school , too ; in fact , according to what they told Pew , most of the bullying they see or experience happens in person . Only 15 % say they 've been victims of online cruelty -- interestingly , the same proportion of adults who report being hurt by other adults . According to Pew , teens are receiving lots of counsel about Internet safety and responsible behavior . Amanda Lenhart , who directs Pew Internet 's research on teens , children and families , was struck by how many different advisers there were . Kids on Facebook ? Some people think otherwise . `` Teens average five sources from which they receive advice about online safety and responsibility , '' she said . Parents give the most , followed by teachers , the media , siblings or cousins , friends and older relatives . Pew also found evidence that many parents and other adults are monitoring teens ' online profiles . `` The village is active , '' Lenhart says . That 's on behalf of teenagers . Just think how much guidance the under-13 set would receive . Some people will find it hard to believe Pew 's findings . We do n't hear or read much about what adults are doing to ensure , as much as possible , the safety of children and young people who go online . What we do hear about , particularly from companies that want to sell certain kinds of software to protect users , is the cruelty and misbehavior that the Internet makes possible . Â . Certainly , one can buy commercial software that can , for example , track a child 's texts , block texting altogether and monitor a child 's location . But such software should be a last resort . A better first step is to share questionable online experiences with our preteens on sites like Facebook , in order that they learn how to handle such situations on their own . The opinions in this commentary are solely those of Laura Sessions Stepp .
Facebook is considering changing rule to allow preteens to have their own pages . Stepp : 5 million preteens are already on the Pew Research Center 's , 7.5 million last year . Children 's pages could be linked through their parents ' pages , she says , allowing supervision . Stepp : Letting your child have a Facebook page is a chance to teach safe online behavior .