My 10-year-old wants her own Facebook account. “I want to be in touch with a lot of my friends I don’t see in the summer and far-away family,” NiNi tells me.

She points out that it would be some small compensation for the cruel hardship of not having a cellphone. Facebook, apparently, feels her pain, recently announcing that the social network may lower age restrictions that — at least in theory — block users younger than 13.

The official reason is the obvious: Lots of kids are on Facebook already, and the company wants to monitor their activity more carefully.

Many parents are helping their kids set up their own Facebook accounts.

The proposal has sparked a firestorm among critics who already worry about Facebook’s effect on teenagers, let alone preteens.  

“What’s next, Facebook for toddlers?” Jim Steyer, chief executive of the child advocacy group Common Sense Media, asked on his website.

“With the growing concerns and pressure around Facebook’s business model, the company appears to be doing whatever it takes to identify new revenue streams and short-term corporate profits to impress spooked shareholders. But here’s the most important issue: There is absolutely no proof of any meaningful social or educational value of Facebook for children younger than 13. Indeed, there are very legitimate concerns about privacy as well as the impact on the social, emotional and cognitive development of children. What Facebook is proposing is similar to the strategies used by Big Tobacco in appealing to young people — try to hook kids early, build your brand and you have a customer for life.”

The advocacy group has launched a petition drive to stop Facebook from targeting kids under 13: www.change.org/petitions/facebook-stop-plans-to-allow-kids-under-13-on-facebook.

My daughter and Dayton Daily News readers have given me plenty to ponder about an interesting issue that’s more nuanced than I first thought. Everybody is understandably worried about predators, cyberbullying and self-esteem at a time when kids are constantly comparing themselves with others: How many friends do I have? Who’s more popular than I am?

Dayton Daily News readers appear evenly divided between those who feel the decision should be left to the parents and those who think it’s a bad idea, pure and simple.

Observed Kendra Peters of Kettering, “They could lower it to 10 and it wouldn’t matter. My son’s Facebook is called school and neighborhood kids. We don’t think he needs to be on it.”

Concurred Brooke Brownlee of Dayton, “Young people need to get a few good years of real communications skills before they enter the alternate reality of social networking.”

Devon Watson-Sharp said that her 10-year-old begs her to let him on Facebook like most of his friends: “My concern is when they want to add older family members and friends they could be exposed to questionable language, remarks and patterns of behavior not suitable for them.

Also how do you regulate what they see from their friends’ pages, not to mention the porn spam that Facebook gets attacked with? I don’t care how great a parent you are, you don’t know what they’re doing every second of the day.”

Many felt a sense of futility. “I’m not sure it matters,” observed Vicky Williams of St. Mary’s. “How many have already lied about how old they are, and no one knows the difference?”

Renee Lewallen of West Carrollton said that pornography on the Internet is the problem, not Facebook. “My son loves to use Facebook to keep in touch with family eight hours away,” she said.

Joshua Knight of Dayton believes that Facebook can be a positive for younger kids: “I think as long as the child is monitored by the parents, then there is nothing wrong with it. It is a privilege the child can earn. Facebook has privacy and security settings to make their experience safe as possible and Facebook advertises based on the age of your profile, so in theory no harm would come to them using it and it is a little safer than some of the other lower class social media sites that have vulgar or profane advertisements. It is the way children connect with each other nowadays.”

Nicolette Winner said that Facebook and other social media sites aren’t inherently bad: “It’s all a matter of how these tools are used, and I appreciate any opportunity that would help me to teach my children how to use them responsibly.”

These arguments, interestingly, mirrored my daughter’s. “When kids don’t have a cellphone” — ah, there’s that grievance again — “and their moms and dads are in the Army, it’s a good way to communicate with them,” NiNi said.

“If they lowered the age restrictions, they would need to set up more protections.”

Sounds like she’s ready for her law degree.

But I’m still not sure about the Facebook account.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2209 or mmccarty@DaytonDaily News.com.