Because of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), kids under the age of 13 technically aren’t allowed to create Facebook accounts. But we’ve reported before that there are millions of underage kids on Facebook and a recent Consumer Reports study further addresses this issue. In a report released yesterday, Consumer Reports found that 20 million minors use Facebook and over 1/3 of them (7.5 million) are younger than 13 and technically shouldn’t be able to create their own profiles on the site. And of those underage users, over 5 million are 10 and under, operating under mostly unsupervised accounts.

What’s even more distressing from these numbers is that the parents surveyed seemed generally unconcerned with their children’s social networking use, as only 18% had friended their child online. And only 10% of parents with kids aged 10 and under on Facebook had discussed the online risks and dangers that can occur when using a social networking site.

Safe online practices and behaviors begin with parents being educated about what’s out there, and aware of what their kids are doing online. It doesn’t seem like Facebook has any plans in the near future to make changes to its sign up process, so parents need to take action themselves. By encouraging open dialogue with our kids, they will be more honest about what they’re doing online, and if they’re creating profiles on social networking sites. Facebook requires users to be 13 or older for a reason – there are plenty of risks out there such as cyberbullying, online predators, invasion of privacy and damage to online reputation. But because signing up merely requires users enter a qualifying date of birth, parents need to have some way to monitor their kids online to not only understand what their kids are doing but also to keep them safe from those online who are actually old enough to be there.

How do you keep track of your child’s different online activities and profiles? Do you ever worry that they are encountering something online that isn’t age-appropriate?