Few big technology companies have dared to create online products for boys and girls ages 13 and younger. But on Monday, Facebook introduced Messenger Kids, an app targeted to that age group and asks parents to give their approval so children can message, add filters and doodle on photos they send to one another. It is a bet that the app can introduce a new generation of users to the Silicon Valley giant’s ever-expanding social media universe.
In doing so, Facebook immediately reignited a furious debate about how young is too young for children to use mobile apps and how parents should deal with the steady creep of technology into family life. On one side are parents like Matt Quirion of Washington, who said Facebook’s snaking its way into his children’s lives at an early age would most likely do more harm than good.
“I’m an avid social media user, but I don’t feel my kids need more social interaction,” said Quirion (39) whose three children are between ages 3 and 9. “They need their personal time to process all the social interaction and learn to grow into mature people.”
Just as vocal are parents like Parker Thompson of Alameda, California, who said children’s adoption of technology is an inevitability and who appreciated Facebook’s approach with the new app. “Today, much of the time our options come down to giving kids devices and trusting things will work out, watching them closely at all times, or banning technology,” said Thompson (38) a father of three children between 6 months and 8 years old. “Tech is going to be something kids adopt. The question is how this will happen.”
Facebook said the point of Messenger Kids was to provide a more controlled environment for the types of activities that were already occurring across smartphones and tablets among family members. The company said it had spent months talking to parenting groups, child behavioral experts and safety organizations to aid in developing the app, as well as thousands of hours interviewing families on the ways that members communicate with one another. The app is compliant with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, it added.
