A team οργανώσεων που αποτελείται από παιδαγωγούς, εμπειρογνώμονες στον τομέα της υγείας και εκπαιδευτικούς καλεί το Facebook να σταματήσει την κυκλοφορία του Messenger kids.
The organizations sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg asking the company to stop rolling out Messenger Kids and let the children to enjoy their childhood.
If you do not know it, Messenger Kids is a version του Facebook Messenger που απευθύνεται σε παιδιά ηλικίας από έξι (!) μέχρι δώδεκα ετών. Μέσω της εφαρμογής, οι parents τους έχουν τον έλεγχο, επιλέγοντας ποιοι μπορούν να είναι φίλοι με τα παιδιά τους. Η “επαναστατική” εφαρμογή δίνει επίσης τη δυνατότητα στους γονείς να βλέπουν ακριβώς τι συμβαίνει κατά την διάρκεια των συνομιλιών.
However, the app still allows Facebook to children.
As soon as the application was announced, parents were concerned that Facebook is targeting young children.
As the Washington Post reports, this concern was summed up in a letter from The Campaign for a Commercial-free Childhood (CCFC), with the support of many other organisations.
In the letter (PDF) CCFC and its supporters call on Facebook to "stop Messenger Kids", arguing that excessive use of digital devices and social media is harmful to children and adolescents, as this new application is likely to undermine healthy development".
The letter also states that the children "are not old enough to begin their tour of the intricacies of online relationships" and "have not fully developed their understanding of privacy."
Recent studies, which show how the use of social media can negatively affect children in a variety of ways, are mentioned.
Facebook, however, is reportedly already responding, saying in various publications that it is not planning to stop Messenger Kids.
Facebook says it has tried to make sure that Messenger Kids is as innocuous as possible.
However according to parents, it is still an application designed to connect to Internet children from the age of six.
Would you let your kids start using Messenger Kids at such an age?
