Turn Off Messenger(ˈmesənjər) Kids, Health Experts Plead(plēd) to Facebook

Turn Off Messenger(ˈmesənjər) Kids, Health Experts Plead(plēd) to Facebook

By Cecilia Kang

At the age of 6, a child is full of imagination(iˌmajəˈnāSHən) and may not distinguish reality(rēˈalətē) from fantasy(ˈfantəsē). She is beginning to read and can’t grasp(grasp) nuances(ˈn(y)o͞oˌäns) in written communication. She also doesn’t understand privacy(ˈprīvəsē).

Citing(sīt) those reasons and more, dozens(ˈdəzən) of pediatric(ˌpidiˈætrɪk) and mental(ˈmentl) health experts are calling on Facebook to kill a messaging service the company introduced last month for children as young as 6.

In a letter(ˈletər) to the company, they said the service, Messenger Kids, which pushes the company’s user base well below its previous(ˈprēvēəs) minimum(ˈminəməm) age of 13, preys(prā) on a vulnerable(ˈvəln(ə)rəbəl) group developmentally unprepared(ˌənpriˈpe(ə)rd) to be on the social network.

The letter was organized(ˈôrgəˌnīzd) by the Campaign(kamˈpān) for a Commercial-Free Childhood, an advocacy(ˈadvəkəsē) group that has successfully pushed companies to abandon(əˈbandən) marketing like a Pokemon(ˈpōkiˌmän) Go app that sent children to fast food and other stores, and McDonald’s advertising(ˈadvərˌtīziNG) on the envelopes(ˈenvəˌlōp,ˈänvə-) of report cards in Florida(ˈflär-,ˈflôridə).

Facebook’s new app for young children opens greater concerns(kənˈsərn), the group said.

“Younger children are simply not ready to have social media accounts,” the experts said in the letter. “A growing body of research demonstrates(ˈdemənˌstrāt) that excessive(ikˈsesiv) use of digital(ˈdijitl) devices(diˈvīs) and social media is harmful to children and teens, making it very likely this new app will undermine(ˈəndərˌmīn,ˌəndərˈmīn) children’s healthy development.”

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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/30/technology/messenger-kids-facebook-letter.html