Facebook Messenger for Children Requested to be Closed

The problem of gadgets and social media dependency on children is still a particular concern in Silicon Valley. A group of organizations promoting Comercial-Free Childhood in the United States (USA) also highlighted this issue.

Through an open letter dated January 30, 2018, they asked Facebook to close the Messenger Kids platform. Negative effects on the development of mental and child health are the main reasons for this demand.

In the contents of the letter addressed to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, the group claims that Messenger Kids will undermine the mental health development of children.

Children, said in the letter, are considered immature to understand the meaning of privacy. They are also considered not to be wise to sort which is appropriate and not to be shared to the public online.

The group considered, even adults themselves are still difficult to overcome misunderstandings and conflicts in the online ecosystem, let alone children. That's why they feel that children should not have a social media account yet.

Messenger Kids is considered to increase children's dependence on smartphones. From the data described, children in adolescence reported difficulty controlling the use of social media.

As many as 78 percent of them check the phone at least every hour. While the other 50 percent feel dependent on their phone.

"Encouraging children to make friends online will disrupt and change face-to-face and play interactions that are vital to building healthy development skills", as quoted an open letter to Zuckerberg.

The dependence of social media is deemed to destabilize the ability to read human emotions, impede happiness, and physical involvement in the real world. Girls aged 10-12 years also have a tendency to be obsessed with the ideal body shape, which triggers them to do an early age diet.

Through its representative, Antigone Davis, Facebook failed to grant the request.

"We created Messenger Kids with a parenting and development parenting advisory committee, involving their own families and working with parent and teacher national associations (National PTA)," Davis said as KamiDroid summarizes from the Washington Post on Wednesday (31/1/2018).

Facebook asserts that Messenger Kids does not include ads and does not provide advertisers with information about children.

Messenger Kids itself is only two months since its release last December 2017. This application becomes an alternative for children under 13 years old to use social media. Because the main Facebook only allows a minimum age limit of 13 years to have an account.

The Messenger Kids mechanism relies on parental controls, such as before connecting with friends or family in Messenger, children as account owners must get prior approval from parents through their Facebook account.

Likewise when the child's account is online, the parent will receive a special notice.