By Loren Cheng, Product Management Director and Tarunya Govindarajan, Product Manager
We launched Messenger Kids in the US last year after hearing from parents that they wanted a safer app for their kids to chat with close friends and family. Today, we’re bringing Messenger Kids to families in Canada and Peru, and will also be introducing Spanish and French versions of the app to all three countries where the app is available.
We designed Messenger Kids from the ground up with elements that teach kids how to better understand and express their emotions in creative ways, encourage and promote healthy social behaviors, and deepen positive connections between kids and their close friends and families. In that spirit, and in collaboration with researchers from the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and a global group of advisors, we’re working on new features rooted in principles of social and emotional learning, including:
Messenger Kids Pledge: A pledge of guiding principles between parents and kids that encourage the responsible use of Messenger Kids: Be Kind, Be Respectful, Be Safe, and Have Fun.
In addition to these features, we’ll continue to improve other parts of the app and controls based on parent and expert feedback. For example, one thing we heard consistently is that parents want more than one parent to have control over kid accounts, so starting today we’re making it possible for two parents to manage accounts. We look forward to getting more feedback from families internationally. The app will be available on the Google Play and App Stores in Canada and Peru. For more information about Messenger Kids, visit MessengerKids.com.
For more information about Messenger Kids, visit MessengerKids.com.
*These researchers work in a paid capacity with Facebook to provide consulting services for Messenger Kids.
