There's a little bit of an issue with the latest Facebook app aimed at children: It lets your kids talk to strangers. For the surprisingly massive number of parents who've let their children use this app expecting it to come to no shocking end: This is real. The Facebook Messenger Kids app had a flaw in it that allowed unapproved strangers to enter group chats with your children.
Experts and parents are still debating the long term effects of exposing young ones to screens and mobile devices. It is, however, a fact of life that kids will eventually get their hands on a phone or tablet. Rather than banning them outright, some parents may prefer to train children in the proper use of modern technologies by allowing their limited and supervised use. To that end, Wondershare's FamiSafe parental control app promises peace of mind for parents while delivering the wonders of the mobile age to children at the same time.
Given the growing number of young users on the Internet, that has also been a rise in apps that cater specifically to this young audience. Those range from educational or entertainment apps to parental control apps. Those, of course, have to take great care in making sure the young ones don't get exposed to harmful content. Unfortunately, just like in any other piece of software, those apps can have bugs and one found in Facebook's Messenger Kids app practically bypassed all the protection that the app promised.
Netflix has revealed a huge batch of original shows for preschoolers from a number of children's programming creators. The company plans to release another seven original shows aimed at kids ages 2 to 6, including a new series based on DreamWorks' Dragons property and another DreamWorks series called Go, Dog. Go!
At less than a third of the size of previously standard Toys 'R' Us store, the new locations might feel unfamiliar. It won't feel particularly familiar to the original customers of the mega-massive toy store chain, anyway. But what the new, more compact locations lack in size will be more than made up for with a modern retail cool factor. That's the aim, now that Tru Kids Brands (owners of Toys 'R' Us and Babies 'R' Us brands) are partnered up with the group called b8ta.
A mysterious illness with no known cause or cure has resulted in a number of otherwise healthy children becoming paralyzed, the CDC reports, and it expects another record outbreak to happen in 2020. Called acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), this condition is described as rare but very serious by the CDC; it causes weak muscles and reflexes in the body, lesions in the spinal cord, and primarily appears in otherwise healthy kids. Officials are pleading for more information from doctors about the condition ahead of the next anticipated wave.
Grandparents may be fueling excessive device usage among kids, a new study has found. Screen time among youth is a growing public health concern, but reducing the number of time kids spend on gadgets is tricky. According to research from Rutgers University, kids may be getting far too much screen time while in the care of grandparents who want to spoil their grandchildren.
There are saying about “starting them young” but no parent will probably get kids driving even before they can properly understand driving laws. They can, however, instill the love of car brands at a young age, attuning their minds to the intricacies of supercar designs and sounds. That may be the kind of thinking behind McLaren Automotive’s latest car toy, the 720S Ride-On, that tries to deliver a look and feel that these kids will remember as distinctly McLaren.
YouTube may introduce a massive change to how it handles children's content, a new leak claims. Company executives are reportedly considering a plan that would move videos targeted at children from the main YouTube app to a separate app, as well as disabling the auto-play feature that causes new random videos to play after the current one ends.
Video game developer Kuato Studios has unveiled Marvel Hero Tales, a new literacy app that taps Marvel's most popular superheros to help kids learn to read. The app was created by Kuato Studios and Marvel Entertainment, which are targeting kids ages 7 to 11. The app's content will be updated regularly, according to the developer, with new storylines and characters.
A new study led by Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health warns that dietary supplements are causing serious health issues in some kids and teens who consume them. These supplements, which are typically available to purchase over-the-counter at places like gas stations and grocery stores, claim to offer benefits like better energy and improved sports performance.
Research out of the University of Pennsylvania highlights the numerous benefits associated with napping during childhood. The large study involved around 3,000 kids in China who were found to have fewer issues with problematic behavior, as well as improvements in their school performance and more. The napping didn't have to take place every day in order to experience the benefits.