Tech: Facebook for kids? Mark Zuckerberg wants to start ’em young
- Because of the restrictions we haven’t even begun this learning process. If they’re lifted then we’d start to learn what works. We’d take a lot of precautions to make sure that they [younger kids] are safe.
- Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg • Explaining his frustrations with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which only allows children age 13 and older to use his service. He wants to make social media happen for children, too — for educational reasons. At this week’s NewSchools Summit in California, Zuckerberg claimed that Facebook had huge educational potential for young children. “Education is clearly the biggest thing that will drive how the economy improves over the long term,” he said. “We spend a lot of time talking about this.” Given the wariness that many already have towards Facebook as a social tool for kids, we don’t know how far Zuck’s pipe dream will go. But he is serious about education — last year, he gave $100 million to the troubled Newark school district. Let’s just say that he’ll have a lot of work ahead of him. source
