The world is a much different place than it was when I was growing up. There was no World Wide Web, you knew where your friends were by seeing all of their bikes in a yard, and Stranger Danger meant not getting into a car with a stranger and looking for a police officer or other safe adult to run to.

Now, we have Internet access on our phones, and those phones have more memory than the first generation of computers. With Internet access, there is also social media, and it is not going away. As a parent, we want to teach our children to use social media responsibly, and they are watching how we use it ourselves. Social media brings the world to our doorsteps, you can connect with just about anyone in the world.

Facebook created an app for kids to use, called Messenger Kids. Parents would set up the app and have an approved list of who their children can chat with, friends and family. This was geared towards 6-12 year-olds. It allowed them the chance to get acquainted with social media with safeguards in place. A “technical error” in the app meant it was possible for a child to enter a group chat with friends-of-friends who hadn’t been approved by their parents.

"Facebook sent out a notice to thousands of users’ parents last week informing them of the design the flaw. The company said the error only affected a limited number of group chats."

They also stated that they turned off the affected chats and provided parents with resources for online safety.

Source: NBC News