Facebook to launch chat app for kids, with parental controls

SAN FRANCISCO, United States - Facebook on Monday unveiled a version of its Messenger application for children, aimed at enabling kids under 12 to connect with others under parental supervision.

Messenger Kids is being rolled out for Apple iOS mobile devices in the United States on a test basis as a standalone video chat and messaging app.

Product manager Loren Cheng said the social network leader is offering Messenger Kids because "there's a need for a messaging app that lets kids connect with people they love but also has the level of control parents want."

Facebook said that the new app, with no ads or in-app purchases, is aimed at 6- to 12-year-olds. It enables parents to control the contact list and does not allow children to connect with anyone their parent does not approve.

The social media giant added it designed the app because many children are going online without safeguards.

"Many of us at Facebook are parents ourselves, and it seems we weren't alone when we realized that our kids were getting online earlier and earlier," a Facebook statement said.

It cited a study showing that 93 percent of 6- to 12-year-olds in the US have access to tablets or smartphones, and two-thirds have a smartphone or tablet of their own.

"We want to help ensure the experiences our kids have when using technology are positive, safer, and age-appropriate, and we believe teaching kids how to use technology in positive ways will bring better experiences later as they grow," the company said.

Facebook's rules require that children be at least 13 to create an account, but many are believed to get around the restrictions.

Cheng said Facebook conducted its own research and worked with "over a dozen expert advisors" in building the app.

She added that data from children would not be used for ad profiles and that the application would be compliant with the Children's Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA).

"We've worked extensively with parents and families to shape Messenger Kids and we're looking forward to learning and listening as more children and families start to use the iOS preview," Cheng said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

How to give kids Christmas gifts that will last a lifetime

MANILA, Philippines - For lolos and lolas, saying no to their grandkids is hard to do. As the responsibility of disciplining them no longer falls on the grandparents, they can’t resist to pamper the young ones with expensive toys as Christmas gifts.

But before you splurge and give them items that will hold their attention for a few minutes, hours or at most days, maybe it’s time to consider getting them something more long-lasting.

Nowadays, more parents are forthright in saying that they would prefer the gift of cash that can go towards a college fund for their children. Given the astronomical cost of tertiary education, this makes a lot of sense. Tuition fees in private schools rise by almost 15% every year, and this does not cover miscellaneous expenses such as allowances, books, and related expenses.

If you choose to contribute towards your apo’s college education, not only are you giving something of value to your grandchildren, you are also helping the kids’ parents – your kids – save up for their child’s future.

Although the thought of receiving college funds may not sound very exciting to a child, rest assured that they will definitely thank you for it in the years to come.

The magic of compounding

Don’t think that you need to fork over a huge sum in order to give this type of present. You can start by giving your grandchild (through his parents or guardians) an amount that can serve as a starter fund for his college education. You can add to this fund every year — perhaps during your grandchild’s birthday and during the holidays — while letting the magic of compounding work wonders on the fund. Compounding builds on earnings of an asset's reinvested earnings. Twenty years down the road, when that little smiling baby is a young adult all set for university, that fund that you started will surely serve him well, and will make his parents equally happy.

Just to let you realize the power of compounding, here’s how it works: If you invest P10,000 today at 6%, you will have P10,600 in one year (P10,000 x 1.06). The reinvested P600 grows with the original amount of P10,000. If you continue to earn the same rate of 6%, your investment will grow to P11,236 (P10,600 x 1.06) by the end of the second year. The increase in interest grows each year, as your interest earns interest. The longer you keep your money invested, the more you stand to earn.

If your grandchild is one year old today, you have around 17 years to let your aguinaldo compound. The more time you have, the greater the growth potential. In fact, you can start a fund for your grandchild while he or she is still in utero. Of course, you can put money towards an older grandchild’s education, but the earlier you do it, the bigger its earning potential.

Below are some ideas on how you can give your grandchild the aguinaldo that will last a lifetime:

1. Purchase an education plan.

An education plan gives your grandchild a fixed amount of money to cover college expenses starting at a specified time, usually when he turns 17 years old. Depending on the plan you purchase, the education plan may come with life insurance and accidental death benefits, and a contingency fund should the payor (you) pass away during the payment period of the policy. Premiums are usually payable from 5 to 7 years.

2. Look at high-interest earning savings accounts.

Savings accounts are easy to open for your grandchildren. You can ask the child to come with you to the bank and you can make the initial deposit for him. That will be quite an experience – and a moment to capture using the camera from your mobile phone. Later on, you or other family members can add to this fund.

3. Open an investment account in his name.

There are various entry-level mutual funds or unit investment trust funds that would allow you to put in as little as P5,000. You can add to this every so often, or the parents can also inject additional funds when they can. Of course, you can also put in a much larger amount and allow it to grow over time.

4. Pay attention to the legalities.

Bank accounts for your grandchild will have to be in a guardian’s name, held in trust for your grandchild, until he comes of age. Make sure that this fund is accessed by a responsible adult who will use it for its intended purpose.

5. Make it fun.

Your grandchild might not explode into a dance of joy when he receives an envelope, but there is a way around the initial disappointment. Present your gift imaginatively. Perhaps, you can ask him what he wants to be in the future and tell him that you’ve just given the gift that will make his dream come true.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Myths Debunked: Life Insurance and the Stay-at-Home Parent

You stay at home and take care of the kids. Why do you need life insurance? It costs a lot of money, if you die, there’s no real income to replace, and your spouse pays all of the bills now already. What possible benefit is there to buying more insurance? You might be surprised.









Why Stay-At-Home Parents Need Life Insurance

Just because you stay at home, doesn’t mean you don’t need life insurance. On the contrary, staying at home is sort of like having a full-time job. If you’re not there, who will take care of the children? Who will clean the house? Who will do the cooking? Who will run the errands? Who will do the grocery shopping? The laundry? Who will drive the kids to practices, events, and friends’ homes? What about caring for ageing parents?

You think your spouse could do all of that when you’re gone? If that were true, why isn’t he or she doing that right now? Why do you spend all day doing all of those things if they’re so easy that anyone could do them?

The reality is that, if you die unexpectedly, your spouse will most likely have to pay for hired help. He can’t do everything himself or he’d be doing it now. Or, you’d be working and you’d both share the responsibilities. But that’s not what’s happening now. You need life insurance to protect the lifestyle that your family has right now instead of relying on some hypothetical lifestyle that doesn’t actually exist.

How Much Life Insurance Should You Buy?

Life insurance is a tricky business. On the one hand, agents are always pushing you to buy more of it. On the other, you can only afford so much, and you’re not sure that you actually need as much as the agent says you do.

A simple way to calculate your true insurance needs is to add up all of your financial obligations – credit card balances, mortgage balances, medical bills, and even future obligations like college tuition. The total you come up with is the amount of life insurance death benefit you need today.

Of course, those debts change over time, which is why it’s important to meet with a life insurance broker or agent every year to reassess your insurance needs. That doesn’t mean you must always purchase more life insurance. In some cases, you might need less.

How To Talk To A Life Insurance Agent

Insurance agents don’t always try to sell you more insurance – at least overtly. The home office sales illustration software is designed to sell you more, whether the agent is conscious of it or not. What you want to do is buy insurance, not have it sold to you.

Have a general idea of the type of insurance you want to buy – term, whole life, or universal life. Then, have a general idea of how much death benefit you need. Approach an agent with this information. Be proactive, and you’ll buy just as much as you need, and no more.

Andrew Harvey is a father of five who runs a small home-based business. He likes to help others starting out by posting his experiences on various Internet websites.

source: 20smoney.com

Babies who stay longer inside mom's womb are smarter - study

Researchers have known that babies born prematurely are at risk for slowed brain development, but a couple of extra weeks in the womb might make a difference even among those considered "normal term" - between 37 and 41 weeks, according to a U.S. study.

Children born on the shorter end of that range scored lower on math and reading tests as 8-year-olds than those born later, researchers wrote in the journal Pediatrics, but they added that the differences were small.

"Certainly the vast majority of 37-weekers and 41-weekers would end up developing typically," said Kimberly Noble, the lead author on the study from Columbia University Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

Still, until more research is done, she said, "we would urge caution to both parents and physicians when considering early elective delivery."

Noble and her colleagues compared birth records and third-grade standardized test scores for 128,000 children born in New York City in the late 1980s and early 1990s who went to citywide public schools. All of them had been born between 37 and 41 weeks' gestation.

On both reading and math exams, where a score of 50 was considered average, kids born at 41 weeks scored about one point higher, in general, than those born at 37 weeks.

That's equivalent to about a 1.5 point difference on an IQ test, Noble said.

"That would not be a difference that would likely be noticeable from one child to the next," she told Reuters Health. "Where it is more noticeable is on the lower end of the (test score) distribution."

For example, children born at 37 weeks were 23 percent more likely to have at least moderate reading impairment, and 19 percent more likely to have moderate math impairment, than those born on the late end of the term range.

Noble said the finding doesn't prove that being born early-term can slow kids' brain development and hurt their academic achievement, since it's possible that other factors are related both to early births and academic difficulties.

Marie McCormick, a maternal and child health researcher from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, agreed that was one limitation of the study.

"Even if it's an early term delivery, there may have been something going on that led to that child being born earlier in the process than later," she said.

Still, the findings are consistent with some previous research suggesting that babies born at 37 or 38 weeks may be different from those born slightly later, she added.

The researchers agreed that although the findings shouldn't be too concerning, they are something to consider for women who have some control over when their babies will be born, such as those scheduling a cesarean section.

"The main thing is ... when you're coming to the discussion about delivery and if you have a decision about the timing of that delivery, to really make sure that you're as far along in pregnancy as you can get without getting out of the range of normal," McCormick said.

source: interaksyon.com