For years I was a bolt action only guy. I agreed with the stigma surrounding the AR thinking that it had no place in the hunting world.
I was wrong.
The stigma is there because people see the AR as a battle rifle, the military uses them, or as the chosen weapon of mass shooters (in reality far more mass shooters use handguns) and on top of that, we as hunters proclaim they have no place as a hunting rifle.
Change the stigma, use them for hunting. Show the people who know nothing about them that they are a viable hunting tool. Otherwise they will believe the crap that the media and anti gun lobby keeps spewing.
last spring I built my first AR in 5.56. It was an interesting project and I learned a lot about how an AR works. I learned that at the ranges that most people hunt at they were just as effective as a bolt gun. I have enjoyed this project so much that I have a new upper coming in 6.5 Grendel, I will be using it for deer this next fall.
There are military snipers who use them for long range shots, specifically the M110 SASS, based on the AR 10 platform firing 7.62 NATO and they are used by people competitively.
I think that the fact that you can adjust the stock to fit and the fact that recoil is very manageable, these rifles are an excellent choice for kids and/or novice shooters. The safety factor can be dealt with using training or as others have suggested, by loading 1 round in the mag.
The main point here is that if YOU think that your kids will be better served with an AR than a bolt gun, get the AR. If you are worried about the evil black rifle thing, get it in flat dark earth, have someone cerakote it, or rattle can it in whatever color you like.