I tend to think of front suspension as gimmicky, extra weight, one more component that can fail...

It might be useful, depending on where you daughter will ride it; but, I think the cons outweigh the negatives. If the fork doesn't have a lock out, it will be annoying to ride on a paved road, especially up any small hills. On a trail with reasonably large rocks, on the other hand, it's a godsend.

At least the Specialized will probably be of decent quality, what really scares me are the $200 dept store bikes with front suspension (and sometimes rear), which is why I use the term gimmicky; in that price range, it's practically a non-functioning part (not sure how much better Specialized fork is, if at all).

That said, it's nicer than any bike that I had at that age. I wouldn't hesitate to buy it for my daughter (if I had one).