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I'm surprised YouTube isn't on your list. We having streaming services, but my kids mostly watch YouTube.

by redm 5y ago

SllX 5y ago
In previous threads I’ve asked about the same thing and some parents have very strong opinions about what’s available on YouTube. I remember one thread in particular where someone told me that you could find some very strange stuff just by typing a period in the search box (autocomplete does the rest, NSFW if that’s not obvious), and that school age Kids tend to figure this out or share this “trick” amongst themselves. So to each their own, but I’m not a parent yet so I abstain from having any strong opinions for the moment.
- bondarchuk 5y ago
  Has everyone forgotten Elsagate already?
  - SllX 5y ago
    I wasn’t aware of it.
- mandmandam 5y ago
  What the actual fuuuck. Tried searching just a dot and I got a fish cutting video, an indian woman being slapped around, and some creepy horror doll shit.
  - SllX 5y ago
    Seems you got further than I did. I scrolled through and decided “there be dragons” and left it at that. There’s an audience for everything but I am not the audience for everything.
    - mandmandam 5y ago
      Not even - those were my top results. Yeah I noped tf out pretty quick too. This isn't even the first time I've seen crazy shit about YT - these parents are 100% right not to let their kids on unsupervised. Weird how it's not news more often tbh.
samwillis 5y ago
Absolutely no YouTube for our kids, just don’t trust it, not even their kids app. Too many stories of bad content. Here in the uk we have the joy that is CBeebies and CBBC, so have iPlayer (and all the other kids BBC apps) on iPads for the kids. The only other one we let them have free reign on is Disney+, I’m sure this will change for the older one soon.
- Ottolay 5y ago
  Wish there was a way to block everything and whitelist allowed channels. There are some really quality ones but there are also a bunch of really creepy content, even in the kids app.
  - slowmovintarget 5y ago
    Does the kids app show ads? Aside from the creepy content (which required in-person parental filtering) the advertising was the thing that drove us away from YouTube. It's fine on a laptop or desktop where you can run an ad blocker. It's not fine when you're trying to let kiddo watch YouTube on an actual TV screen.
    - jannes 5y ago
      Yes, on certain channels. Some channels are ad-free, but this can change over time. A channel that’s ad-free on the YT Kids app today doesn’t have to be ad-free tomorrow.
    - heartbreak 5y ago
      There’s a paid version of YouTube that doesn’t have ads.
- digisign 5y ago
  Don't forget the heaping tablespoon of surveillance.
- greghinch 5y ago
  Things my son (2 and a half) likes to watch on YT: - Lorry trucks (semis/big rigs) driving on the road/motorway - The tube/trains/subways coming in and out of stations - Large excavators digging in quarries and loading dump trucks The videos are usually pretty slow paced and calm, and we're happy to let him watch in small blocks (5-10 mins max) from time to time. He's shown no interest in typical cartoons, kids shows, etc. I'd love to cut off YT completely, but are there other places to get this type of content for him?
inanutshellus 5y ago
Youtube is pretty magical. It has everything, even in the "kid zone". Which also means I can't leave them unsupervised for 30 minutes and come back. If I do, my kids will've gone from educational video about the rain forest to sponsored video to toy videos to slime to fart jokes to music videos of bikini-clad bimbos to steamy romance videos to ... Anyway it's just too much work to curate youtube for a child, IMO. For example, my kiddo found a bunch of inappropriately steamy fan fiction for her favorite cartoons narrated on youtube... and she demonstrated that she knew it was inappropriate because she started hiding her screen from us.
- elpatoisthebest 5y ago
  This is exactly our experience with Youtube. I can sit with my kid and watch a couple episodes of a show I've never heard of (Like Bluey) and say, "Yep, this is a definite thumbs up. You can watch Bluey when you have screen time" And I trust that when an episode ends, another episode of Bluey is what will show up. For a youtube channel, I have to watch the entire video and I can say, "Yep, you can watch this exact video. Make sure autoplay is off." I have no clue what video would play next. I have no clue what product the youtuber will try to shill in the middle of the video, etc.
- tumblen 5y ago
  The other thing we find with our 3 year old is that he can have his tablet and watch movies or shows on Netflix/VLC, etc. and it's pretty much all positive. But he always prefers YouTube and when he's using YouTube, he mostly watches 3-5 minutes of something before getting enticed by another thumbnail. At times when he's had free reign to YT, it really seems to drastically affect his general attention, patience, temperament and even ability to sleep (he wakes up super early asking for his tablet). Once we cut it off hard, he goes back to normal. We don't really believe in complete abstinence of those sorts of things (I think it will just make him even more sensitive to those algorithms in the future) but being aware of the effect, reducing YT and prioritizing actual movies/series has made a noticeable difference.
  - GekkePrutser 5y ago
pnathan 5y ago
YouTube is a terrifying cascade of "wtf" for children. IMO it's completely unsuitable for unsupervised children under, say, 13.
- digisign 5y ago
  Interesting that their terms of service specifically prohibit children under 13, but a lot of people still insist it is good for them and ignore it.

I'm surprised YouTube isn't on your list. We having streaming services, but my kids mostly watch YouTube.

by redm 5y ago

I'm surprised YouTube isn't on your list. We having streaming services, but my kids mostly watch YouTube.

SllX 5y ago

In previous threads I’ve asked about the same thing and some parents have very strong opinions about what’s available on YouTube. I remember one thread in particular where someone told me that you could find some very strange stuff just by typing a period in the search box (autocomplete does the rest, NSFW if that’s not obvious), and that school age Kids tend to figure this out or share this “trick” amongst themselves. So to each their own, but I’m not a parent yet so I abstain from having any strong opinions for the moment.

bondarchuk 5y ago
Has everyone forgotten Elsagate already?
- SllX 5y ago
  I wasn’t aware of it.
mandmandam 5y ago
What the actual fuuuck. Tried searching just a dot and I got a fish cutting video, an indian woman being slapped around, and some creepy horror doll shit.
- SllX 5y ago
  Seems you got further than I did. I scrolled through and decided “there be dragons” and left it at that. There’s an audience for everything but I am not the audience for everything.
  - mandmandam 5y ago
    Not even - those were my top results. Yeah I noped tf out pretty quick too. This isn't even the first time I've seen crazy shit about YT - these parents are 100% right not to let their kids on unsupervised. Weird how it's not news more often tbh.

samwillis 5y ago

Absolutely no YouTube for our kids, just don’t trust it, not even their kids app. Too many stories of bad content. Here in the uk we have the joy that is CBeebies and CBBC, so have iPlayer (and all the other kids BBC apps) on iPads for the kids. The only other one we let them have free reign on is Disney+, I’m sure this will change for the older one soon.

Ottolay 5y ago
Wish there was a way to block everything and whitelist allowed channels. There are some really quality ones but there are also a bunch of really creepy content, even in the kids app.
- slowmovintarget 5y ago
  Does the kids app show ads? Aside from the creepy content (which required in-person parental filtering) the advertising was the thing that drove us away from YouTube. It's fine on a laptop or desktop where you can run an ad blocker. It's not fine when you're trying to let kiddo watch YouTube on an actual TV screen.
  - jannes 5y ago
    Yes, on certain channels. Some channels are ad-free, but this can change over time. A channel that’s ad-free on the YT Kids app today doesn’t have to be ad-free tomorrow.
  - heartbreak 5y ago
    There’s a paid version of YouTube that doesn’t have ads.
digisign 5y ago
Don't forget the heaping tablespoon of surveillance.
greghinch 5y ago
Things my son (2 and a half) likes to watch on YT: - Lorry trucks (semis/big rigs) driving on the road/motorway - The tube/trains/subways coming in and out of stations - Large excavators digging in quarries and loading dump trucks The videos are usually pretty slow paced and calm, and we're happy to let him watch in small blocks (5-10 mins max) from time to time. He's shown no interest in typical cartoons, kids shows, etc. I'd love to cut off YT completely, but are there other places to get this type of content for him?

inanutshellus 5y ago

Youtube is pretty magical. It has everything, even in the "kid zone". Which also means I can't leave them unsupervised for 30 minutes and come back. If I do, my kids will've gone from educational video about the rain forest to sponsored video to toy videos to slime to fart jokes to music videos of bikini-clad bimbos to steamy romance videos to ... Anyway it's just too much work to curate youtube for a child, IMO. For example, my kiddo found a bunch of inappropriately steamy fan fiction for her favorite cartoons narrated on youtube... and she demonstrated that she knew it was inappropriate because she started hiding her screen from us.

elpatoisthebest 5y ago
This is exactly our experience with Youtube. I can sit with my kid and watch a couple episodes of a show I've never heard of (Like Bluey) and say, "Yep, this is a definite thumbs up. You can watch Bluey when you have screen time" And I trust that when an episode ends, another episode of Bluey is what will show up. For a youtube channel, I have to watch the entire video and I can say, "Yep, you can watch this exact video. Make sure autoplay is off." I have no clue what video would play next. I have no clue what product the youtuber will try to shill in the middle of the video, etc.
tumblen 5y ago
The other thing we find with our 3 year old is that he can have his tablet and watch movies or shows on Netflix/VLC, etc. and it's pretty much all positive. But he always prefers YouTube and when he's using YouTube, he mostly watches 3-5 minutes of something before getting enticed by another thumbnail. At times when he's had free reign to YT, it really seems to drastically affect his general attention, patience, temperament and even ability to sleep (he wakes up super early asking for his tablet). Once we cut it off hard, he goes back to normal. We don't really believe in complete abstinence of those sorts of things (I think it will just make him even more sensitive to those algorithms in the future) but being aware of the effect, reducing YT and prioritizing actual movies/series has made a noticeable difference.
- GekkePrutser 5y ago

pnathan 5y ago

YouTube is a terrifying cascade of "wtf" for children. IMO it's completely unsuitable for unsupervised children under, say, 13.

digisign 5y ago
Interesting that their terms of service specifically prohibit children under 13, but a lot of people still insist it is good for them and ignore it.