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Children watching YouTube

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pasbury 18 Dec 2017
As a parent I try to restrict screen-time but not deny it. But I'm acutely aware of it's addictive nature to younger children whose critical faculties are not fully formed.
But, I confess I've sometimes let my children loose on youtube for half an hour or so with all filters on.

I don't think I'll be doing it again having come across this well written and researched article: https://medium.com/@jamesbridle/something-is-wrong-on-the-internet-c39c4712...

I recommend parents to have a read - quote below.

"These videos, wherever they are made, however they come to be made, and whatever their conscious intention (i.e. to accumulate ad revenue) are feeding upon a system which was consciously intended to show videos to children for profit. The unconsciously-generated, emergent outcomes of that are all over the place."
 Ciro 18 Dec 2017
In reply to pasbury:

Welcome my son, welcome to the machine

 Dauphin 18 Dec 2017
In reply to pasbury:

What surprises me most is that anyone thinks the internet is a safe space for preteen > preschool kids. Turn it off.

It's just replaced the idiot box for part time parents with their busy busy lives, probably spending time on the internet.

D
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 wintertree 18 Dec 2017
In reply to Dauphin:

> What surprises me most is that anyone thinks the internet is a safe space for preteen > preschool kids. Turn it off.

Quite. Happy Tree Friends and Mr Stabby are on YouTube. Which is great for me but not something I want Wintertree Jr watching....
 Castleman 18 Dec 2017
In reply to pasbury:

On the flip side, having access to youtube in a controlled environment (ie together) allows us to watch things that otherwise we wouldn't be able to easily get hold of (e.g. French childrens shows).

1
 LastBoyScout 18 Dec 2017
In reply to pasbury:

I have 2 small children and I think they watch a bit too much TV, including on a tablet, but at least it's only at home and we do restrict exactly what they are watching and for how long. It is very easy to plonk them in front of Octonauts/Peppa, though, when you do just need 10 mins to get something done and my wife is also busy. At least BBC iPlayer doesn't have the adverts that YouTube does and they do tend to watch a lot of DVDs, which also don't.

On the other hand, their imagination does get a lot of fuel out of it and stuff like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has been role-played to death.

They NEVER watch anything when we're out of the house or in the car as a family - we play games in the car and have a supply of paper and crayons in the bag if they're bored.

One of the mistakes I made was letting my daughter watch something on my phone - equally, the best thing I did was, when that one broke, telling her my new phone didn't have YouTube. She's never asked to watch anything on it since I'll get my wife to do the same next time she gets a new phone.

We also make it quite clear that they can't have whatever they want, whenever they want it. Older daughter had a mini-meltdown on Saturday over something she wanted in a shop, but was told she couldn't have it, with reasons why.
 wintertree 18 Dec 2017
In reply to pasbury:

Great article. You notice a similar thing with mobile app stores where any successful idea becomes cloned almost indefinitely into bizarrely low quality crap that still keeps kids entertained.

I don’t know what’s worse - that kids are loosing their time to this shite, or that it’s inadvertently training them to have such low standards.

“Is it just me or are things getting a little weird around here?”.

 winhill 18 Dec 2017
In reply to pasbury:

I got about half way through and he'd not said anything interesting, a waste of time.

Someone or something or some combination of people and things is using YouTube to systematically frighten, traumatise, and abuse children, automatically and at scale, and it forces me to question my own beliefs about the internet, at every level.

At one point he quotes 'a blogger', ooh.
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 stubbed 18 Dec 2017
In reply to pasbury:

This is why I don't really allow my children any screen time. Actually now and then we will all watch something together but basically they don't have devices or access to them and I would rather keep it that way. They are only 4 and 5 so I am guessing that will not last forever but I am focusing on human interactions and getting them interested in some kind of sport so that they have something to escape to.
pasbury 18 Dec 2017
In reply to wintertree:

I think his point about algorithmically determined content to generate ad revenue is what hit home for me, of course it’s more emotionally charged when the target audience is children. The money making model of the internet has noticed that parents give their kids a tablet to keep them quiet while they cook their dinner.

The same model has noticed that a scrolling feed is addictive for adults and that the ‘like’ paradigm keeps eyes on the screen.

It’s such a shame that a large part of human ingenuity is dedicated to generating ad views.
pasbury 19 Dec 2017
In reply to stubbed:

On this other theme; you can’t keep them away from screens forever, you probably use one in front of them and they are ‘interesting’ to young eyes.
They are not going to go away either so whatever feel good policies you might have established for your children will be meaningless eventually.
That’s why we should be thinking more about the content than the access.
Removed User 19 Dec 2017
In reply to stubbed:

As with all things, its about balance. Complete exclusion from today's technology and social norms will not necessarily be that beneficial to kids who have to fit into their world, not yours.
 stubbed 19 Dec 2017
In reply to Removed User:

That's why they don't have complete exclusion - they use them at school & nursery and as I say, we watch things together. I don't think they are out of place in today's world.
 stubbed 19 Dec 2017
In reply to pasbury:

I agree we should be thinking about content and that I can't keep them from screens altogether - and in fact we don't use screens or watch tv in front of them either. We simply don't have it as part of our daily life (lots of people find it hard to believe).

However I disagree that my 'feel good policies' are meaningless. It means we have quality family time now and if that changes, I still don't think it was a waste. Better for children to learn that the world around them is interesting too.
Rigid Raider 19 Dec 2017
In reply to pasbury:

The point that strikes me is at the end where the author says these videos are just one aspect of the violence that is being done to us and we are not yet capable of discussing it. Well, children are now bombarded with warnings about Stranger Danger and are well aware of their rights (although not their responsibilities, some would say) so surely it's time we began educating kids and giving them the language with which to describe these worrying videos, in the same way as they might describe a stranger who approaches them in the playground and makes unwelcome suggestions?
In reply to pasbury:

I disagree. Children who are absolutely glued to screens, whatever the type, are denying themselves the opportunity to develop a love for something else. When my 6 year old son gets up on a Saturday morning he gets his mountain bike out of the shed and rips round his home made bike track. My 8 year old daughter reads or draws. They are building a passion for healthy uses of their time. Both might easily be addicted to iPads if we let them but maybe, when their access to such devices is beyond our control, they will have a fighting chance of resisting.
 summo 19 Dec 2017
In reply to blackmountainbiker:
I think it's a question of balance. Our 10 year old gets a pad from school. (All year 4 up). Some work is online, he has to make presentations to present in class, other stuff is hand written. So he uses the pad at home for restricted surfing too. But today they are outside all day skating and other things with school.

Some stuff online is clearly brain out rubbish. But even 30mins of complete bilge(watching someone else play Minecraft for example) isn't going to harm them long term, if they are having plenty of more stimulating activities too. I wouldn't want my kids at school to be that one child who has never played game x or seen programme y, as you well know social inclusion is quite important too, even if the topic of conversation is meaningless.

Removed User 19 Dec 2017
In reply to stubbed:
> That's why they don't have complete exclusion - they use them at school & nursery and as I say, we watch things together. I don't think they are out of place in today's world.

I think your point about age is realistic. You can control what your 4 and 5 yr old watch but it becomes more difficult for pre-teen and teenage kids who will likely have their own technology or access to someone else's.

FWIW this is a YouTube video of my kids outside in a place where they have no access to the internet:

youtube.com/watch?v=tO5uyQunU0c&

Apart from the shameless promotion of my own film making skills (or lack of them), the point is that we can use the technology well and that a blanked exclusion is probably too far. Like I said, it is all about trying to keep a balance
Post edited at 20:25

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