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YouTube has become the world's nanny

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Re: YouTube has become the world's nanny

#211
post #203

Nope, nope nope. My kid is 10 and still doesn't know a single Youtuber by name and doesn't really watch Youtube. We did try Youtube Kids at one point, but it was just 99% toy ads masquerading as authentic content. Netflix has a pretty good age limiter and well produced TV-shows. Disney+ has Bluey and a ton of other content. AppleTV+ has a few good ones too, but not as much as the two big ones. Paying the few coins fo…

> We did try Youtube Kids at one point, but it was just 99% toy ads masquerading as authentic content. Essentially like kids TV in the 80-90s. A lot of shows were made explicitly to sell toys, with Transformers being one of the best known. I don't know if it is still the case now.

Yes, but those 30 minute ads actually had content and you could enjoy them without the toy in hand.

I briefly let my son watch YouTube Kids and soon his stream was endless unboxing videos or weird knockoff cartoons with no words.

I’d gladly take 80-90s finite TV interspersed with PBS than infinite junk food.

Re: YouTube has become the world's nanny

#212
post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Terribly sorry that giving a shit about raising our kids is offensive to you. I'd invite you to spend some time considering the difference between legacy childrens entertainment media and an algorithmically driven platform that has, at best, meagre ex-post-facto content moderation.

Given the trends, YouTube is probably the mildest thing your kids will experience in their lifetime. Their lives will be shaped by crisis after crisis and their peers will be kids raised on YouTube. The best you can do is keep your kids as out of touch with environment they will lead their lives in as you are.

Kids are going to be exposed to alcohol eventually so let's dose them with increasing amounts of alcohol as they grow up so they'll build up a resistance.

Re: YouTube has become the world's nanny

#213
post #55

Two of my sisters have in total 3 kids (4 to 6 years old) and all three of them need to watch youtube videos while eating. Just few days back, my sister had a 'gathering' to announce her 2nd child (making it total 4 kids combined) and the 3rd kid needed to watch few youtube videos (usually they are of other kids playing or doing some stuff) to eat his dinner, which I found quite odd. This thing is not only related to…

While this isn’t good I certainly recall having TV on during meals when I was a kid in the 1990s and know many older people who eat watching TV. Not sure this is new.

Re: YouTube has become the world's nanny

#214

I don't let my kids watch YouTube, but I sometimes watch with them. There is a whole world of incredibly wholesome farmer YouTubers, showing off their day-to-day life. I also use Invidious.

This is the key. There is excellent content on YouTube, but we don't let them watch by themselves and have explained the risks of algorithms to the older two children.

There's loads of stuff that is entertaining for children and parents watching together - Mark Rober, craft videos, draw-along channels, cabin building, hobby farming, streetfood, etc. Usually I will pre-vet a video myself or get a feel for the style of a channel to decide whether it's reliable or not.

Re: YouTube has become the world's nanny

#215

For people cooking alone with a kid. How do you entertain them while cooking without screentime? Kid is 16 months. Too old to lie still, and too young to help out in any capacity without getting injured. Edit: Letting them play with utensils gives me about 2-3 minutes.

Is the kid not capable of quietly playing with their toys? Not making any judgement but I truly think that parenting is a two-person job.

Parenting is a many person job but we've decided to incorrectly model our society around the idea that it's a <=2 person job.

Re: YouTube has become the world's nanny

#216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All apps are 13+, it's a law thing. If companies go under that, they face intense scrutiny. Epic lost a case because of that already ($200M+ fine & years of supervision), Rovio is in hot water too. Same issue with WhatsApp for example, but it's pretty much a requirement to have any social life after first grade over here. Also there is no way for anyone except a parent to report an underage WA user, so there are no r…

"Parent permissions" is how they get around that one for underage kids. It's either a notification through the parent portal or you login with the Google account on the kids tablet. Not sure of the mechanism on iOS, but I imagine it's similar. Once you give permission, it's free reign

Nope, not even parent permission. It's used as one factor to prove that they are not "marketing to children".

If you are considered as targeting your product to children, you get hit by a different set of laws than if it's an "adult" product.

Source: I just spent a few hours listening to our lawyer give a presentation about this and why we need to be clear in marketing to adults only.

Epic got hit with a $245M fine because they were seen as marketing to kids (along with other crap): https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2022/12/245-milli...

Re: YouTube has become the world's nanny

#217

As a parent, screen time vs no screen time is a fine line that we have to continually renegotiate. Screens can be great, there is so much good information out there that can enrich our lives. I wouldn't go the "no screens ever" route because that's just being a luddite, robbing them of the change to experience, and acquire expertise in, the digital world that they will be interacting with for the rest of their lives.…

Nailed about the algorithm. As an internet user since 1998, I'd be not so worried about "horrors", but of the algorithm and the "screen-sticky" junk it funnels to my son.

But on the other hand, it's my duty to actually be present with him. I see too many parents just paying "gadget ransom" to their kids, to just avoid distraction in unnecessary moments -- like on bus.

Re: YouTube has become the world's nanny

#218

As a parent, screen time vs no screen time is a fine line that we have to continually renegotiate. Screens can be great, there is so much good information out there that can enrich our lives. I wouldn't go the "no screens ever" route because that's just being a luddite, robbing them of the change to experience, and acquire expertise in, the digital world that they will be interacting with for the rest of their lives.…

Any recommendations on good pedagogical content channels/playlists on youtube?

Some of our favorite pedogocial youtube channels and topics:

Younger Kids:

Bounce Patrol: a cut above your average nursery rhyme channel, with singing, dancing and some ABC / 123 lessons.

Pocoyo: Very well crafted and entertaining show, slipping in some good lessons.

Yo Gabba Gabba: Such a joy, with fun new topics each episode.

Older Kids:

Science Max / Science Doug

Minecraft redstone tutorials: Mumbo Jumbo

Scratch programming tutorials: Griffpatch

Keyboard / xylophone how do I play this song tutorials

Making stuff (out of cardboard) tutorials

Re: YouTube has become the world's nanny

#219
post #55

Two of my sisters have in total 3 kids (4 to 6 years old) and all three of them need to watch youtube videos while eating. Just few days back, my sister had a 'gathering' to announce her 2nd child (making it total 4 kids combined) and the 3rd kid needed to watch few youtube videos (usually they are of other kids playing or doing some stuff) to eat his dinner, which I found quite odd. This thing is not only related to…

My kid has had youtube since birth. I would play nursery songs before 1 y.o. Later he was onto toy car and lego videos. Now he is 5, a couple months ago he discovered NumberBlocks and learned to count, first in English and later in our native tongue.

And not just counting, they also teach addition, subtraction and simple multiplication. He can count to 100 and has concepts of thousand, million and even minus one - he wants to know if it is between 0 and 1 :) Then he discovered AlphaBlocks and learned most letters, but he says the letters in English.

Youtube has really been one of his nannies. I don't believe in restricting his access unless he gets obsessed with the tablet. But he plays with legos and blocks most of the time. And the future is digital, I want him to be a digital native. Maybe not all kids react the same way, so every case is sui-generis.

Re: YouTube has become the world's nanny

#220

As a parent, screen time vs no screen time is a fine line that we have to continually renegotiate. Screens can be great, there is so much good information out there that can enrich our lives. I wouldn't go the "no screens ever" route because that's just being a luddite, robbing them of the change to experience, and acquire expertise in, the digital world that they will be interacting with for the rest of their lives.…

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