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YouTube has become the world's nanny

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Re: YouTube has become the world's nanny

#381
You have to teach your kids how to use YouTube and what they can learn from it.

How the YouTube front page works, how YouTube recommends videos, how YouTubers produce their videos. How these things are honed and perfected to attract their attention and never let go.

And you have to teach them how it influences them. You have to teach them about addiction and anxiety. You have to teach them about moderation and responsibility.

Its not YouTube’s fault if you don’t teach them yourself.

Re: YouTube has become the world's nanny

#382

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looks like at this time the screen has triggered quite an emotional (probably irrational) response. Besides your point is nonsense.

Directly modifying incentive salience via drugs is different than normal environmental stimuli through normal sense perceptions. They require different responses from society and parroting falsehoods like you and others are doing is dangerous. You've already seen what the "drug war" has justified. Bringing that kind of response in to deal with normal aspects of living is wrong. The youtube is dangerous crowd has abou…

Blah blah blah.

This is all nonsense and has nothing to do with the original comment.

Re: YouTube has become the world's nanny

#383
post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless this is sarcasm, I completely disagree. Listening to thousands of ideas inevitably lowers the value you attach to each one, and lowers the barrier of entry for what ideas you hear.

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." This is how I exercise that skill. I listen to science, sociology, religion, conspiracy theories, relationship dynamics, etc. Sometimes, I pick up something. Most of the time I'm allowing the ideas to float around in my head. It helps a lot to practice this skill, because I trade for a living and I need to be able to convince…

Yeah, but receiving ideas non-stop isn't really "listening" to them. A more accurate description of that passive activity would be "hearing". I get that surrounding yourself by interesting ideas and conversations is a nice passive way of entertaining potentially alternative views. But there are way better setups in which to do this. The YouTube algorithm is unlikely to challenge you to the same extent of, say, organising a family dinner where the racist uncle or communist cousin are in attendance.

Re: YouTube has become the world's nanny

#384
post #383

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." This is how I exercise that skill. I listen to science, sociology, religion, conspiracy theories, relationship dynamics, etc. Sometimes, I pick up something. Most of the time I'm allowing the ideas to float around in my head. It helps a lot to practice this skill, because I trade for a living and I need to be able to convince…

Yeah, but receiving ideas non-stop isn't really "listening" to them. A more accurate description of that passive activity would be "hearing". I get that surrounding yourself by interesting ideas and conversations is a nice passive way of entertaining potentially alternative views. But there are way better setups in which to do this. The YouTube algorithm is unlikely to challenge you to the same extent of, say, organi…

OK

Re: YouTube has become the world's nanny

#385
Tv helps, but YouTube seems to kill kids'brain.

I usually provide them with long (long= 1 hour +) movies if they watch tv and usually the same one (that's the relationship we had with tv). This seems better than youtube, they seems to learn a lot about the movie which means they are engaged.

I wish I could tell we don't show them tv at all, but some days we are so tired that the whole family just hangs on the couch watching some good movies If they are not they get bored and change "toy"

Re: YouTube has become the world's nanny

#386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for that comparison. I have never truly experienced addiction without losing self control for whatever reason. I can start and stop smoking, drugs never took a hold. I feel the pull for sure, but am able to stop. But I lose several hours a day to YouTube. Ever since Shorts made their way into my life, I start and end most days with an hour of watching bullshit I don't even like. And before I open it I tell mys…

I was in the same exact boat as you. If you have uBlock origin, you can add these custom filters to remove shorts: https://ronangelo.com/how-to-hide-shorts-videos-on-youtube/ I have not missed them one bit, nor had any desire to unblock them. Like you, I would mindlessly watch them in between tasks at work, and felt duller and worse for it every time my little binge ended. I also got a dumbphone, which I honestly lov…

Thanks. Good tip for desktop, will install. But the main vector for me is my phone. Which dumbphone did you pick up?

Re: YouTube has become the world's nanny

#389
post #191

Happy to say that I am a father of four and have no clue what CoComelon is. Our solution to "screen time" has been an hour of Sonic or Kirby on the weekend and educational-only videos during the week which have something to do with whatever they are talking about or learning that day. For example, our kitchen has a number of large windows and the birds love to eat in front of it. My five year old has become obsessed…

Playing games at grade school age - is that a waste?

Re: YouTube has become the world's nanny

#390

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Time spent reading = 2x amount received in screen time works for us. Books (comic books count) have no screen time, neither have any kinds of crafts or other interactive things. Games are more OK in my mind than just passively staring at someone open surprise eggs on Youtube or watching a "let's play" of some game or a "influencer reacts to X" crapfest. Thus we have a separate more generous screen time set for games…

We do something similar and cap the time on screens. Also, if the kids start showing signs of wanting screens too much, we refocus them on something else- sometimes for several days or more. When they ask why, we remind them that screens are a tool for us to use, not the other way around-- and it's time to take a break. In fairness, we do this for anything they get overly attached to that could be harmful in excess.

Yep, you should always be able to take the screen away without causing a nuclear meltdown in the child. If that's not possible - you've got work to do.
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