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Algorithm That Makes Preschoolers Obsessed with YouTube

theatlantic.com

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Re: Algorithm That Makes Preschoolers Obsessed with YouTube

#41
post #2

Kids aged 2 and 3 should watch any content together with their parent. Or at the very least, the content that parent watched and approved before. No 2 or 3 year old should be mindlessly browsing Youtube

I did, and now this is permanently burned into my brain: "Daddy finger, daddy finger, where are you? Here I am, here I am, how do you do?"

Daddy finger is THE most hated in all households with kids, of all time.

Re: Algorithm That Makes Preschoolers Obsessed with YouTube

#43
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I noticed this myself watching my friends young cousin browse Youtube.. his feed was half clickbait 20-something white guys yelling at you to subscribe Minecraft videos, half perverted (such as Spiderman kissing Elsa from Frozen) or oddly gory children videos like the ones described in the article. If I ever have kids, there's no way in hell I'm letting them run free with an iPad or iPhone. I know it's the "easy way…

You may make a different choice after years of being unable to do anything but give 100% of your attention to the child. Someone needs to cook & clean, or go to work, after all. In the "old days" you'd just cut your kid loose into the environment. Well, these days, TV and iPads are part of the environment, and YouTube along with it. I'm not saying you wouldn't make boundaries. Boundaries are important. But that may a…

Or you just do it the old fashioned way - teach them to read and give them books. If they can use an iPad they can read.

Re: Algorithm That Makes Preschoolers Obsessed with YouTube

#44
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I noticed this myself watching my friends young cousin browse Youtube.. his feed was half clickbait 20-something white guys yelling at you to subscribe Minecraft videos, half perverted (such as Spiderman kissing Elsa from Frozen) or oddly gory children videos like the ones described in the article. If I ever have kids, there's no way in hell I'm letting them run free with an iPad or iPhone. I know it's the "easy way…

You may make a different choice after years of being unable to do anything but give 100% of your attention to the child. Someone needs to cook & clean, or go to work, after all. In the "old days" you'd just cut your kid loose into the environment. Well, these days, TV and iPads are part of the environment, and YouTube along with it. I'm not saying you wouldn't make boundaries. Boundaries are important. But that may a…

I would be pretty worried that my kid was hooked up to a virtual Skinner Box actually, and I'd prioritize avoiding that. My friends have managed to keep their 6 year old girl away from this kind of thing, so it's definitely doable.

Re: Algorithm That Makes Preschoolers Obsessed with YouTube

#45
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may make a different choice after years of being unable to do anything but give 100% of your attention to the child. Someone needs to cook & clean, or go to work, after all. In the "old days" you'd just cut your kid loose into the environment. Well, these days, TV and iPads are part of the environment, and YouTube along with it. I'm not saying you wouldn't make boundaries. Boundaries are important. But that may a…

Or you just do it the old fashioned way - teach them to read and give them books. If they can use an iPad they can read.

No. Kids can operate iPads long well before they are able to learn how to read.

Re: Algorithm That Makes Preschoolers Obsessed with YouTube

#46
post #19
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My kids were a little under 2 heading into election season. We watched very little television at that age but there was one YouTube show that would really help calm down one of them. Pretty much every time we watched that, we got a Trump ad. Yay living in Ohio! Thankfully they've taken to some PBS shows like Daniel Tiger and Thomas, so they're usually content with that and we generally don't watch them on YouTube, so…

> Thankfully they've taken to some PBS shows like Daniel Tiger and Thomas I recommend tracking down some old-school Mister Rogers' Neighborhood if you can. Totally engages my 4-year-old, and she actually talks to him when prompted, which she does with no other children's show. The pace is sedate and the shots long (like, really long, in a way I didn't appreciate as a kid—that had to be difficult to film). They make T…

I agree completely. The long-takes, especially. Amazon Prime Video has a good collection of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood episodes. I'll find myself drawn in to the show in a way I'm not at all by any other kid's shows.

Incidentally, Fred Rogers went into television when it was figuring out what a kids show should be; YouTube Kids is in a similar situation now. I wish we had a modern-day visionary who could bring the calm, compassionate, thoughtful message of Mr. Rogers to the tablets and phones where kids are doing most of their watching.

Re: Algorithm That Makes Preschoolers Obsessed with YouTube

#47
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Thankfully they've taken to some PBS shows like Daniel Tiger and Thomas I recommend tracking down some old-school Mister Rogers' Neighborhood if you can. Totally engages my 4-year-old, and she actually talks to him when prompted, which she does with no other children's show. The pace is sedate and the shots long (like, really long, in a way I didn't appreciate as a kid—that had to be difficult to film). They make T…

All television from the 60s and 70s had extremely long shots by today's standards. Just for fun pick any show on any channel with modern content. Drama, comedy, even news broadcasts -- the average shot duration is only 3.5 seconds. SECONDS! Not only that, but the weird camera angles, and the infuriating "shakey cam" (handled camera being purposely jiggled) is predominant in children's programming, and used to keep ou…

Alfred Hitchock's Rope or bust.

Re: Algorithm That Makes Preschoolers Obsessed with YouTube

#48
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may make a different choice after years of being unable to do anything but give 100% of your attention to the child. Someone needs to cook & clean, or go to work, after all. In the "old days" you'd just cut your kid loose into the environment. Well, these days, TV and iPads are part of the environment, and YouTube along with it. I'm not saying you wouldn't make boundaries. Boundaries are important. But that may a…

Or you just do it the old fashioned way - teach them to read and give them books. If they can use an iPad they can read.

My child was competently operating an iPad before he could talk or walk

Re: Algorithm That Makes Preschoolers Obsessed with YouTube

#49
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have a look at Youtube Kids ( https://kids.youtube.com/ )

Looks interesting. How well does this app prevent weird/disturbing/bad videos?

I've been using it since launch and think it works as advertised, not only in cutting out the weird stuff but in actively directing the child to educational content.

It also has a timer built in, and when the time runs out an animated face shows up and "goes to sleep" which is incredibly effective in avoiding a tantrum when screen time is up.

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