The reason these off-color parodies are showing up in YouTube Red is because in "regular" YouTube, little kids (especially boys) are eating that stuff up. Kids love those bizarre videos.
Instead of just interviewing horrified moms, if NYT interviewed more bemused dads, they'd probably get reactions along the lines of, "Yeah, I can see how that stuff is fun to watch for my kid."
14
So, in exchange for little 3 year old Isaac learning his colors and letters earlier than other boys, he gets the chance to being exposed to scary stuff. His mother should thank the video's creators for shaking her out of her stupor and stop letting her kids grow up prisoners of the boob tube, what shape and form it happens to take these days. Plus, her child in the lead photo in this article will surely be developing poor posture and a hunch back the way he's sitting and leaning over the tube. Wake up America.
28
Interesting that this article is published just after NYT published article on how to make YouTube (the adult site, not the YouTube Kids app) safer for children, noting it can be the “Wild West.” Google has created a safer version of YouTube. It isn’t perfect but presumably much safer and better for kids than the adult version.
1
Filters are not perfect. By obsessing over a few videos that get through to a few people it creates things similar to what happened with the WSJ saying that coke ads were appearing on a racist video, which first of all was probably fake and second all it did was reduce revenue for all youtubers by about 95% and causing advertisers to pull out of YT. This is no different and instead of helping YT fix it only makes them lose money which makes it harder to fix. If you see something that offends you online, either block it or report it instead of making drama about it.
2
Leaving aside for a moment the questions of when to allow young children to watch videos, and how much time to permit, here is the answer to the question “what to watch.” PBS Kids. On the app, on the air, on-line. Everything is created and curated by humans committed to the education of your children. Emotional growth. STEAM subjects. Interpersonal relationships. For 50 years now, you’ve been able to count on PBS and it’s stations. There’s no need to deliver your children to a profit-seeking algorithm. PBS. The simple and safe choice.
89
So very sad that parents rely on algorithmic parameters set by random techies in order to filter content their toddlers see! And I must say, watching an example of the types of cartoons available makes me sad. Such poor quality. Not even conversation, just grunting and noise. The dumbing down of society!!! Parents please turn it off! Engage with your children properly.
33
Why do children this young even have access to YouTube? What is wrong with books and blocks and toys that do not have internet access? No wonder why kids today have short attention spans and always feel like they have to be entertained. We have to stop letting electronics entertain and baby sit our children and grandchildren. The have plenty of time in life to use these devices when they are old enough to be responsible enough to understand and use them responsibly.
47
Kids should be outside playing or going to the forest. They should not be watching video until after seven years of age. Steve Jobs did not let his kids use computers fro some time.
28
Playing outside in the forest actually can be dangerous. The chances that an offensive video will get on YouTube Kids is actually pretty low and within a few minutes of being reported these videos get taken off of it, although something like PBS Kids would be better because it actually teaches kids things instead of a lot of the content being advertising.
4
As John Derbyshire noted in his 2010 book "We Are Doomed."
No better evidence of it than this story.
11
Do not give your children devices that connect to the internet unless you are sitting watching and interacting with them - same with TV. Old-fashioned books are great for teaching letters, shapes, colors, empathy with characters, etc.
Devices are like taking a walk through a forest in a horror movie - you're pointing out the same stuff but there are also bad dudes lurking behind trees to mess with you. If you're going to have kids and want to ignore them a little while you cook dinner or do something else - give them a book or Legos. Not an iPad. Also that poor kid is going to have major neck and spine and back problems. You can't sit like that for hours without consequences.
As my mom used to say and I hated it then but it's good - "GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY."
27
If you just let your kids go outside and play now, you would literally be arrested. There's always going to be creepy things in life, but creepy videos online aren't going to kidnap your kids. Creepy people in real life might.
1
Sure, I suppose these filters need to be improved. But that does not dispute the fact that far too many parents are now leaving their parenting responsibilities to 'devices'. If you are going to bring children into this over-populated world of ours, then you need to be willing to do the work necessary. I'm so tired of people bringing new life into the world and then being irresponsible parents, to varying degrees.
18
Believe it or not, there was a time before iPods. Some of us were even raised prior to daytime TV or even TV at all. Electronic babysitters may be convenient, but what are you risking for your child? And what are you risking for society as a whole?
21
"Most of the videos flagged by parents were uploaded to YouTube in recent months by anonymous users..."
It's social media. It comes with the idealistic view that all content can be present and that the user will discriminate to his or her values.
Thus the Russians manipulated social media and Trump posts irresponsible fragments on Twitter, as do many other Twitter users. There is no vetting of this information. It fits in with the naïve distrust of an imagined "elitism" that would circumscribe recalcitrant views that people feel are valuable to the population. Therefore we must allow all sources of material.
So our kids can watch perverse material on YouTube. YouTube is forced to address this condition with a "filter" that still allows anonymous posts on its channel that increase its volume of traffic immensely, supporting more advertising.
As in the past, parents are going to have to be directly responsible for what their kids learn. But millennials have too much trust in social media with which they spend a lot of time. They require it to entertain their kids. Maybe they'll raise enough of a voice to improve social media. It looks as if we have a start.
7
And also it was very troubling that one of the parents started using the app, after becoming aware of it because it was in use at the child's school!
6
These kids do have a human to filter and flag content. They are called PARENTS.
34
Wow, just wow at the comments about this article. I see that most of the commenters who tell the parents to "just do their job" are men. I bet every one of you watched TV while your parents did what they had to do to keep your household running. This article is talking about some really sick stuff reaching toddlers in your community. Why not leap to first caring about their welfare instead of this super-lazy, knee jerk, holier-than-thou attack-the-parents reaction? These young parents are doing their job. They trusted a children's app that should do a better job of policing their product.
33
I was thinking that the sanctimonious commenters either never had kids, or had kids 25 years ago, when you could let your kids go to the playground alone without someone calling the cops.
19
Also, the people complaining about how "this is an example of how bad devices are" are wrong. It's not an example of how bad devices are, it's an example of how bad a few areas of one service is. There's plenty of other services that only have pre-approved content, maybe people should only let their kids use those if they are worried.
3
What is the difference between the Industrial Revolution and a child welfare system?
Sugar was sourced for sweetness and cars were meant for transportation.
The thonet chair is designed to be sat upon, as oppose to a child.
One was more in earnest than the other.
The issue of these weird videos is a problem even for those of us who are hyper-vigilant about screen time. We don't have a TV and allow our kids to watch a couple 5-minute Peppa Pig videos before bed, and we are usually sitting right there. Before YouTube kids was introduced, I was watching a Peppa Pig with my son, and it auto played into a video with Peppa all bruised and broken -- it played for maybe 5 seconds before I was able to turn it off, which was enough time for my son to get freaked out. Guys, these are like grooming videos, and I fear they're made to get kids to feel like dystopian stuff is okay. Most of the videos are with popular characters like Elsa from Frozen, or Spider-Man. Or it's a pregnant Elsa and Spider-man is giving her shots. It's WEIRD stuff.
And I realize that it's easy to blame parents who let their kids watch too much, but this is a bigger story than that. I can't fathom WHY anyone would make these videos, and I wish that YouTube could figure out a better way to kill them. Maybe they could stop policing political content so heavily and focus on keeping pedophilia grooming videos out. Just a thought.
26
How hard could it be to assign one person to protect at least your biggest clients' copyrighted characters from salacious impersonation. You don't need the Kids Channel well to run so unfathomably deep. Err on the side of caution, and add only what you are confident of. You don't NEED to be THAT unrestricted on the kids channel. They love watching the same things over and over and over as it is already.
7
Sad how an article about adults doing something wrong/harmful aimed at children turns into parents patting themselves on the back for how they parent, criticizing other parents, making judgements about parents and children, oh, and the old “when I was a kid…” None of that is the point. YouTube advertises this as a kids online environment and they have failed to maintain it as such.
It is time for other companies, (Disney? PBS?) to step up and become more relevant. Obviously there are many parents who would like a safe online entertainment environment for kids — videos, music — and really there is nothing wrong with that.
Let’s move forward with positive discussions on what can be done. And enough with how you parent. Really, no one cares how much screen time you do or don’t allow your kid.
20
That poor kid and his terrible posture in the picture. How about just take away the iPad and explore nature, go on trips, and read, paint and play with the kid instead?
8
For God's sake leave YouTube alone. Lock your kids up and away from it if you don't like. The rest of us Adults are not interested in G rated anything. Anything for the children. I am about sick of it.
4
These days it seems parents are raising children to feign happiness and interest in the world, while compromising their ability to sensitively observe.
4
Why oh why do parents let their children have these devises in the first place? Why not parent your three-year-old instead of plunking him down with a tablet so you can go do something else? Yes, parenting is exhausting and time-consuming and demands your attention when there are other tasks that need to be done. But, that's life. It used to be that parents helped their kids learn their colors and letters. Now, they depend on an app for that? Really?
8
The problem is parents who use these apps as babysitting devices. My children were never on the PC or even watching TV without me or me popping over or into the room a few times in a half hour. It's about supervising and raising your own children and not expecting Google or anyone to entertain them or teach them.
6
As a stay-at-home mom I have the luxury of using the local library, playgrounds, activity centers and a MILLION other things to keep my baby away from the screen. She gets ZERO screen time.
But this is a luxury in our age. Most parents are overworked, exhausted, having to still do all the chores and then when they give their child 30 minutes of uninterrupted distractions they cannot find the safe space to do it. Almost anywhere, these days.
Children can't play outside alone anymore.
What are moms and dads to do? Will you help them?
11
Parents have always been "overworked, exhausted and still have all the chores to do." And, it used to be there were no devices to entertain your kids. That was a parent's job. Nothing has changed. You learn to let things go. You stay up until 2 AM finishing the laundry, and you get up at 5 AM to empty the dishwasher and make the lunches. You spend all weekend making meals and freezing them so you can just defrost for dinner during the week. You go outside with your kids, you don't turn them out alone like the dogs. Yes, you're tired. Yes' it's hard work. Who said it be easy?
6
While I believe the ultimate responsibility lies firmly at the feet of the parents, for earlier generations like mine it was relatively easy to control media access when there were only at most seven or eight channels and strict rules about what could be broadcast before 9:00pm. I think that while YouTube, etc should be virtually unfiltered, if they're presenting a service as aimed at children, they have a high bar to achieve to ensure it meets that expectation.
10
Don't have the child. If it takes that much to parent the then, don't have them it's that simple!
4
None of this in my childhood long ago. Mom would just let me go out. We had indoor games and models to make, some with homegrown parts, if it rained or was too cold.
Oh! with the classic: "Come home if you bleed."
And I better have been in earshot of "the whistle".
"Exploring" was much much better than hanging my head over a screen.....Yuk!
5
But we also got into trouble that never got to our parents like exploring an abandoned building or the crazed homeless guy who chased us with a 2x4 with nails in it or going through the fences by the railroad tracks, etc. We need to be careful about just how careful we are.
7
RLG,
You were just plain lucky or mis-remembering. Just because we were allowed to explore doesn't mean creepy things didn't happen. Your statement is just a version of "make america great again". It is a white-wash (literally and figuratively) of how things were wonderful "back then".
There was always the creep down the street who exposed himself to children. And either you saw him or your friends told you about him. But mom or dad somehow didn't get told because it just kept happening.
Or the older teenager who "copped a feel". Or the nice neighbor who everyone loved, and said, "come look at my cat's kittens," And he wore that exotic short robe that kept coming open, with nothing on underneath. But parents didn't get told because you were ashamed of what you thought you did to deserve this. And of course, don't forget the uncle or grandfather or stepfather who got away for years with raping their relative or a friend who was spending the night.
Your childhood simply wasn't as rosy as you want to paint it.
12
Adults are finally shocked by what slips through to their kids in today's connected world, driven by advertising?
Not so shocked by a national election.
Wait until autonomous vehicles are ubiquitous: 'See Jane drive. Watch Puff run. Run Puff, RUN!'
When Google buys the New York Times, I'm unsubscribing.
3
I agree that parents were not shocked by the Election, it was the only way for their kids to have somewhat of a positive, normal life. Harveywood, (D) Election criminality, Selling our National Security all point to a horrific future for their kids. They should be grateful! Electronics are simply the current babysitter rather than human interaction.
Two thoughts come to mind: one, our son is seven and we never let him choose what to watch—we start and approve the occasional TV show and typically watch things together. Whether I'd trust YouTube, just letting your kid sit there and play with an iPad or phone and veg out is probably heading them down a slippery slope and I'm glad that's not our lives.
That said, on the other hand, kids come across things that are disturbing and that's always going to be life. It's an opportunity to talk, share, learn and grow. If I heard that YouTube Kids were showing ISIS beheading videos I'd feel differently, but talking about seeing something, and telling kids that they can stop a video when they're uncomfortable should just be basic parenting (and our son is sometimes scared of things that surprise me and I'm glad when he lets me know to turn something off).
6
For all of the judgmental old timers out there now lambasting current parents, let me fill you in on what being a modern parent is like. We aren't allowed to simply let our children play outside. Doing that these days gets you arrested and potentially gets your kid taken by the state. We also typically do not have the luxury of a stay at home parent, so we must cram in all of the household chores, dinner, etc. in the two hours or so between getting home from work and having to do baths, bed time, etc. The people who are complaining about this product are not allowing their kids to watch YouTube writ-large. That would, of course, be irresponsible. They are complaining because Google created a product (specifically an app) called "YouTube Kids" which is marketed as being safe and appropriate for children. If Google is unable or unwilling to ensure that the product lives up to that billing, then it should shut the app down. Nobody is calling for YouTube as a whole to be censored, but something that is billed as a walled garden safe for children should not have these types of videos that are appearing.
28
Spot on but a sad sign of the societal failures.
4
I know it's tempting to stick an iPad in front of a kid's face, but maybe it would be kinder to give him a book, crayons and color book, building blocks or toy for him to use his imagination and (maybe) even be bored with.
I feel sorry for the poor kids stuck with electronic and chaotic images pulsing at them...Wake up parents! These days with a young mind are so valuable (and so short)!
15
Holy Blame the Victim, Batman. I know this is the popular refrain, but also remember all of those circumstances where parents need most of their concentration and kids are bored out of their skull...department stores, car repair, etc. Kids are 90% better in those circumstances today with an iPad on their lap. And those are circumstances where the parent and child are together, and a time where the parents needs some of their attention to accomplish the tasks more smoothly.
7
Dex, I remember those various scenarios. They are when I first learned to develop a sense of patience. My watching eyes took in so much of reality, increasing my ability to guage surroundings and the present tense.
9
How else is a kid going to learn to haggle, navigate reality, demonstrate patience?
3
I would add that in the case of Verizon Fios, you CANNOT delete the YouTube widget, so dangerous content can not only slip through and I am powerless to stop it. Thanks YouTube and Verizon.
3
Go to settings. Go into apps. Find it. Then disable. I've done it on the one device we let our kid use occasionally. No more youtube. Also disabled several other apps. Things like uber and other dumb bloatware pre-installed into the devices.
3
Or just root your phone and delete the bloatware and stuff. Also phones from cell providers are worse than ones that come straight from the manufacturer.
Reduce the amount of content in order to be able to filter it manually. We don't need millions of videos.
5
I feel like we are entering an age when American children are being sentenced to solitary confinement. I can't tell you how many times I have seen families at restaurants and in airports where each member of the family is immersed in their own digital device. The most heartbreaking example was just the other day when mom and dad and two older brothers stared at their phones/ipads in a restaurant while the toddler daughter played silently with a straw wrapper. Silence is not normal for a toddler. I understand the need for something to keep the kids occupied while you make dinner (I certainly did that) but at least Sesame Street on the TV is a somewhat shared experience. And apparently a lot more closely vetted. Many families seem to be on this slippery slope and who knows what the kids will find when they are 13 and no longer alerting mom to ugly (or worse) content.
20
From the American Academy of Pediatrics: "The AAP recommends parents prioritize creative, unplugged playtime for infants and toddlers. Some media can have educational value for children starting at around 18 months of age, but it's critically important that this be high-quality programming, such as the content offered by Sesame Workshop and PBS. Parents of young children should watch media with their child, to help children understand what they are seeing. "
26
The internet is the final frontier, not a babysitter. There's dark stuff on it, everywhere, and it's most likely to be found on sites where users contribute content. As a parent, a "xennial," and an elementary school educator, I share this PSA: the last thing you do is park your toddler with an iPad for entertainment. If you need the babysitter - and we all do sometimes - play some music, put on PBS (internet, digital antenna, it's free), give them some library books, let them bang on pots and pans. Humans raised children for eons without youtube.
22
I agree, one of the best things a parent can do is find videos/content that they know, not only because it is guaranteed to be appropriate, but it allows parent and child to connect and share the experience. It is from the lack of understanding of the internet and how to let a child be creative that causes situations like this. As much as having a perfect algorithm would be helpful, the parent should be right there with the child, watching the same thing together.
5
#parentigishard
These newbie parents are obviously DEVASTATED that they may have to pay attention to the internet content their kids absorb. I’ve got two little kids, so I feel prepared enough to offer this advice: it gets more complicated.
14
Youtube censors are way too busy blocking conservative view videos from their site to pay attention what is being shown to small children.
3
"Horrible, horrible evil people". Wow. Perhaps they deserve life behind bars. Water boarding? Drawing and quartering? Personally I find extreme bellicose accusations more frightening than a tasteless video or two that reaches children. The only lasting harm done would be due to the self-serving overreaction and overprotection of the parent.
13
If it was regular YouTube I'd agree, but this is a separate app called YouTube Kids. It should live up to the billing. There is a place on the internet for uncensored, unfettered information. That place is not embedded in a product marketed for use by small children.
9
I had a look at YouTube Kids for my 6 year old granddaughter, and quickly uninstalled it. Nothing but garbage.
18
Why embed all the offending videos in this story? You're giving the creators of this stuff more views.
7
We are your Government approved overlords, and we're here to help.
4
Parents, you're just going to have to make an effort to control what your kids are exposed to. Parking a kid in from of a pad thereby freeing you up to do other things has been rendered irresponsible by sickos and perverts.
11
Suggest you check your own links in this article, as it would appear some have been corrupted
1
Don’t let your children surf the net unattended.
20
How do we stop children from the internet? The internet is a part of the education system and they use it everyday. Our children are given chromebooks at school should we be sitting on their shoulder in the classroom? when they are doing their homework?
Stop blaming the parents. The content providers need to take responsibility for the type of content available for children. People forget that in the olden days. Access to pornographic content required a drivers lic and proof of age, it was kept behind a shelf next to the cashier not in the cereal aisle next to the Fruit Loops.
1
I'm reluctant to live in a world of YouTube babies.
10
No one needs videos.
Get them some books.
56
Thank you for this.
5
The father who leaves his 3 year old kid to watch YouTube with no supervision is irresponsible. Stop complaining and look after your kid, Peter.
18
This is not about negligent parenting so much as awareness of dark plots to covertly target very young children. Why? What is the intention of the producers and why do they have millions of views?
The videos are clearly meant to shock and traumatize preschoolers who happen upon it. That is a very, very disturbing action that should make parents feel as if their kids are being targeted for unthinkable exposure to dark themes including acts of abortion, humiliation of characters through the use of urination and excrement dumped on them, bloody injuries and more, all performed by well known costumed characters like Spiderman, Elsa, and others.
The idea that these videos are slipping by moderation algorithms is a poor excuse on YouTube's part. It is not acceptable to allow this to happen. Why isn't YouTube or the sponsors who have ads on these videos stopping this?
Something is truly amiss. I'm glad the MSM is finally picking up on it. Check out Investigating YouTube for more information.
15
Funny,
People actually think youtube will raise their kids.
Get off your ases and interact with them.
Gawd, people today are so blind to the degeneracy on entertainment outlets.
There's soft porn, beheading, recorded murders, canibalism on youtube today.
15
I have two neighbors that each have several kids - in one house, the iPads are in the kids' hands inside and outside and the kids look so, hmm, fragile and mind of pale. In the other house, the kids spontaneously raid closets and toy chests to play dress up, pretend to have swimming races in the yard wearing swimming goggles while running on the grass, they alternate pitching wiffle and kick balls to each other, they ride around on Big Wheels, they argue, they make up, they sing, they count, they draw, they laugh, they put their own boots on to puddle stomp and they roll in the grass.
Parents need to decide which family they choose to be - and stop being sitting ducks for unscrupulous webbysitters.
42
Geez! What parent allows any child, especially those under age 12 or so, unsupervised access to the internet???!!!
While I'm sure it's already been stated, but back when I was growing up in the '60s and '70s, my parents allowed no more than 2 hours of tv per day and only if we had done chores, homework and were behaving. And on weekends we were expected to be outdoors playing, not parked in front of the boob tube! And certain shows, such as "Maude", were off limits.
14
"Some parents have taken to deleting the app. Others, like Ms. Burns, still allow its use, just on a more limited, supervised basis."
A 3 year old has no reason to be on the Internet at all. Give him books, blocks, puzzles, play-doh. Let him watch 30 minutes of PBSKids every day. Kids as young as 3 are either using devices for hours every day or being ignored by their parents using devices for hours every day. Go to almost any restaurant and watch how many families, including those with very young children, are all staring at a phone or tablet, instead of interacting with each other. Is there any doubt it is happening at home, too? And now it has permeated every public school across the country. But not the private school that the children of tech parents attend. Hmmm, I wonder why?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/technology/at-waldorf-school-in-silico...
21
Amazing the amount of press promoting squashing freedom of the press lately.
2
I'm sorry but it's ridiculous that any parent would put their 3 year old in control of YouTube and then complain about content. Download a movie or something -- or better yet go to the library every week and take out a stack of books and read with your children. Sheesh.
24
Why on earth would a parent hand a iPad to a young child so he can choose what he wants to watch! My children, now in their mid40's were limited to PBS and the occasional Sat AM cartoon. They never watch TV without me nearby to explain things and interact.
I love my iPad but using it as a nanny is a big mistake.
16
Anyone who doesn't know that it's impossible to avoid all inappropriate content on the internet is too naive to be a parent. And those who aren't so naive are just irresponsible if they let such young children surf the web.
9
The alternative is of course that we don't just dump our small kids unsupervised in front of an app that constantly offers surprises. When we ran into Spiderman urinating on Elsa or blowing up cars only to then start playing bongo drums we simply deleted YouTube from the device our kid was allowed to use. There was no way to control YouTube. Our solution so far has been curated playlists and/or not letting our kid watch any of it alone. Otherwise we just turn it off. As much as I agree that it's awful how some people abuse YouTube's kids' settings and that there could be a better way to detect urinating superhero cartoons in the kid friendly zone, it's ultimately not a big problem that requires a big solution. It's a luxury problem that requires a little parental attention. If anything, there might be a business opportunity here for someone who wants to get into curation.
8
Maybe they should find the people that do these video "tricks" and find a way to have them sent out for A little renditioning.
Her "sweet, sweet little boy" that she cares so much about? Cares so much that she sits him down to drool and stare blankly at a screen just waiting to have his young mind programmed and bombarded with all types of subliminal messages hidden in cartoons?
Give your kids some crayons, blocks, legos, musical instruments... something to stimulate their creativity... anything other than having their minds dumbed down and subliminally programmed by a screen and corporations. Of course that will mean you'll have to devote much of YOUR precious time to your child's well-being and development. Yikes!
14
When I read this - "a video of a family playing roughly with a young girl, including a scene in which her forehead is shaved, causing her to wail and appear to bleed" - I wondered, has anyone reported this abusive behavior to the Children's Services in the community where this family lives? Does You Tube have a mechanism for reporting this to them, so that they can report it to the proper authorities?
It made me sick to read this article.
5
Better to keep very young kids off the screen entirely. Even the "good" stuff is not good for very young children.
4
yeah, these videos are kind of sick... but why on earth would you let your young child watch *anything* online unsupervised?? Surely there are other and better ways to occupy their time, energy, and attention.
6
It is in my opinion indeed completely irresponsible to park toddlers or even older children in front of iPads or mobile phones , even if all clips would be “clean”. The article should have at least questioned this parental behavior. Instead, all parental guilt is passed on to the “bad” YouTube algorithm. YouTube has only one objective- to have children make as many clicks as possible so that ad revenue is maximized. It’s your choice as a parent to control that or not.
3
Keep your very young children off the screen, especially if you are too lazy to supervise them. All that blather about early learning is a ruse to get children addicted to the instant gratification provided by our digital age. If these parents who are oh so outraged over YouTube Kids want to have progeny with no attention spans, they are on the right track. Read to your kids, everyone.
7
Here's a radical thought: Remove iPads and television from the kids, and give them erector and Lego sets, and coloring booksYou'll be surprised at how this problem goes away (and, I wager, their cognitive development is on a better path).
7
Parents don't understand. Yotube is not your friend. Keep your children away from youtube.
22
Children should not be watching anything, unsupervised. How many times does this have to be stated before parents get it? Or does the need for "harmless" pabulum for kiddie consumption outweigh the requirement to take an active role, 24/7, in raising your children?
And let's not forget that providing continuous stimulation, no matter how innocuous, to any human being -- especially children -- is not merely bad, but dangerous.
7
There seems to be a relatively easy fix for many of the problems. YouTube should require people uploading content to provide a credit card number. If a video is flagged by a user as being inappropriate and confirmed manually, the card would be charged a fee and all revenue from views would be withheld. My guess is that even a $10-50 fee would be enough to shut this down. A similar approach could be used for a lot of the political advertising problems.
3
Filters are not perfect. Children should be reading books or watching TV (who knew that TV would eventually be a preferable choice for children!) rather than just scrolling around apps. Instead of a YouTube app, which anyone can load content onto, is there one for Sesame Street?
5
I have an idea. Take away the iPad and give the kid a toy. Or crayons and paper.
Screen time in our house was very limited, and supervised. The kids each chose one show they could watch daily. Otherwise they had to find something else to occupy them. We still managed to get things done around the house.
I don't have a problem with YouTube - my kids chose from the TV versions of PBS kids and Nickelodeon before YouTube made viewing more mobile. But still, why not just limit the video babysitter? Because ultimately, it costs you time if you have to babysit the babysitter, and I can't imagine it does all that much for basic brain development, or the self discipline of learning to entertain yourself.
11
I thought Nik we have become way too protective of children. Helmets for everything outdoors is a perfect example. In past generations, mother were dying in childbirth and people lived an average of 45 years. It was reality.
1
While we don’t want to go back to that reality - women regularly dying in childbirth and people living to about 45 were not good times - kids are a lot more managed, if that’s the right word, today than in generations past. I used to play outside for hours with friends, and that was back in the 80s; my parents, children of the World War II generation, were literally set loose unsupervised on weekends and during the summer. My mother played outside in her Bronx neighborhood with the other children for most of the day, the only requirement being that she had to be home in time for dinner. As she put it to me once, “Grandma would have killed us if we were in the house with her all day.”
Now, when I drive through my friends’ ostensibly family-friendly neighborhood to visit, there isn’t a kid in sight. Ever. Not even lingering in the yards. They’re all indoors, or at a host of activities that take up all their free time. These aren’t older children either: they’re all little guys. Even one whirling dervish of a kid, who in the past would have been sent outside to play and run off her excess energy, is enrolled in at least three activities at all times, which basically keeps everyone sane. Between the activity du jour and her all-day nursery school program, this little girl has a very busy day every day. While it’s good in one sense - she’s occupied and not getting into trouble - the other side of that coin is she hasn’t learned to entertain herself, which is an important skill.
4
Geeze, give current parents a break here. So many people
commenting can hardly contain themselves casting stones,
and giving lofty advice. Stop with the lectures. Parents
of young children will find their way to navigate the latest
innovations. I remember as a child when television first
arrived in homes and we children watched everything.
From gory old fashioned scary movies to variety shows
with double entendre, and in a pinch the test pattern.
10
No. it's ridiculous to give a 3 year old free run of the internet and then complain about content. Who said you needed to give a 3 year old an iPad? Ridiculous.
12
What I forgot to add was that even though my clueless
parents allowed us to watch everything, sitting right
beside us when they ever they could with their own
mouths agape as well, Of course there were only
were only 3 channels then, sometimes, depending on the
wind and whatnot, and they all stopped for the national
anthem at 10pm or so, But even with this terrible
upbringing, I became and still am a voracious reader,
Go figure. And if a parent wants to give a 3 year old
an IPad, how is that any of my business? I have
a very strong belief that children should only eat
organic food, but what right do I have to lecture
another parent.
1
The potential dangers of smart-device use for younger children go well beyond the occasional inappropriate YouTube Kids video. I have a 20-month old niece who learned - on her own - to unlock her mother’s iPhone and play YouTube videos. Though apps and other smart technology can be incredible learning tools, they are engineered to be addictive, and children are the most suceptible of all.
13
I always blocked YouTube for my kids but this is still a problem. I’ve had my kid type some pretty innocuous stuff (light sabers for girls) into Google SafeSearch and had graphic pornography show up in the image results. I managed to close the browser in time, but they really could be doing better at this. I went back later and couldn’t even find an easy way to report inappropriate content.
9
I'm really very sorry about this, but anyone who allows their child unobserved access to the internet, at all, is a fool. There's an astounding amount of disturbing stuff on the internet, and it sneaks in no matter what you do.
For example, I've logged into the NYT for many years now, and the advertisements are always reasonably aimed at me, sometimes following things I've googled lately, like rugs (I got a week's worth of rug ads from a bit of rug research one night). Logging in from someone else's computer at work, I suddenly started getting mildly racy advertisements for meeting a certain specific type of woman.
So it's out there, and as soon as you plunk your kid down with a computer and tell them to just amuse themselves, you don't know what they'll find.
65
It is true that the net is not childproof. It's also true that watching the kids enough so that they stay away from the stove, don't run out in traffic, don't drink the laundry detergent etc etc is a full time job as it is. Locking your phone in a safe for every moment it's not in your pocket is just not practical.
2
Obviously, you can't just leave your kids to watch whatever on your tablet. Screen what they watch and control it or watch with them. If you using cyberspace as a babysitter, you shouldn't be surprised when your kids end up watching inappropriate things..
40
Why can't they hire human moderators instead of relying on algorithms? Oh, right, that would chip away at their billions of dollars. But they could also then say that they created more jobs than Trump. So, get on it Google/Alphabet.
19
Who is going to curate content on YouTube and for what wages? Inmates, who handle data entry and credit card loans? High school dropouts from Low Point, KY? Tech support from Mumbai? No, seriously, what work force do you envision taking over the algorithms?
3
Yeah. Screen the millions of videos uploaded every day.
How about parents do their job and supervise their children?
1
With 400 new hours of video uploaded every minute, there is no way human monitors can keep up.
2
Thankfully this is a complete non-issue for parents who abstain from sticking screens in front of their kids.
74
Yes, but those are the parents whose kids don’t recognize colors before other kids.
4
and who abstain from letting their kids have friends...or cousins...?
5
Really, Wasted? Then how did those of us who came of age before the iPad learn our colors? I hope that your comment was meant to be sarcastic.
These kids will learn their colors regardless of whether or not an iPad is shoved in their faces. None of them are going to end up at college unable to differentiate the color red from the color green.
And in my experience, it’s the kids whose parents limit screen time -including TV time - who are the most polite, most imaginative, and most pleasant to be around, and who can actually interact with others without acting like mini Neanderthals. Again, just my experience, so no one skewer me please.
7
Oh whatever. Parents are using YouTube as a babysitter, and a totally free one. Whatever “non-disturbing” content that’s fed to their children is just as damaging.
And it is not like we NEED to have more humans on the planet.
People, unless you want (or are able) to put in the time to raise your children... just don’t do it. And spare me your iPad drama.
54
Agreed, except time is often the equivalent to money whose value has been radically compromised.
1
Children should not be allowed on the internet because there is just no way of controlling what they will see.
Children don't need to get hooked on endless variety and novelty like their parents are. Before the internet children would read and reread a book or watch and rewatch a video until they knew everything there was to know about it and even then they would love it for it's familiarity. My daughter could recite all the dialogue from Meryl Streep reading Sleeping Beauty or whatever it was. It was a video with beautiful still artwork. Imagine that.
We are all complete wrecks because of the internet. We even let this compulsive starting at these screens keep us from sleeping, let alone having relaionships, doing our work, etc. Why . . .why . . .why . . .do we wish to get toddlers addicted to this sinkhole of life's vitality? Just so they don't bother us while we're consuming the same junk on our own personal screen?
65
If a car seat, crib, or toy proves to be unsafe, there's a recall and the manufacturer might get sued. YouTube Kids appears to be a shoddy and unsafe product. I'd like to see less uninformed and unkind judgment of parents who thought they were using a child-safe product, and more call for accountability from the multi-billion dollar corporation that created and distributes YouTube Kids. Odd how so many gave Google an implicit pass.
23
I'd like to see more parents taking a direct approach to parenting as opposed to letting a cold electronic screen do it.
32
What sort of direct parenting happened before? If you were making dinner, kids played outside or in the playroom. If your house had one, kids watched TV. Additionally, your household probably had one employed parent and one stay-at-home parent. This is no longer the norm. When both parents work, both parents have to cook, clean, take care of household business, and parent in a world that is extremely judgmental of their decisions and where it's not longer acceptable to send your kids outside for a couple of hours or plunk them down into a playpen.
7
You must be using that newfangled definition of "unsafe." Nobody will be killed or maimed by a YouTube video.
Memo to parents: Try actually being parents instead of offloading your responsibility to Google's algorithms. Ever heard of reading to your kids? Or is that too much to ask as you wait for your new $1,000 iPhones to arrive? Technology isn't improving young lives. It is ruining them.
51
The protagonist of this story seems to be upset at age-inappropriate situational content of the videos the 3-year old is watching on YouTube Kids. Enough has been said about a parent handing over parenting to an app and judgement calls to YouTube algorithm. Unfortunately the problems do not end there. Most of the "legitimate" educational content generated by the big networks is in fact derivative and pathetic drivel. Parents will do well to supplement reading books to and playing with theirs kids by some digital content, but finding it is no easier than finding a good book. So if you are looking for education rather simple distraction of your kid, first consume and evaluate content yourself. No app will approximate your knowledge of your kid, your educational goals, and your tastes.
13
I'll tell you an easy way to find a good book: once a week go to the public library children's room and borrow a big stack of books.
5
"....derivative and pathetic drivel..."....perfect summation
1
It would be extremely helpful if Alphabet would implement parental controlled filters to block certain "channels" instead of having parents depend on 3rd party apps that are somewhat unstable and of marginal utility. Presently each person basically has to build up their own set of blocked purveyors with no built in YouTube look a side visibility to other parents' experience. This software is nearly trivial to construct, it isn't clear why Alphabet feels the effort isn't worthwhile.
We have our own blocked list (using a 3rd party app), list of "favorites", and actively report any problem videos. I would be much happier if we could filter upcoming videos weighted using a white listed group of like minded parents, plus blocking user selected channels (one person's mild video is unacceptable to another person, channels are usually similar in content) instead of whatever "our opinion is better than yours" algorithm Alphabet's third tier programmers use to flaccidly select the "next video" to show.
4
Maybe parents could get rid of the YouTubeKids app and instead make manual playlists of G-rated videos (on YouTube now):
-Electric Company
-SchoolHouse Rock (at least 100 of these 1970s educational ABC videos on YT)
-Zoom! (70s' PBS show; it's kinda cheesy but in the 90s I liked those Zoom! kids and their Boston accents; they're due for a comeback)
-Dora the Explorer (Kids I know LOVE this show and it's educational)
Doc McStuffins (Kid doctor treats stuffed animals)
"...videos with well-known characters in violent or lewd situations and other clips with disturbing imagery, sometimes set to nursery rhymes"
One of the best books my 5th grade (public) teacher read to us (yes, she still read to us even though it wasn't a "benchmark" in the "IEP" plan) had a 10-year heroine who realized the faraway school she had sneaked into (long story) was evil because of the textbook's nursery rhymes:
Mary had a little lamb
Its fleece as white as snow
Everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go
It followed her to school one day
Which was against the rule
It bit the teacher on the leg
And knocked her off the stool
"Hit the teacher! Hit the teacher!"
All the children cried
And each of them picked up a rock
And stoned her till she died
But in the 90s kids in my class could distinguish the example of evil, so teachers could read stuff like that. Without the teacher filter, kids are probably lost.
"The Silver Crown": https://www.amazon.com/Silver-Crown-Aladdin-Fantasy/dp/0689841116
10
That's the best idea I've heard yet. The problem is what happens when kids click
On the recommended videos.... it's hard to keep them in one ecosystem when links lead them outside.
3
Video addicted parents passing on video addiction, in a perverse twist on misery seeks company. Why is it a lost talent to look at yourself and, instead of dooming children to your limits, wishing and doing better by them?
21
The big point here is that those babies are to young to be watching videos of any sort.
27
Am I the only one that thinks this is hilarious?
The creativity that goes into these videos is incredible.
And the melodramatic panic exhibited by "parents" who toss their offspring in front of a computer-generated playlist and expect rainbows, sunshine, and literacy to magically appear is simultaneously outrageous and gratifying!
38
Remember all,those violen things that happened to Wily Coyote in the Road Runner cartoons and the Three Stooges?
7
As a parent who sometimes lets my kids poke around in YouTube relatively unsupervised, I actually completely agree. If my kid happens upon an inappropriate video I might be mildly annoyed, but whose responsibly is it? Mine. And my children are not such delicate fragile little flowers that they'd be permanently scarred by an off color video.
9
Well said, kids are amazing at knowing what WE would think was appropriate or not. I think they just wanna have a chuckle, or experience something interesting (from my experience anyway).
1
The same technology which finds copyrighted material should be able to ensure that, for a commercial character, *only* copyrighted (ie, produced by that character's owners) material is allowed on the channel. The media companies know what they have created; other videos can be found and disallowed.
8
I didn't give my kids access to computers/phones at such a young age. I would put in a DVD or they would watch Sesame Street or shows that I was familiar with. I now it is tempting to just let them hold on to the i-pad while you are cooking but it does come with some problems as these parents have discovered.
14
For the love of G-d, good parents don't give their children access to the web at such a young age. What the heck are they thinking?
100
Companies like Google and YouTube are making hundreds of millions of dollars in profit every year from creating content on the internet. They NEED to instead be spending those profits on hiring ACTUAL PEOPLE to screen content instead of relying on an algorithm to do it. Devious people will always find a way to fool those algorithms. Unfortunately, until the companies are forced to do this, either by government mandate, or by economic pressure, they will simply continue to take their profits, instead of providing a safe, quality product.
18
It would be possible for google to create a safe closed video ecosystem for toddler but that will cost them money so they don't.
2
At least YouTube deletes G-rated conservative content in a timely manner. Their priorities are hanging out for all to see.
4
One moment. I know it's here somewhere.
Darn. Where is that tin foil hat?
1
Parents, books are good tools too. Use them. Go to the library and get some.
Read them with your children. Most children LOVE to be read to. Try books.
241
It's what we used to do as kids. Both my sister and I read before the age of three both parents read to us my dad read us the NY Times. It took effort and an interest on my parent's part. Todays parents seem to be much to busy to spend time with their children. They have become accessories.
27
Sounds like this mom doesn't understand simple child relationships
8
Kids do love this. It lets them listen to a story, exercise their imaginations, develop vocabulary and comprehension skills, and spend time with their parents, which are all good things. I don’t know why it’s such a novel concept nowadays.
Perhaps some parents just don’t want to be bothered. They’re tired at the end of the day, there’s still a million things to do, and the iPad is just easier. Setting aside those people who shouldn’t have had kids in the first place - and they exist in every generation - parenting today seems to be more competitive than ever before, and for some reason a lot of people in my generation (30s) seem confused and baffled by parenthood, and the kids meanwhile are ricocheting out of control. I know only a handful of people who seem to parent the way my parents and my friends’ parents did: with confidence and love, fully aware that they were indeed the adults in the room.
2
YouTube is the perfect predatory channel for your child to become victim to.
Just because you took the gate down in front of your staircase, and removed the child proof knobs on your stove, doesn't mean your kids are free from harming themselves.
14
K, so why are you letting your kids watch anything on YouTube if they are THAT young? Give a three-year-old an IPad? What is wrong with you? You should be cuddling them and reading them books. Sheesh. Sorry. Smh.
48
When letting children go online, treat it as you would in real life: understand where your child goes, with whom they interact, and with what they'll engage. Just like we wouldn't allow a 3 year old to wander out in a playground unsupervised, we shouldn't let young children go alone into an online environment. No matter what promises the site makes us. As a mom, I completely understand the need to let a screen allow me some much needed quiet or a chance to get dinner made. But I try to set up my child with a 20-30 minute program we both agree to, to let me get something done (or take a nap).
11
The best education for your child is to limit their screen time. It's hard to apply this because we are always on our screens too.
16
Who are these people???
I would never let my 4 year old watch anything, including PBS, unsupervised. I might as well just open the front door and let him out. Sure, he may learn something, but he could just as easily, and more likely, get hurt. There is no difference!
People, it's really simple: kids' brains are still developing. They should be exposed to all sorts of stimuli, most of it IRL. Screen time until the age of 6-7 should be severely limited and when it happens should be with parental supervision and interaction so that kids actually learn rather than just "watch".
Stop trying to turn the iPad or tv into a nanny. At best they're distractions, and there are plenty of better distractions out there (building blocks, puzzles, books!). At worst, they're dangerous.
78
You wouldn't let your 4 year old watch PBS unsupervised? That seems like quite the opposite extreme.
3
Hmmm ... “enormous amount of content it hosts” is Google’s excuse ... here we have another example of a technology outstripping it’s own ability to control itself. Well, Google, you built it ... it is your problem to administer. Too big? Throttle down! Get smaller! Reduce the amount of data you so zealously collect. Or hire tens of thousands more employees to suffer the horror of screening millions of hours of mind numbingly banal drivel. Or admit the whole thing was a bad idea from the get go and shut it down.
13
Or maybe a child of three shouldn't be on an I Pad for hours as I'm sure this child is. Too much responsibility on You Tube where is the responsibility of the parent?
13
Children of either wealthy or very astute poor parents will have books, drawing materials, musical instruments and creative toys. Children of obese, TV addicted dullards will be handed some video device. The former grow up to rule over and have the latter work some unrewarding job for them as labor.
12
Last time I checked library cards are free as is your very own public library. This isn't a class thing not sure why you made it such.
15
The mom in the article doesn’t seem to fit your profile. Wealthy parents have access to technology - many poor parents don’t. You make a ridiculous and inaccurate generalization.
5
Me - She does not have to fit my generalization, exactly because it is a generalization not specifically pointed at her. But, she is marching her kids to a 2cd class life.
1
These bootleg clips have been notorious for years among Internet users who go swimming in the deep end of the pool. To describe them as "lewd" is an understatement-most people would recognize that simulated acts of extreme sexual deviancy are being performed. The video titles are crafted to appeal to Google's child-friendly search algorithm and generate the maximum amount of ad revenue per video. They're also popular with lazy pedophiles who don't want to set up a VPN.
I assumed that the YouTube Kids moderation strategy was awful before reading the article. After reading Mr. Ducard's comments, I can say that it basically doesn't exist. Relying on parents to report inappropriate videos is either the height of negligence or the height of stupidity. Nobody is sitting down and watching YouTube Kids with their toddler. They're putting it on autoplay and sitting their kid in front of the screen while they cook dinner. In that context, it's hilarious that Mr. Ducard would boast about how few of the videos are removed.
Don't let your kid go on YouTube unless you want to explain all the unsavory stuff on the site. It's a lightly-gentrified neighborhood with plenty of freaks and weirdos still hanging around.
18
I am thankful for your not simply scolding but very constructive comment as I also allow my kid to watch YouTube kids occasionally (Peppa Pig, Super Simple Songs, Sesame Street videos etc) but didn’t realize the extent of harmful, deviant and certainly illegal stuff going on.
And you are absolutely right about the reason the problem is statistically under-appreciated. I am sure 9/10 times parents aren’t aware of inappropriate videos as they don’t watch them with their kids and kids either don’t appreciate the problems in a video or are scared to bring them up out of fear that they will lose access to the application.
4
In general, never assume megacorps, especially creepy internet advertisers like YouGoogPhabet, will do the parenting for you.
The rest of us who don't have kids have to endure the fatwas, politics, and breast censorship of the Parents Television Council, Focus on the Family, and other such fun groups, thanks to parents who do that.
If you can't take care of your kids, don't have them—and if you have no choice but to have them, my deepest condolences. (But vote for the non-Republican and run from your abusive partner as soon as safe!)
11
Dropping your kid in front of any sort of video panel device is pretty irresponsible to begin with, does little in the way of education etc. If the woman in this story could not teach her kids colors without cartoons, I feel sorry for her kids.
37
"I just can’t believe that with such a big company they don’t have people whose job it is to filter and flag."
I can tell you why: No one above the age of five would or could willingly watch something like this for a whole day without losing their mind. And tomorrow some more. Thanks, no thanks, I think I'll go over there, (re)stock some shelves and flip some burgers, thank you very much.
12
Employees doing sorting and filtering don't need to be limited to watching kiddie content, or looking for kiddie concerns. They should, collectively, be watching *all* uploads, and flagging them in a variety of ways--catching the terrorist propaganda, for instance.
6
And who's going to pay all these people? It would take an army.
The mother who leaves her 3 year old kid to watch YouTube with no supervision is irresponsible. Stop complaining and look after your kid.
180
"The mother"?
PETER, PETER, PETER ...
8
This is why it makes sense to support things like PBS, where people actually behave in a civilized manner.
233
PBS has an entire channel devoted children's shows. If parents don't know here to find PBS, it's that network that doesn't play smutty programs for adults and doesn't waste your time with commercials for cars and drugs.
2
That whole Bad Baby “platform” on You Tube is disgusting but kids are apparently learning their colors. What more could any parent want? This is why America’s education system should be the beacon for the whole world, it gets the results whatever the cost to everything else is.
2
Young children should not be staring at screens, regardless of the content, period!
48
Forget YouTube. Only allow them to watch video on PBSkids. They only have content for kids and it is all from PBS.
214
Seems ironic that the same entity (YOUTUBE) that missed content like this has NO problem what-so-ever deleting content from Dennis Prager University!!! Shameful.
4
Dennis Prager University is certainly not suitable content for any child or adult. That truly is toxic content. Thankfully, YOUTUBE managed to get something right.
3
And, of course, proactively deleting music videos and others without even an actual written complaint from a copyright holder—just copywrong by algorithm. The recent Google Docs flagfest appears to be a copywrong algorithm gone bad too.
If Google or Alphabetsoup or whatever they are now ever practiced Do No Evil, that train sailed once Page shouted down Brin and they made an unnecessary patent deal with the devil (a.k.a. MPEG-LA) over WebM.
4
Don't let devices parent your kids. limit their screen time to when you are watching with them.
26
Imagine ONE day out of the month- "A day without Youtube-Facebook-Twitter"
If the public asked for it- you can bet the execs in Silicon Valley would institute it.
I know I know- wishful thinking...
3
I expect there to be a large contingent of people out there saying, "Parents, shut off the iPad and read a book to your kid! You must be in charge!"
Which, okay, fine, but what about YouTube, a part of Alphabet, a multi-billion dollar conglomerate, spending some time and money on making sure their product that they are marketing as ESPECIALLY SAFE AND APPROPRIATE for kids actually be that way? If they want to grow unchecked and unbound, maybe they should introduce a layer of editors to filter the content. Unlike most parents, who use screen time as a way to distract their kids so they can get things done, Google has the resources to deploy on this problem.
While they're at it, they might want to spend some time and money shutting down Russian trolls who are waging a propaganda campaign against the US and hijacking their platforms. Just sayin'.
32
It's not just the preschool content. If you let your older grade school kid have access to you tube there are horrible things they can watch on "kid friendly" channels. Kids brains are still developing, so watching others blow up objects, unwrapping mounds of sponsor provided toys (junk), "pranking," treating others with disrespect and lying in the name of "fun" do negatively affect kids. And don't get me started on the sexually provocative reenactments of kids doing adult themed songs. These you tube "stars" are just wanting hits and don't care how they attract viewers. At least TV shows aimed at kids are filtered and sometimes have consultants, like psychologists, weighing in on what's potentially damaging to children. There's no regulation here, so expect exposure of horrible kids doing horrible things to other kids to get attention. Exactly what your kids will do when they go to school tomorrow. And shame on those parents who parade their kids on you tube for hours of videos to perform for their fans in the name of "100,000 likes." Exploiting your pre-teen kids as profit centers is just wrong.
24
An easy solution to this is to turn off the screen. Seriously. My son is 4 and gets "screen time" for an hour and a half on Sundays (usually a movie or an episode or two of a show he likes that we approve of). My daughter is a year and gets no screen time. Is it really that hard for parents to just not turn it on? Why is this child watching an iPad in the car? They could try...um...I don't know, talking? Looking out the window? And I'm sorry, television isn't teaching your children anything that they are not picking up at school. These parents could stop clutching their pearls over the poor job of filtering that YouTube is doing on this "kid-friendly" channel if they did some filtering themselves.
106
I hate you tube Kids, All My Daughter wanted to watch was adults playing with toys, unpacking videos with adult women trying to speak in children voices at a very high pitch. I was so sick of it that we banned the kids from any you tube, and banned them from electronics last summer. the change in there attitudes was amazing, they are much nicer to each other and my wife and I. Until they actually make YouTube kids actually Kid friendly it will not be allowed in my family.
21
I noticed my daughter was also watching these same videos and that seemed to be all she wanted to watch. (She’s five and her screen time is limited and we do lots of cuddling and read books, too - just noting to anyone who doesn’t know anything about me and who wants to comment on what a bad parent I am). I deleted the app and will never use it again. I encourage all my friends to delete it.
15
Simple solution: YouTube is liable for 20% of damages in any lawsuit brought against a content provider.
Simple solution two: Hire human monitors for curated speciality channels.
5
Not so simple solution: actual parenting.
6
And what are the monetary "damages" of watching an off-color video? Decades of therapy? Please. Children are not so hopelessly fragile.
1
Supervision?? I remember other children who had access to VHS cartoons, cable television and similar when I was younger, and those children struck me as slightly queer in their provocative personalities.
3
Here is an amazing, profound, mind-bending idea:
Never let your kids watch things on any kind of social media presuming they will not come across something inappropriate. Actually monitor your kids using social media and electronics rather than use them as electronic babysitters or new age pacifiers.
157
Shame on NYT for highlighting this comment. So a few minutes of time to make breakfast or do something else around the house while the kid is watching YouTube is terrible parenting? "Thank you" NYT and the commenters for shaming parents!!!! Instead, why not publish a list of these inappropriate channels so we could block them from our kids app.
12
If you can't make breakfast without gluing your child to a screen, you've got a problem. And society will have a problem when all these kids who can't handle any "unstimulated" time grow to adulthood. I'm not saying this to be critical- I am truly concerned that so many parents think their kids must be entertained at all times. That is just not a normal expectation of how life should be.
19
And how did your parents ever make breakfast when you were a kid? I'm no purist, my kids sometimes play with the tablet, but anything they see on there is my responsibility, and no one else's.
2
Hey Google. Stop relying on your algorithms so much. Hire more people and watch every bit of content meant for kids.
8
Exactly right about their algorithmic mania to the detriment of performance. I've complained about the missing Nehalem river in Vernonia, Oregon for two years. You can see Rock Creek apparently empty into a huge hole near Anderson Park where Google's common sense went.
2
Or maybe children should be feeding their minds with imagination, give them butcher paper and crayons, or paint. So tired of parents and their excuses and placing blame on others instead of looking in the mirror to see the real culprit.
5
YouTube Kids is just awful. Was one of the first apps I put on the new iPads I got the kids one year ago, and it was the first thing deleted about two weeks later. The kids loved it and put up a fight when I removed the app. But I haven’t looked back. There is so much terrible content and it’s impossible to police yourself.
11
Night is dark so you can imagine your fears without distraction.
Freedom is one more bullet.
If a levied penalty is less than profit in hand, it's not a deterrent - it's a business plan
No kid below 10 or 12 years of age needs access to the internet. This includes Youtube. Lock those iPads and iPhones away. Strictly limit TV time. It is well established what damage this passive video and TV watching does to kids brains. Put them in front of their toys or have them have their friends over for play dates. They'll be perfectly happy playing and picking up skills doing it...
26
Bingo, we allow about 30 min of TV MAX for our 3 year-old & zero before age 2 (our 16 month-old). And NO phone or independent IPad use.
7
You know that schools require children to use Ipads or Chromebooks at age 10. By age 11 all of their schoolwork is done a computer with access to the internet. Stopping children from using the internet is like stopping them from walking inside a library. There needs to be a safe place for children on the internet.
3
Note that the comments blame parents for not keeping a close eye on their kids. But, of course, if parents do, they are accused of helicopter parenting and micromanaging their kids' lives.
Blaming parents deflects blame away from where it really belongs--on those who use unscrupulous means to harm kids. Parents can't and shouldn't have to watch their kids 24/7. There should be safe places (even on the internet!) where kids can safely explore, play, and learn on their own.
19
When your kids are 4 years old - helicopter parenting is good parenting.
When your kids are in second year college - helicopter parenting is bad parenting.
96
SteveRR is spot on! "Helicopter" parenting young toddlers is necessary to...you know...keep them alive
42
“Parents can’t and shouldn’t have to watch their kids 24/7”? Uhh, yeah, they do, especially when the kids are barely out of diapers.
Yes, there are unscrupulous entities out there. All the more reason why parents ultimately have the responsibility to know what their children are doing, especiallly when they are as young as these kids are and are not wise to the ways of the world.
This is just the new age version of parking the kiddos in front of the TV. It may be convenient and easy, but it can be just as hazardous as eating the laundry detergent pod or sticking the scissors in the light socket.
14
I have seen plenty of instances of children with their headphones connected to an iPad while at dinner with their parents- who are both looking at their phones. I fear for the generation raised on YouTubeKids - and for parents who think that monitoring digital content instead of directly and actively supervising/ interacting with their children passes for good parenting. None of these kids will have the slightest inkling of how to speak or interact with people - and how to keep themselves interested without some kind of device in front of them. Their millennial parents are just the tip of the iceberg with what’s coming - it doesn’t bode well for the future of the human race.
54
Amen and amen.
8
Social media products are changing human nature. Our human nature used to be formed partly by the necessity of being alone or solitary for much of our time. Now such solitude is not necessary and can be avoided, and this forms a changed human nature.
The development of these products is guided by competition and profitability, and competitions can be won and profitability increased by making the products addictive. This may be as innocuous as the snack designed and tested so that most people will eat more than one. There may be bad consequences of being addicted to social media products, but no one is in charge of evaluating or minimizing these bad consequences. Like the effects of texting on driver safety, we deal with them after they arise and harm people.
Essentially, we are allowing unregulated experimentation on our psyches in the name of free enterprise and commercial freedom. We are much more cautious when it comes to breeding ourselves.
2
Google can easily fix this but it would require...wait for it...hiring people and charging a modest fee to watch the content (gasp). These social/entertainment platforms are architected and predicated on scale and the way you do that is replace humans with algorithms and encourage the audience itself monitor for infractions. If you want a truly free service, there will be tradeoffs and risks that come with such a model.
9
This is not difficult folks. Watch WITH your kids, or put together a pre-screened playlist if you must turn them loose. but I like the other suggestion best, give them a book. I'm in my 30's with 3 boys. My kids don't watch YouTube without me, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Teach your kids to be bored, and make their own fun instead of throwing a device in their hands at 6 months. They'll thank you for it later.
39
One needs to be vigilant not just of the YouTube video, but also the ads before it. Earlier this week I was shocked to see that a YT channel popular with my kids (EvanTubeHD) featured an ad at the beginning of a video by a maker of gun holsters with many ultra realistic depictions of the guns (these are real guns) in various situations. I can't imagine why the Google algo gods would have this ad for videos meant for pre-teens. I am still shocked remembering the incident!
7
Don’t rely solely on the interwebs to keep your young kids entertained. There is a reason why parents are told to keep a close eye on what their kids are doing online.
And at the risk of showing my age, I cringe when I see little kids with iPads and other technological toys, playing games and watching videos. There will be time for all that later, when they start school. Take ‘em to the library, check out a bunch of age-appropriate reading or picture books, and begin a love of reading that will hopefully last a lifetime. (Sendak’s “Where The Wild Things Are” was extremely popular at my house; we went through several copies, hardback and paperback.)
114
As I'm dragged, kicking and screaming, from my curmudgeonhood towards my dotage, I vaguely recall playing outside with improvised toys, not wearing a day's pay worth of protective padding and getting hurt once in awhile. I also recall reading, sometimes under covers with a flashlight, and before that being read to. Now, mind you, that was when doctors made house calls and we'd just about conquered polio. There were 7 channels on TV in metro areas, less in the sticks, not 750 on satellite TV and many thousand more on the web. You could buy a house or a hunting rifle from the Sears catalogue, and calls from one state to another were prohibitively expensive. I'm not suggesting kids need to carry their parents to school on their backs thru the snow, uphill both ways (like we did back then) but you get the idea. I ran away from home at 14 and hitchhiked from L.I. to L.A. I wouldn't recommend that either, but getting kids to play, physically, outdoors, and use their imaginations, might help alter the inexorable trajectory towards ignorance and apathy we seem to be on. Kids are incredibly resilient, let them push some limits. Buy we still need to be there so they don't stick their feet in the X-Ray machine at Buster Brown stores too often.
4