YouTube Kids brought hope to parents all over when it was launched in 2015. It was a massive success for youngsters. It still is today. Kids log in to the app for both entertainment and educational content. But soon, parents and concerned adults started questioning if YouTube Kids is a safe app for kids, after all.
Recently, parents were shocked by reports about disturbing, offensive, or vulgar commercial videos on YouTube after having clicked familiar or frequently-accessed links.
For instance, some content creators spoofed kids’ beloved character, Peppa Pig, and made an episode of Peppa Pig eating her father or being tormented at a dentist appointment.
It is alarming because most kids use the internet unsupervised. A huge chunk of kids is also on their mobile devices often, accessing the internet through pre-installed apps on their devices.
We need to practice mobile device safety for kids and not have a false sense of security because it’s just a harmless phone or tablet. In the same way as you, not allowing strangers in your home or interacting with your kids should also be how you are when they step into digital and online spaces, whether through desktops or mobile devices.
Parents worldwide face this side effect of convenient connectivity in this digital age. How can they safeguard their kids’ consumption of internet and app content?
The parent company of YouTube Kids—YouTube—has been in the middle of one too many controversies regarding their content. It is a UGC site, and so content moderators worldwide have to go through so much disturbing content to filter YouTube’s content offering for its consumers. But some inappropriate videos still get through. YouTube’s comments section can also be a scary place for internet trolls, bullies, hackers, and, worse, sex offenders.
No matter how much great content you can find on YouTube, YouTube Kids, or any other app for that matter, parents still need to be vigilant. The internet is a global community, and sadly, a lot of them are predators preying on unsuspecting minors.
Our Homes are Wide Open to the World through the Internet
If we, as parents, can go over the top at times with protecting our children, we should be guarding them on all fronts, including the internet.
The internet is a massive world of strangers, and without adult supervision, our children are vulnerable and exposed. Video content is so powerful and engaging, that if our children get exposed to inappropriate content, it will be more than jarring to their young, supple minds. It is not just a video-streaming app—it carries influence with it that can either be beneficial or harmful for our children.
A study was published by the Center for Cyber Safety and Education in 2016, the “Children’s Internet Usage Study.” It relayed how 4th to 8th graders in the USA use the internet. The study discovered that children are regularly interacting with strangers online. Some even meet-up with strangers for real and some cases have led to terrible outcomes.
YouTube comments, for one, is open to the public. Predators have been proven time and time again to enter that space, looking for someone to exploit. Their usual target is children. Over-eager parents posting videos of their children also need to stop that now. Pedophiles and sex offenders have communities in different social media apps, including YouTube. They have their system of marking the content of children for their malignant purposes.
Parents reading this might wish it were an exaggeration, but sadly, it is not. Worse things are on the internet, even on YouTube and YouTube Kids, that should keep every parent on guard to preserve their children’s innocence and safety.
How Can Parents Safeguard their Kids?
What can parents do otherwise to protect their children? Here are some preventive strategies:
- Take a regular schedule to watch together. If you see inappropriate images or videos, report them instantly.
- Parents should explain to kids what to do when they see unsuitable material on YouTube. It is also necessary to explain why these sites are not a good place to be.
- Disable the apps of Youtube and YouTube Kids from your children’s devices and and from other family’s shared computers.
- Watch YouTube Kids or YouTube only in a common area of your home where it is easier to supervise your children. Allow your kids to watch YouTube Kids only when you or a trusted guardian are present.
- Install a trustworthy parental control, that you can use to filter out the worst of YouTube and other sites or apps your children are using. It may not be 100 percent fool-proof, but it pays to add layers upon layers of cybersecurity to protect our children. Netsanity filters, for instance, works well on YouTube’s comment sections.
- It is another line of security, too, if you can educate your children about different cybersecurity trends and threats online, so they are also aware of it. They can begin to self-regulate, a little bit at a time.
- Create a culture of safety in your home, then cybersecurity will not just be your business, but everybody’s business.
A number of resources are available there to use to teach children about internet security. The goal is not only talking about it once or twice but making it a recurring subject and practice you should follow as a family. For younger children, this video below is easy to follow:
Video Source: Common Sense Media © 2016
Conclusion: Create a Culture of Cyber Safety with Your Children
YouTube has yet to provide a great deal of information on the scope of the issues that may arise. It is hard for parents to see how concerned they should be. But there are a lot of YouTube alternatives that are much safer for children that parents should begin using instead.
Some examples include CBC Kids and Treehouse TV, where there is a limited selection of content than YouTube because the content that gets through is carefully filtered and selected. Apps like these dramatically lessen the risks and have a higher value content of educational and entertaining material.
If you do let your children watch content on YouTube, warn them of inappropriate content and show them what to do to stay safe from it.
Explain to your children that it is not their fault if they encounter such contents, but they do need to alert an adult right away. Again, teaching your children regularly about cybersecurity helps them develop a compass for appropriate and inappropriate content and engagements online.