My son is still young, almost 8, so I’m speaking for near that age level. He doesn’t get unrestricted access to YouTube. If he’s watching YouTube, it’s with one of us present and helping him navigate it. He always wants to watch the video that’s the lowest quality shit just based on the thumbnail, because they have thumbnails that stick out. I’ve taught him about “low quality” content and we’ve watched a couple so he could understand what I meant. Now, when he wants to watch something like that, I say “no, that’s going to be low quality,” he seems to understand and we move on to find something else.
Eventually, I’m going to let him navigate YouTube alone sometimes, and then go back and look at his watch history to see how things are going. He doesn’t know watch history is a thing, nor will I ever tell him. If things go off the rails, we will guide them back to the rails slowly and nonjudgmentally
That said, we were at a restaurant the other day and a woman was there with her baby and a friend. She set that infant in a high chair with AI slop on her phone right in its face. The kid definitely didn’t disturb her conversation, because it looked like a zombie. Godspeed, child
This is good parenting. You can’t always be there to guide them or restrict them, nor should you want to be. You instead help them understand how to navigate the world themselves smartly. This is true for anything, not just what they see on the internet.
nor should you want to be
Found the part most parents struggle with!
Damn good answer. Proud of you
That said, we were at a restaurant the other day and a woman was there with her baby and a friend. She set that infant in a high chair with AI slop on her phone right in its face. The kid definitely didn’t disturb her conversation, because it looked like a zombie.
This should be illegal, because it is harming the child. It should be viewed the same as giving it alcohol to keep it quiet.
I’m going for the hail mary pass and taking the stance that we need to send our youth back down into the mines.
They yearn for it!
We do already, it’s called Minecraft.
I’m yet to encounter this really, my kids (twins) are only 2. However, this is the answer as I understand it - limit access in terms of time and content, and relax those limitations as appropriate.
That said, I’m going to struggle. Everyone needs to find the right balance for their own home, but I suspect I will lean more towards allowing less access to more curated content than most parents. I just can’t abide the kind of brain rotting content that’s available. I can’t stand advertising of any kind. I know this will make me unpopular - or less “cool” than other parents, but I’m hoping that I can make up for it in other ways.
PBS Kids is a great option for littles! Free, no commercials, and supportive of social/emotional development (Reminder to set up a monthly donation to your local PBS station!). With the PBS Kids app, we’d often download a few episodes of something like Daniel Tiger or Wild Kratts for road trips
We rarely watch YouTube together, most of the time he’s watching a series of some kind through Netflix or Paramount. Trollhunters, Gravity Falls, Henry Danger, stuff like that. His only exposure to commercials is during football games, whereas I can still sing over 100 jingles from my childhood.
It’s still always better to limit/avoid screentime…
Yeah this is going to be part of my strategy.
Increased availability of better quality content, less reliance on algorithms serving up the next thing.
Unpopular opinion: I have a second phone logged into my kid’s YT account. I train the algorithm while he’s sleeping.
It takes a significant time, and YouTube doesn’t have good options for blocking content, but it helps keep out the worst of the brainrot.
I’m not sure whether to be scared or impressed by that. Both, I guess.
Look into DeArrow (by same creators of SponsorBlock), which offers crowdsourced “de-clickbaited” video titles and thumbnails.
While it’s nice to just avoid the clickbait while enjoying potentially genuinely good videos, I ended up uninstalling the extension. I want to explicitly avoid clickbait, and focus on encouraging and supporting creators that don’t use it. Also, if I end up unknowingly interacting with too many clickbait-y videos, I worry the algorithm will push me more of that.
Unfortunately this is an increasingly unviable strategy, because even “good” creators have started using clickbaity titles and thumbnails, even if their content has remained the same. Some have even retroactively changed the titles/thumbnails of their older videos to this style.
Clickbait is engineered by behavioural scientists to be as addictive as possible, and has been proven to trigger similar neural pathways to other addictions, such as drug or gambling.
Basically every creator with a shred of self awareness has admitted that they hate creating clickbait thumbnails, titles, and phrases like smash that like button and subscribe; they end up doing it anyway because A/B testing with randomised thumbnails and titles clearly show that they work.
The live A/B testing in particular obscures whether a creator employs clickbait or not - you may be under the impression that a certain creator has remained principled, when in reality you were just allocated to the control group by chance.
I feel that it’s one of those situations where the game is rigged, and the only way to “win” is to change the rules yourself.
So, basically a future “people of walmart” 20 years before it happens. So like an orgin story for idiocy.
I am a very progressive parent. I was harassed by my parents for spending too much time on the computer and I make 6 figures working in tech now and spend 8 hours a day minimum on the computer. When I say I’m progressive I’m not exaggerating. Robotics are the future of humanity. Understanding tech is the future 6 figure job my kid will have. First and foremost I pay for YT premium to avoid the constant barrage of unreviewed ads. Secondly I take a night every week to go through her watch history and remove some videos that are questionable for the algorithm. I also block channels in the suggested area and block watched makers if they are slop or … bad…
I also tell her she is allowed to watch shorts but ONLY if she is able to watch longer form content above all. I do not believe in tik tok and that started way before trumps cronies owned it. I believe tik tok type consumption is one of those things that will come in a fad and ease out of fad.
I also watch sometimes with her to identify Ai slop and I show her videos if I ever fall for Ai. I got really excited about a fox video the other day that turned out to be ai and I showed her and she recognized the Ai tells before I did.
This allows a kid to explore technology without pressure or fear but avoids the Ai stuff. I also have her lookup facts if I know them to be wrong. We watch a lot of dar man because its child friendly but boy fact checking those videos are a riot.
She is very smart so I rarely have to do anything now but she started yt back when those creepy vilent Elsa videos were popular. So I have been using this method for 6 years. She is a tech wiz, she is smart, made high honor roll, her focus is still intact and she does well at school.
This was also important to me. I also noticed some channels which were satire of middle schoolers would influence her behavior, so we talk about it. Then if the behavior continues ues I block the channel. Later she can watch again if she feels she is strong minded enough. Some weird pov YouTube rs were cut off for a year but have been allowed back as she is not pliable in those ways anymore.
Anyways thats the most serious and in depth answer. I hate to pay for YouTube but its the best way to keep her on a single platform with the most visibility and I can adjust the algorithm through her history
You sound like a great parent, and this should ideally be how every parent teaches their kids. Trust, open discussion, and a welcoming environment for questions.
You can limit shorts in the YouTube parental settings! Just found out about this a few weeks ago
You can’t disable them completely, but you can set a time limit
How do you block channels? Is that a premium feature?
There’s an option “Don’t recommend videos from this channel” when you click on three-dots of the recommended video.
Thanks! I shall try that and see if that helps.
Only whitelist content or creators you personally have vetted with apps like YouTube kids, jellyfin, etc until you can trust their own decision making. Then share an account so that you can see watch history (and hopefully your good media choices influenced their tastes as you would share an algorithm)
I don’t, I don’t gatekeep their entertainment. I do critically discuss the content with them though.
IMHO it’s more important to teach them to critically analyse what they consume.
This is what my parents did, it helped a lot. Media literacy is important!
Do you have any kids’ media literacy edu content you like?
I just talk through it with them. Get them to think about who made it, why they made it, what’s it saying, where was it made, who is it made for, how theyfound it, what they thought of it, which situations it would be appropriate… and picking it apart.
It’s a tried and true method. Mine can’t really listen to anything long winded that isn’t terribly exciting, or somehow related to Minecraft.
(disclaimer: I’m not a parent, so this is just what I think I would do with a hypothetical child)
How old is the said kid? If 5 or older, I’d have a talk with them about the following points: 1. what generative AI is, 2. why it’s bad/why I don’t want them to watch slop, and 3. how to recognise it, all adjusted so that a kid can grasp those things.
Another thing is to make sure they don’t spend all or most of their time on screens, but instead ensure that they have the resources and attention to do normal, screenless kid things.
My kid doesnt have internet access
As in, his pc in his room has no internet
When he plays online in the living room he isnt allowed to go to the browser unless i am there to tell him what to type or which site to go on
And he has no smartphone etc, just a dumb ass nokia
My kid is 11
Hard restrictions of devices based on age. No smartphones or tablets until high school. No social media until 16.
Lots of activities.
Great way to make sure your kid gets bullied and socially excluded, resulting in lifelong trauma. Not to mention that they will then start using the internet with the media literacy of an average 70 year old and fall for everything they should’ve learned with parental guidance at a young age.
Well, the oldest is 14 has no bullying, went to the worlds for robotics and has a great group of friends. So maybe your fears are just your fears.
Edit: they have technology, but using a laptop during specific times has little to none of the dopamine hacking mobiles give, yet all the communication and information required.
If you don’t show them better content, they can’t know the difference. Watch YT with them, but put on good stuff made by humans. There’s plenty of that. Also consider accounts - once they have their own account they will tumble down the shit hole that is the algorithm. If you let them use your account, they will have a better established base, and you will easily see what they are watching. If this doesn’t work for you, created a moderated, shared account that you use and populate with good algorithm juju.
It’s not really that hard with my son 13, I monitor what he’s doing discreetly using apps and just listening to what he’s doing. I make sure to explain to him what I find acceptable and I give him space and freedom to make mistakes but I’m also clear about the consequences. I don’t let him out of sight or ear shot.
My daughter 5 on the other hand is much tougher, she likes to watch slop and I have to limit it block shows or apps that have “free streaming” because the garbage is everywhere. She doesn’t understand or know the difference, she doesn’t see the overt government or corporate propaganda and low effort quality, she just sees bright colors and happy cartoons and signing. Here’s hoping my efforts aren’t for not.
Otherwise, just keep them off the black hole that is social media (Facebook/Instagram/tweeter and their clones) because there’s nothing good or redeemable there, limit YouTube and similar sites, take part in their lives while also giving the space to make decisions, don’t completely cut out AI but encourage creativeness using all of the tools available to them, encourage quality over quantity, instill healthy values, be flexible, and treat them like young humans. Treating them like young humans also means setting boundaries, being firm, standing your ground and being consistent. They’re humans not flowers. The values part is probably the hardest part to impart because what everyone themselves value doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing to everyone else and life is full of contradictions so they need to be able to decide who/what/when/where is the right choice and completely denying everything will blow up in your or their faces.
The values we teach them as parents is what will allow them to decide when is the right time to allow AI content as something acceptable and give them the knowledge for how to use it to their advantage. AI isn’t going away so don’t run away from it, but that doesn’t mean we have to accept the shit corporations are cramming down our throats or allow it to run our lives and raise our kids.
It’s a long war and a lot of people give up or declare victory too soon. Never give up, never surrender, because one day you will be old and AI will be running your life support machines and I hope someone’s lazy kid didn’t half ass train it because they grew up watching Cocomelon.
I monitor what he’s doing discreetly using apps and just listening to what he’s doing.
I feel happy about growing up with the beginning of the internet…
We had to use a family computer in a shared space. Not a tablet or phone that could be used unmonitored. Just because it wasn’t a technical measure doing the monitoring doesn’t mean we were unmonitored.
Just to like the radio, television, internet, etc…AI slip is here to stay, it might die down, but the cats out of the bag. I would take the same steps you would regular parental controls for tv/phone/internet if you’re concerned.
Secondly and more importantly you should be teaching your kids critical thinking skills and not to believe everything they see or hear…just like that old quote
“Believe half of what you see and nothing of what you hear.”
The reason I say that is regardless of what you think of AI, it’s good enough now to where you can grab a few minutes sound bite of someone from Facebook or YouTube and be able to imitate there voice.
This generation is going to have to be much more viligant not just about spam emails, but audio and video calls imitaing a manger or a significant other…it’s going to be very interesting
Don’t give them full access to the internet until college.
They need to do a PHD before getting internet access in my family
That’s a little unrealistic, is it not?
Maybe.
When I was a kid we didn’t have internet until highschool. We’d borrow mom’s laptop for homework and smuggle some games on the way. It made us very… resourceful. Internet was this magical inaccessible thing. I remember when our school gave us tablets with restricted internet, I guessed my math teacher’s password based on how he typed and used his account it to access the full internet.
Me either, but only because there was no internet til high school.
Then I got my dad’s hand-me-down PowerMac g3 in my room. 300MHz of glory, downloading pics of titties one column at a time. Good times. 🥹
i can’t tell if alot of these answers are sarcastic or not…
i know social media as a whole is predominantly affluent rich people with too much time on their hands, so maybe that’s just what this demographic is about idk. but surely these people know if you coddle too much the second these kids leave the nest they’re going to make an absolute shitload of mistakes
better to make those mistakes young in relatively controlled environment, teach critical analysis/how to avoid scams/watch out for predatory behavior etc. than to try and pretend it doesn’t exist through a walled garden
you can’t stay in walled garden forever, at some point someone is either escaping, breaking in, or the walls just crumbling down
i can’t tell if alot of these answers are sarcastic or not…
I was being serious. Maybe college is an exaggeration but I really do think kids shouldn’t get internet until at least highschool.
I admit it’s mostly bias. I turned out fine therefore I think the way I was raised is good.
Just teach them how to use the internet safely and properly. Not to say their age and their address, not to add random people on discord, stuff like that. If you isolate your kids from the internet, then at this point in time, you’re kind of isolating them from a decent chunk of human culture, which from personal experience (anecdotal, not very useful, I know), is a terrible idea. I was raised Mormon, I know how restricting access to things goes for kids. They’ll end up buying a phone off of a friend with less of an idea of how to use it safely. Maybe check their youtube homepage once in a while, make sure it isn’t slop, ask them about what they’re doing on there, answer any questions they have. Might wanna filter some stuff before middle school though. Block gore sites, those tend to fuck people up quite a bit.
I won’t have kids anyways I was just saying what I would do.
I feel sorry for parents. I almost replicated but thank god I did not. I obsered others and kept a record. My findings since I was a child is things are only gonna get worse. I might be a broke, I might be a joke but I sleep with the gravity of a thousand suns. Good luck out there. Thoughts and Prayers
You can’t, and shouldn’t try. Spending time in moderation is more important, so limit that. Sure when they’re little you have to open restrictions over time but keep the focus on recognizing ai slop and understanding the issues with it.
Sooner than you think, they’re watching is out of your control so it quickly becomes critical for them learn about
I don’t have kids but I keep seeing iPad baby slop and it’s disturbing to me and it’s one of the reasons why i probably won’t have any
Raise them in the woods with no access to the outside world until the age of forty.
