You Tube Kids and my you tube dilemma

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Forum -> Parenting our children -> School age children

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amother

Sun, Feb 25 2024, 11:09 pm

I have a dilemma.

My son is 8 years old but this started 1-2 years ago.

He had a huge interest in all things ANIMAL. So he would look on his ipad and read about animals and also he would see video clips. The video clips were You tube clips but they were within a site browser, not on the actual you tube page.
This was fine with me.

Somehow though, he started going to actual you tube and looking for animal videos. This was not ok with me and we set some ground rules.

Eventually, we decided that he can watch on you tube (not the app, just online) about animals or about lego (which is his newer interest) or something called "truck tunes".

I have qustodio so I keep an eye on what he watches from time to time.

I wish he wouldn't be on you tube at all, but I find it's too hard to take it away from him now that he's so attached. I think he would be hysterical if we stopped you tube cold turkey.

Last week I noticed that something inappropriate slipped in to what he was innocently watching. (not sure why qustodio didn't block it).

This brought the dilemma back to the forefront.

I've considered You tube kids, but I feel like it will create more problems than it solves and the more I look into it, the more I think so.

I just came across something called, "The kid should see this" and that looks right up his alley. But it has the same problem - you can use it to get onto the actual you tube page.

Or maybe I should get him the Libby app, but I don't know if there are parental controls on that.

I'm happy to get him toveedo, but I don't think that would satisfy his curiosity about all sorts of non-fiction type things.

I'm worried what will happen as he gets older.

Please advise.

amother

Feverfew

Sun, Feb 25 2024, 11:19 pm

I only have one small piece of advice. Whatever you end up doing, first turn off autoplay. It's in settings. That will make a big difference.

amother

Butterscotch

Sun, Feb 25 2024, 11:25 pm

I used to have the same issue as you except my kids would watch curious George, and Paw patrol shows etc. Due to the inappropriate ads and autoplay suggestions that would randomly start playing, we knew it was time to stop. We signed up for Toveedo and never looked back. My kids love it BH! Its sucha relief not to worry about what theyre gonna accidentally see. We also went out and bought actual dvds fm curious George and Paw patrol for them to watch during long car trips as well as uncle moishy and other Jewish dvds that we keep on rotation.

amother

Cherry

Mon, Feb 26 2024, 12:40 am

Toveedo did not work for my kids either

What about Prime Video, does that have any content he'd be interested in? They have pretty good/strict parental controls

My kids are allowed on YouTube on Sundays only, and they need to be sitting at the kitchen island. I have 2 or 3 channels I let them watch and that's it.
Also, make sure that "Restricted Mode" is turned on

amother

Mon, Feb 26 2024, 12:51 am

Wow thank you!
I like the idea of only watching you tube at the kitchen table.
Or should I just take it away totally?
But then what about his Lego videos?

How do I turn off autoplay and turn on restricted mode? He is watching on a browser not in an app?

Thanks everyone

amother

Cherry

Mon, Feb 26 2024, 1:14 am

That's a decision you need to make for your family.
DH and I are ok with it.
I don't prescribe to the whole no screens ever idea, so this is what works for us.
Some shows they watch are really educational for them and some are not. We both grew up watching some TV and turned out pretty normal Smile

You should be able to find everything in the settings drop down- on a PC I believe it's on the top right corner.
Restricted mode and autoplay are only set on the browser level, so they would need to be turned on for each computer, phone, device...in your house.

amother

Feverfew

Mon, Feb 26 2024, 12:47 pm

amother OP wrote:

Turning off autoplay is basics. Besides, for inappropriate content that can pop up, it also makes it less addictive.

https://support.google.com/you.....hl=en

amother

Mon, Feb 26 2024, 8:06 pm

Thank you everyone.

Restricted mode is on - I checked.

I think I'm going to try moving him away from you tube.

His one concern is - where will he watch lego videos?

(He doesn't like lego.com)

Any ideas?

amother

DarkOrange

Mon, Feb 26 2024, 8:59 pm

My ds watches Lego videos on Netflix kids. I find it better than YouTube bec it just plays more Lego videos, not other videos. I don’t let him scroll or browse.

giftedmom

Mon, Feb 26 2024, 9:03 pm

You’re going to have to do this sooner or later. He’s an 8 year old boy on a site that has the dirtiest most horrible content. Are you waiting for him to get older and start hitting puberty?
If he’s neurotypical then yes he will be hysterical but he will adjust quicker than you think. Kids are resilient and adaptable.
No it won’t be fun for you. But you know what’s a lot less fun? Finding out your son watched inappropriate things.

giftedmom

Mon, Feb 26 2024, 9:05 pm

amother OP wrote:

Can you get him into Minecraft?

amother

Thu, Feb 29 2024, 9:37 pm

Thanks for your responses.

What's minecraft like? The only thing I know about it is that you play it in groups. I thought that was dangerous to play with other online people?

singleagain

Thu, Feb 29 2024, 9:46 pm

You can also block specific channels

amother

Latte

Thu, Feb 29 2024, 9:47 pm

amother OP wrote:

You tube kids is a problem. Try 613tube.com

amother

Feverfew

Thu, Feb 29 2024, 11:01 pm

amother OP wrote:

Thanks for your responses.

What's minecraft like? The only thing I know about it is that you play it in groups. I thought that was dangerous to play with other online people?

Please be careful with Minecraft. It's not something you necessarily want him on as he gets older.

cbsp

Thu, Feb 29 2024, 11:19 pm

Pretty please keep in mind that what is deemed appropriate for kids (even young kids) these days is not necessarily appropriate for a frum boy... Even "innocent" paw patrol or cartoons geared for younger kids...

Dolly Welsh

Thu, Feb 29 2024, 11:24 pm

Go on alibris dot com and get used books cheap. Books and books all about animals, every level of complexity. Always have material around that is too advanced for the child. That stimulates them. And it's right there, when they do reach that level.

In short, substitute books for the screen.

Gradually but surely and one day - it's so amazing - the screen go "broken" somehow.

This is a very smart kid. The sooner he gets a fantastic library the better. Used books are cheaper and quite good. Available on many websites including amazon.

amother

Oldlace

Thu, Feb 29 2024, 11:38 pm

Dolly Welsh wrote:

This. My 9 your old is into animals and reads a ton of books from the library. Maybe try to slowly introduce books in his interest as you reduce screen time.

amother

Fri, Mar 01 2024, 12:18 am

He is B”H super into books as well. He goes straight to non fiction in the library.

I will check out 613tube.com - thank you.

Yes. I will stay away from Minecraft. Thanks.

I am planning to try to get toveedo for him and have that replace you tube. I hope!

I also want to check out the app “the kid should see this” and see if it would be appropriate for him.

I hope to work on this next week iyH

Thanks everyone!

Bli neder I will try to update.

beeestee

Fri, Mar 01 2024, 5:14 am

Just another suggestion, there are sites where you can download YouTube videos.
Would you consider downloading some that he likes and then saving them on the iPad?
Every so often you can clear them and delete and get some new ones…

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