Parental Responsibility: Protecting Children from Offensive Content on YouTube
As a parent, ensuring the safety and well-being of your children is a paramount responsibility. While it is not the world's duty to watch over your children, it is crucial to take proactive measures. Parental guidance is essential when it comes to managing a child's exposure to the internet. Unsupervised access to the internet can be extremely risky, especially for young children who may inadvertently stumble upon content that is not age-appropriate.
Many YouTubers, such as Vanoss, Spewdiepie, and Markiplier, often use offensive and adult language in their videos without realizing that their content may be viewed by unattended children. As they mature, they may come to understand the potential impact of their language on younger audiences. However, this realization may not necessarily change their behavior, leaving the onus on parents to filter and supervise their children’s content consumption.
Content and the Risk to Children
YouTube has a platform specifically designed for kids called YouTube Kids. This network is strictly moderated to ensure that only child-appropriate content is available. No posts can be made directly to the YouTube Kids app; instead, content creators must allow YouTube to migrate their videos to this network after thorough vetting. This process ensures that any inappropriate content is removed before it reaches young viewers.
Despite these measures, many YouTubers' content is not specifically aimed at any particular age group and may contain mature themes or language. They often include warnings for mature content or explicitly advise children and their guardians to steer clear of such videos. While there is no age restriction, some creators add one to their videos, allowing young children to lie about their age and gain access.
Shifting Responsibility
The responsibility to protect children from inappropriate content lies primarily with parents. Content producers, while they play a role in content moderation and warnings, are not responsible for supervising every child who may view their videos. It is the parent's duty to filter and monitor their child's online activities, using tools like the YouTube Kids app and parental controls.
Conclusion and Final Thoughts
It is not that content creators do not care, but rather that their content is not specifically aimed at a particular age group. They aim to cater to a broad audience, and this may include young children who accidentally access their channels. However, this in no way diminishes the parental responsibility to protect children from exposure to inappropriate content. The use of parental controls and considering the existence of YouTube Kids are vital steps in safeguarding the digital well-being of children.