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posted by
Fnord666
on Tuesday February 26 2019, @05:31PM
from the serious-mental-health-issues dept.
from the serious-mental-health-issues dept.
Tips for committing suicide are appearing in children's cartoons on YouTube and the YouTube Kids app.
YouTube Kids is theoretically a curated collection of videos that are safe for kids. Apparently, someone forgot to tell YouTube/Google that. Sure, YouTube probably has some butt covering clause in their EULA. That doesn't excuse such an oversight, though. It's very easy to see overworked, stressed parents, giving their kids access to YouTube/YouTube Kids. Kids have enough to deal with, without having to deal with grown-ups twisted thoughts. This seems more like insidious minds at work to me. What do you think?
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Suicide Instructions Spliced into Kids’ Cartoons on YouTube and YouTube Kids
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If the thunder don't get you, then the lightning will.
(Score: 2) by SunTzuWarmaster on Wednesday February 27 2019, @08:01PM
With all due respect - shut the hell up. Here are some things that you might not have considered:
1 - You are seeing a brief snapshot. As an example, I gave my kid the youTube Kids babysitter at a Thanksgiving event. 5% of total event. Only after cranky, and well past bedtime.
2 - There isn't anything fundamentally wrong with cartoons. Did you watch cartoons on Saturday morning? My kid watches Mr. Roger's Neighborhood while she eats breakfast on the weekend. Digital content is not wholly bad. Academically, exposure to language and a diversity of language is among the best things you can do for a developing brain.
3 - It is one of the earliest forms of reward. My 2 year old really enjoys cartoons, praise, toys, and candy. She gets candy for potty training. She gets cartoons, toys, and praise for good behavior. She gets deprived of these things for bad behavior. If you never give them things they like then you cannot take them away as punishment.
3.1 - OBVIOUSLY you should never give them cartoons because they are acting up. You would only do that if you wanted them to act up more frequently...
4 - There needs to be space for boredom in a kids life. Digital life is distracting enough without parents making it worse. Use sparingly. Keep kids bored.
Obviously you should monitor the children's content. YTKids actually does a decent job of this. DFTube is an amplifier, so they don't go switching the content constantly. Subscribing to channels (Mr. Rogers, Daniel Tiger, Blippi, Bubble Guppies, Barney, etc.) is also a solid form of combat against bad actors - allowing content only from trusted sources.