With children becoming increasingly internet savvy and getting quicker at exploring the internet, the dangers are increasing too.
In recent months parents across Northern Ireland have been left in shock after discovering scenes of horrific and unnecessary violence having been either created or hacked into unofficial videos on YouTube under the guise of Peppa Pig, Alphabet songs and nursery songs.
Parents have discovered episodes of Peppa Pig in which Daddy Pig is heard screaming loudly in pain at the hands of a dentist who pulls teeth out. Others have been disgusted to find massacre scenes with well loved nursery rhymes playing cheerily over the top.
These creepy, disturbing videos are infiltrating children’s and parents naive trust of searching standard kids terms resulting in them being exposed and desensitised to violent scenes under innocent searches of ‘Elsa’ or even ‘Mickey and Friends’. With one click your child could be exposed to 30 minutes of extreme violence with the cheery kiddy music playing in the background.
This is not the Looney Tunes violence older generations watched as children, there is no anvil being dropped off a cliff and being dodged by a goofy looking character. This his is Elsa, Mickey, The Hulk, Sophia the First, all armed with machetes and machine guns killing everything and everyone.
A particularly bad video that is doing the rounds is Princess Elsa machine gunning other popular characters and has millions of views.
So how do you protect your children from this content? In 2015 YouTube set up YouTube Kids a kid friendly app which is a great start as downloading this dodges things that kids should not be coming across on the internet but due to different algorithms, these violent videos are slowly seeping their way through.
The content that is seen is brought to your screen by the words you type in, the reviews and the algorithmic filtering. Complicated sounding, key words such as ‘Kids learn colours’, ‘Finger Family’ (the popular songs Daddy Finger Daddy Finger where are you…), ‘Nursery Rhymes’ and ‘Learning Video For Kids’ are all popular search terms and with all of these innocent terms being swilled around in the algorithm machine, unsuitable content slips in with the use of one simple word.
As it is virtually impossible to keep your child off the internet, here are some tips to keep your kids safe:
1. All YouTube viewing should be in the living room so a glance over can be easily done.
2. Know your channels and subscribe to the OFFICIAL and VERIFIED ones – All the popular names have one, DreamWorks TV, Disney, Talking Tom and Friends, National Geographic Kids, Mother Goose Club and Thomas the Tank Engine for example.
3. Download YouTube Kids – https://kids.youtube.com/
4. Consider the ‘pay-for’ videos on YouTube for extra peace of mind.
5. Set up your Parental Control.
YouTube is undoubtedly a fantastic tool for watching shows, helping with homework and listening to music, but there are hidden dangers. With a few small tweaks and moves you will be able to protect your family and enjoy suitable content with peace of mind.