Alarming messages found in YouTube Kids videos

Most parents feel pretty safe letting their child watch YouTube Kids, the child-friendly app version of the video hub, but some parents are cautioning to not let that fool you. They say there is still highly inappropriate content circulating the app despite kid-proof controls.

You might assume the app is 100 percent safe.  YouTube Kids requires parents to create the account and confirm their age. Parents can also create a customized passcode and even set limits on screen time. Content is supposedly filtered in the app to only show family-friendly videos, and comments are entirely disabled to avoid inappropriate language.

That’s why one Florida mom—Dr. Free Hess—was shocked to still find inappropriate content in various videos. Hess saw a cartoon with footage of a man in sunglasses telling children how to slit their wrists spliced right in the middle of the video.

According to her blog, Hess says it took YouTube one week to remove the video after she reported it. Her blog is dedicated to child safety and uses the hashtags #ProtectOurKids and #YouTubeWakeUp.  Hess has found other videos on YouTube Kids suggesting human trafficking, pedophilia, and murder.

Other moms right here in Bloomington share similar concerns. The Garcia kids say their mom watches out mainly for foul language and gun violence, both of which she has seen in various videos.

“Sometimes when I’m looking at different videos, my mom will hear a video that sounds really, really weird, and she makes me look for another one or even blocks it,” says Bloomington resident Abram Garcia.

Why is it up to parents to block inappropriate videos in a place meant for kids? Dr. Nicole Martins—an IU professor and expert on the effects of the media on youth—says the internet is too large of a place to flag inappropriate content the minute it appears.

“In no way am I excusing YouTube for this inappropriate content,” says Martins. “But it is a difficult job.”

Martins says that videos depicting things like suicide and inappropriate sexual content can really take a toll on children.

Martins explains that it is ultimately up to parents—not YouTube—to make sure their kid is watching what appropriate videos.

“I think that it’s a misnomer for parents to assume that just because an app or a technology is made for children that it’s safe,” says Martins. “In the internet there is no regulation. Anyone can post anything, and they’re posting it faster than anybody on YouTube could possibly catch.”

If you are concerned about what your child is watching, stay close by while they’re on YouTube Kids and stay on top of blocking videos you think are inappropriate.