Creating a safer online environment for kids might be as simple as giving them their own spaces to hang out. Like… virtual Chuck E. Cheeses! And while there are a bunch of kid-friendly sites out there (even oodles of apps aiming to teach young ones how to code their own online anything) what we need are more destinations that mimic what we all want out of our surftime. Think: Safe social networking, easy entertainment and channels full of fun, shareable content. How about a way for kids to get their (age-appropriate) viral video fix even? All might be attainable in the future — there’s apparently a “YouTube For Kids” in the works.
Google (YT’s parent — see, kids, even huge websites have ‘rents!) is reportedly developing an online video sharing platform geared to a much younger demo. They’ve even been reaching out to content creators for family-friendly programming for the single digit set.
YouTube currently does have parental controls, although those are limited and (if we remember being kids at all… who were less savvy than these kids) probably pretty easy to work around. Also, (again, if we remember correctly) it’s better to give kids their own thing as opposed to restricting what is available.
A move like this would open up a whole new world of unique content. So beyond just YouTube, it might look more like Netflix-and-Hulu-Too-For-Tykes. Orange is the New Black would be an entire show of adorable aliens learning colors. House of Cards, a channel of magic trick tutorials. We vote that Lennon and Maisy get their own YT4K (YouTube 4 Kids) Star Search. No confirmation yet, but we assume there will still be loads of cat vids.
Also, let’s not forget that, YouTube For Kids = YouTube For Parents’ Peace of Mind. Who can hate that?
Do you let your kids roam YouTube freely? What is your experience with parental controls like? What family-friendly online programming do you already let your kids watch? Share below!
(h/t: tubefilter)