For many people, it’s hard to imagine everyday life without the online mail order company Amazon. Its video streaming portal Prime Video has the second-largest number of subscriptions after Netflix. Colloquially, the service is also called Amazon Prime, and several offers fall under this.
As with other video streaming services, Prime Video offers the ability to watch a variety of movies and series without being tied to a specific time or location. To do this, you have to register at amazon.de with your own Prime user account for a fee.
The movies and series can be watched via a web browser, the Prime Video app, or Internet-enabled devices, such as a smart TV device, game console, or smartphone. The subscription includes numerous movies and series for free availability, including formats produced specifically by Amazon. In addition, titles can be rented for a fee, for example, completely new series seasons. Amazon Channels offers the option of adding topic-specific pay channels such as Eurosport Player. Sharing a membership is not possible with Prime Video.
Most videos are marked with the legal age ratings of the FSK (Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle der Filmwirtschaft). There is a separate section for children’s content. The series and movies that can be found there are divided into the age groups 2 – 5 years, 6 – 8 years and 9 – 11 years, among other categorizations. In order to be able to watch video content with FSK18 ratings, you must prove that you are of age with the help of your ID or passport and a bank account.
Prime Video offers some safety settings for children:
No matter what age – Prime Video has the hottest series and movies for everyone. Without parental controls, minors have unlimited access to content that is not appropriate for their age, may frighten them or overwhelm them. Many series and movies have an FSK age rating, but not all. Children and young people can watch these without hindrance, as the parental controls do not apply here.
As with many streaming offers, the appeal of constantly continuing to watch is also very high with Prime Video. You should make your child aware of this and set a good example.
By its own account, Prime Video uses the FSK ratings as the basis for its parental control settings. If no FSK ratings are available for very recent films or series episodes, for example, there is no information on the website as to whether and according to what criteria the age ratings are made by the company itself or by third-party providers.
Want to integrate Prime Video into your everyday family life? Then you should pay attention to the age ratings of the movies and series, set up a child profile, set the child or parental control options accordingly and use PIN codes. Protect your user profile with a secure PIN (no birth dates or simple sequences like 1234). Otherwise, your child may switch between profiles and go from the child profile to the adult profile.
To make sure the content is really appropriate for your child, preview the movies or series your child wants to watch. Watching a movie together can be a nice family experience. Especially with younger children (at least up to ten years) this is generally recommended, so that your child does not feel left alone with scary or questionable content.
Also, make sure that prime video and media use at all should be just one activity among many other pastimes for your child.
In our video series “You ask – we answer,” our media educator Melanie Endler explains why you shouldn’t leave children alone when watching series:
You can find more videos here.
