Netflix is one of the most popular streaming portals among families. We explain what to look out for if your child wants to watch movies or series there.
Netflix is a video streaming service where you have unlimited access to a huge selection of movies and series with your own account. The company has the rights to use them and also produces some films and series itself. Anyone who wants to use Netflix has to pay between €4.99 and €17.99 per month. The cheapest subscription has advertising in between – but this is soon to be completely removed. If you pay significantly more (at least 12.99 euros), you can stream on two or four devices simultaneously. Up to five profiles can be created per account with different settings, e.g. age rating, age rating, subtitle display or playback settings. The film and series suggestions in the profile also adhere to these settings, but what is actually suggested is calculated by an algorithm based on the viewing behavior of the individual user.
Account sharing, i.e. the use of an account by several people at the same time, is possible to a limited extent depending on the subscription. This is permitted with persons living in the same household. This is only permitted with persons from other households for an additional charge. The provider examines violations of this in various ways and demands compensation.
The subscription also includes Netflix games. Customers receive access to specially developed or licensed games for mobile devices. These can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or in the Google Play Store as separate game apps. There is no advertising or in-app purchases for the games.
Netflix offers content for all ages. For the movies and series, the streaming service adopts the existing FSK rating. If there is no FSK rating, the age ratings are made by Netflix itself, which must comply with German law.
Due to the wide range of content on offer, there is also countless content for older teenagers (aged 16 and over) and adults (aged 18 and over) that can be frightening and problematic for children and young people. Parental controls can be set up by entering a PIN for selected age ratings or specific movie/series titles. In addition, profiles can be protected with a PIN and special children’s profiles can be set up.
Unlike with analog, linear television, you can theoretically watch series from start to finish. The appeal of spending a lot of time on Netflix is therefore high. Here, personal responsibility is required to limit one’s own viewing time . What is already difficult for some adults is even more difficult to control for children and even teenagers.
Netflix displays the respective age rating for movies/series in various places, on the overview page for the movie, in the detailed information or as an overlay at the beginning when playing. Also, individual titles can be locked for individual profiles. These will then also no longer appear in the search or in the suggestion list. In addition, individual profiles – e.g. the profile for adults or older children – can be assigned a PIN so that younger children do not have access. It is also possible to create children’s profiles. This gives you, as parents, the option of making settings appropriate to the age of your child. For example, you can see what content your child has watched in the last few days or you can prevent the next episode of a series from playing automatically.
Pay attention to the age ratings of movies and series. Use the child or parental control options by creating appropriate profiles and protecting them with a secure PIN . This is the only way to ensure that your child cannot end up in the adult section from the child profile.
Only display titles suitable for children in the children’s profile; these are based on the age ratings 0, 6, 12, 16 or from 18 years. Consider whether automatically playing more episodes really makes sense for you. Also, you can have animation effects reduced in the child profile when navigating on the TV. When watching on portable devices, feel free to use the screen lock so that smaller children in particular cannot adjust anything on the device themselves.
Keep an eye on your child’s screen time. It’s best to set media rules together – and set a good example yourself. Media time should be just one of many other non-media activities. If you’re not sure how much time your child should spend in front of the TV or laptop, check out our video: “How much media time is too much?”
Ask your child about his or her favorite series or movies, and it’s best to watch them together so that your child doesn’t feel alone even during scary scenes. It can also turn the shared experience into a beautiful ritual .
The smartphone vibrates in your pocket. When you look at it, there are 15 new messages in the family group and a voice message from your best friend waiting for your reply. This can be annoying or even put pressure on you. Being constantly connected and reachable can trigger digital stress – even among young people. But how does that happen?
Digital stress is mainly related to constant accessibility, distraction and control. Most young people – but also many adults – assume that they will respond to messages on WhatsApp , Instagram and Co within a few minutes or have to respond. This expectation of always having to be available can lead to stress on both sides, e.g. if other important tasks such as homework are neglected in the process.
Many young people take their smartphone to bed with them. The first thing many young people do when they wake up in the morning is automatically reach for their smartphone. This also happens at other times of the day – often quite unconsciously as a distraction or out of boredom. For example, many people use their social media feed as a bedtime story before going to sleep, but the more screen time during the day, the more trouble you can have falling asleep or sleeping through it.
For children and young people, it’s part of the job to constantly communicate and stay in touch with their friends via messenger apps, social media or online games. However, this is also associated with social pressure . Social media apps are made to get as much user attention as possible, and not all content does teens good. The own self-expression, the comparison with idols or friends can be exhausting. Online games also want to keep players engaged with reward systems and performance principles.
Those who do not participate in group chats, for example, fear being excluded from the schoolyard as well. That’s why it’s especially hard for younger teenagers to escape the flood of news. This phenomenon has a name: FOMO stands for “Fear of missing out” and describes the fear of missing out or not noticing something.
At the same time, many young people are annoyed that their friends are constantly looking at their cell phones when they are out together. On the other hand, they themselves find it difficult to take their eyes off their cell phones and constantly check their smartphones for incoming messages. When a red number appears on the app icon on the display, it makes you excited and curious. It is a small feeling of happiness that wants to be repeated as often as possible.
Older teenagers are often already aware of the problem and try to find their own solutions to it. They are more likely to be able to separate themselves from their own circle of friends and to pursue their own needs with self-confidence. Whether on vacation, while learning, or permanently – under JOMO (“Joy of missing out”), for example, social media users share their joy at being able to switch off and put digital media aside for a while.
In the age of smartphones, mobile Internet and messengers, almost everyone can relate to the term digital stress. Many children and young people are bothered by the fact that their parents also look at their smartphones too often. You are a role model for your child for conscious media use. If you yourself feel stressed by your smartphone, talk openly about it with your child. This way, it feels understood when it can’t put the smartphone down.
Together with the whole family, find strategies to reduce stress. Set rules together to reduce time on the cell phone. This can be, for example, a ban on cell phones during meals together or in the bedroom. Of course, the adults must also abide by these rules!
Or you can arrange a “digital diet” in which all family members abstain completely from digital media and the Internet for a while. If you do something nice together as a family instead, the renunciation may not be quite so hard!
Apps for regulating media time or setting options such as screen time can help to use media more consciously . A comprehensive list on how to avoid digital stress is provided by the saferinternet.at site.
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.
When we see young people on their smartphones, we quickly get the thought: They stare too much at their displays and don’t really talk to each other anymore!
But maybe you’ve caught yourself pulling your phone out of your pocket way too often and letting it distract you.
If it’s already so difficult for us adults to keep track of our media time, how will our children manage? You can support your child with our tips while also keeping an eye on your own media time. It’s not about banning media. After all, they make many things in our everyday lives easier and fun to use. But too much screen time can also be harmful, for example because you don’t get enough exercise. Read our article “How much media time is good for my child?”.
Agree together on rules about media times. One good thing, for example, is that no smartphones are allowed at meals together. Of course, this does not only apply to the children! Since they always look to adult role models, you should set a good example. In some families, there is a shelf where each family member has a compartment for their own smartphone. It can be placed there during mealtime.
Together with your child, think about which media are used in which situations and why. Is this always useful or could you do something else that is better for you instead? Create a weekly schedule for you and your child to record media times. Does this seem like too much compared to other activities? Then you can consider alternatives together.
Depending on their age, you should agree with your child how much time a day or a week they can spend with media. In doing so, distinguish what media is used for. If your child understands the rules, it will be easier for him to keep such times.
If your child is younger, you can use marbles to help per agreed media time. For example, a ten-year-old boy has seven hours of media time per week and receives a marble for every 30 minutes. When the time is used up, a corresponding number of marbles are put away. An hourglass that ticks down during media time can also be an orientation.
There are apps that allow you to measure and regulate your screen time. For example, they are called StayFocused (for Android, free of charge) or AppBlock (free of charge for Android; from August 2021 also for iOS), Forest (free for Android, with ads and in-app purchases, for iOS €2.29 with in-app purchases) or Space (basic version free for Android and iOS). They record the use of the smartphone. You can use them to disable certain apps or “paralyze” the whole smartphone for a certain time. Apps like Forest and Space are more playful in that a tree grows or a galaxy builds up by not using the phone.
Many of these apps are funded by advertising, which can be annoying. Also, some apps require you to enter a lot of data to track smartphone behavior. It is not clear for all of them whether the data is also used for other purposes.
Many devices also allow you to control your own screen time or “digital well-being” via the“Settings”. You can see how long and what you spent your time on the smartphone. Timeouts can be scheduled or time limits can be set for certain apps. If you do not keep to this or if the time limit is reached, the corresponding note appears on the screen and the question whether you would like to add another 15 minutes, for example, or exceptionally select “No limit today”.
Even if these digital helpers can be easily deactivated, you can see how much time you spend with your smartphone and certain apps. This can help to rethink and change one’s own behavior with the smartphone. Perhaps you will turn it into a challenge together with your child!?
Do you know it? You wanted to watch only one episode of your favorite series and then it became three, because it was just so exciting. Your child sometimes feels the same way: he or she is having so much fun watching TV and playing computer games that he or she forgets about the time. Bingewatching” refers to watching several episodes of a series at a time, and this also occurs among children. Binge means “excess” in German and viewing means “to look at”.
For some adults, bingewatching is even a hobby. Streaming services such as Prime Video, Netflix and YouTube have adjusted their offerings accordingly. Series often come as a whole season, so users can easily watch one video after another. From a company’s point of view, this is quite logical: They have an interest in keeping users on their platform for as long as possible.
There are more and more media library apps specifically for children or streaming apps with children’s profiles. YouTube Kids, Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ are particularly popular. Therefore, it’s no wonder that bingewatching also occurs among children and teenagers, because they find it even harder to turn off the TV or tablet.
Children and young people quickly get carried away by their favorite characters and stories, so that they can hardly tear themselves away from them. Some simply forget to switch off and therefore watch more than agreed. Younger children in particular are not yet very good at regulating their own needs and media use. They are therefore more easily seduced to look further and further.
Sometimes there is simply a lack of alternative occupations. Kids don’t know what to do besides watch TV. Besides, it’s easy to just be sprinkled instead of being active yourself, making up your own stories, drawing something, or anything else.
Some things you can set on your child’s profile on the streaming site itself. For example, you can disable the automatic start of the next episode or set a time limit for some services. If you download certain episodes, your child won’t be drawn to other series and will find it easier to switch off when the agreed viewing time is up. You should become active as soon as your child reacts stressed or annoyed when he or she cannot watch any longer.
Design media usage rules together, especially fixed time slots, and make sure they are followed. As long as your child is not yet able to handle media on his or her own responsibility, support and accompany him or her in this process. Don’t use the favorite show as a punishment or reward, and establish alternative outlets for media use.
If your child is very emotionally attached to the series, you can engage with it together in other ways. Your child can bring the series world to him with toys, by painting or playing with friends and continue telling the stories. This way, your child experiences his or her favorite series even more and can help shape it.
Older children and teenagers should also occasionally allow you to distract them with television during stressful periods. Just make sure that bingewatching is not constantly used to combat stress.
When the little ones watch videos, they need to be accompanied by their parents. Media educator Melanie Endler explains why this is important.
YouTube is the most popular online service among young people. But other video portals are also popular, such as Dailymotion.
Dailymotion is one of the most important video portals on the web and offers a wide range of content for all ages. It is very popular with families because you can see all the Pippi Longstocking movies here, for example.
You can watch the videos on Dailymotion without an account. The portal is financed through advertising. That is why there is advertising on the page and in front of many clips.
However, one can also register on the portal via Facebook, a Google account or via e-mail. Then you can create your own channel and upload videos there or subscribe to or favorite channels to have individual videos suggested that are relevant to you. Dailymotion refers to this as the “personalized space. Users can also search the video platform by user-created groups, tags or channels on various topics.
Dailymotion itself does not provide any information on specific recommendations as to the age at which the video portal is suitable. According to the child protection notices on the website, users under the age of 18 should obtain their parents’ consent when registering for the portal. However, age is not checked during registration. In the Google Play Store, the app is age-restricted USK 12, and in the iTunes App Store, it is recommended for ages 17 and up.
Since Dailymotion has videos for all ages, it’s very easy for your child to come across content that isn’t appropriate for their age and may be frightening or disturbing, for example. Although a family filter can be activated, some search results still show videos that are either incomprehensible or questionable, especially for younger children. The filter can also be easily deactivated with one click. After playing a video, the next video will start automatically. This means that you have no influence on which videos are displayed. This can easily lead to your child watching one video after another and not finding an end.
The website is mostly usable in German, but there is also some e.g. English or French content, which can make the offer difficult to use, especially for children.
On the website Dailymotion gives information about child protection in English. Here, users are advised not to share personal information over the Internet. On Dailymotion, there is an option to share self-created videos with selected users only in private mode. There is a reporting function for all videos.
There are very few security settings on Dailymotion that you can use to protect your child from inappropriate content. If your child still wants to watch videos on Dailymotion, you should be able to assess whether they are already aware of the potential risks. Let your child show you their favorite videos and discover the world of Dailymotion together. This way you are on the safe side and immediately on the spot should you come across anything unpleasant or questionable.
If your child wants to create their own videos and upload them to Dailymotion , you should accompany them and publish the videos in private mode for the time being so that they are not accessible to all users. Keep the legal conditions in mind and explain them to your child as well. Creating a video – such as an explainer video – can also be a great family experience where your child can learn a lot!
Do you remember the feeling when the day was approaching, when a new episode of your favorite series was on TV, and you planned everything so as to be on time in front of the family TV in the living room? Thanks to media libraries, Netflix and the like, this scenario is largely a thing of the past.
More and more children and young people today watch videos, movies and series online via legal streaming services. This non-linear TV makes it possible to watch when you want with the device of your choice – whether smartphone, computer or an Internet-enabled smart TV.
The range of options is huge: There are paid online video stores like Netflix or Amazon Prime and free video streaming platforms like YouTube with content produced by users themselves. Many TV stations also make their programs available free of charge or, in some cases, for a fee via their own media libraries. Some broadcasters also offer a livestream, via which – as with traditional analog television – the currently running program can be viewed online. Content can be viewed without having to download and save it to your own device. In some cases, it is also possible to download individual movies or series and play them offline.
This wide selection is of course also available to children and young people. If they have their own device with an Internet connection, it’s hard to control what and how much they see.
What is attractive is the wide variety of current and selected series, films and documentaries, which can theoretically be watched at any time of the day or night. It has become normal for children and young people not to have to watch their favorite show at a specific time, as is the case with “normal” television. In addition, a new episode of the favorite series can be easily watched while sitting on the bus or train, for example.
As with TV programming, there are movies and videos on streaming portals with content that is not suitable for children and can scare them. Streaming services must also comply with the statutory protection of minors in the media and adopt the age ratings of the FSK (Voluntary Self-Regulation of the Movie Industry). If there is no FSK rating for films or series episodes, they must make the age ratings themselves and comply with German law.
The criteria for streaming services’ own age ratings are not necessarily apparent. Therefore, be sure to read up on the parental control settings of the respective streaming provider and use the functions and settings offered, such as passwords and PINs.
Set specific time windows during which watching is allowed. Media time should always be just one of many other, non-media activities. If you are not sure how much time your child should spend in front of the TV or laptop, you can find more information here on the website.
Ask your child about their favorite shows or movies and watch them together. Depending on your child’s age, you should watch movies and videos together so that if there is something scary or questionable in them after all, your child is not left alone with it.
Movie night with the whole family can also be a nice shared experience and ritual. Here you can have fun together and get to see how your child reacts to certain content.
