Television is dead – at least if you ask the younger generation. Children and young people today watch YouTube on their cell phones or tablets. But what exactly is it?
YouTube is currently the largest and most popular video portal in the world. Children and young people can watch countless videos on a wide range of topics and from various producers. But you can also upload your own videos, rate and comment on others’ videos, and exchange ideas with other users in the community.
YouTube offers something for everyone: kids and teens can find countless videos, topics and channels for all ages and interests. The content comes from all over the world, there are videos from professional channels (music videos, shows, children’s series, celebrities, successful YouTubers). But also private users download videos around computer games (e. g. B. Let’s Play videos), tutorials to follow, funny challenges and insights into their everyday life.
Many children and young people identify with YouTube stars and subscribe to channels they like. There, they watch 60-second smartphone videos on YouTube Shorts, the common 10-minute videos, or entire movies and series with a YouTube Premium subscription. Professional live streams of events take place via the YouTube Live function, but private individuals can also stream live with simple technology.
“YouTuber” is seen by some children and young people as a career aspiration and they would like to start their own video channel. Basically, it’s a great way to express yourself creatively. However, there are also some things that need to be considered. That’s why we have summarized the most important facts for you in this article:My child wants to become a YouTuber
It is a worldwide user community, with a huge range of content, new videos uploaded every second and countless comments. Therefore, there is a potential risk that young people may encounter content that is not suitable for them or may even be developmentally harmful. Videos can be e.g. show violent, offensive or disturbing content, encourage risky behavior, contain hidden advertising or are simply not age-appropriate for young users. Also, the comments under the videos may contain violence, hatred, insults or harassment.
When adolescents produce their own videos, they run the risk of revealing personal information about themselves or even friends and family members. If others are seen in the video without being asked, this may constitute a violation of the right to one’s own image. Children and young people can infringe copyright when using music or other video clips.
The portal is free of charge and contains advertisements and commercial content, e.g. commercials inserted before or between videos. Sponsored content or product placements may be difficult for adolescents to recognize and see through. Caution is also advised when entering sweepstakes on YouTube.
YouTube is a subsidiary of the Google Group. Anyone who wants to upload, subscribe or comment on videos needs a Google account. The minimum age for use in Germany is 16. An exception applies if a parent has allowed their child, who is at least 13 years old, to use the service through Family Link. In principle, all minors need the permission of their parents.
YouTube educates users about appropriate content and respectful interaction with its community guidelines. The provider is basically not responsible for the content of the uploaded videos, but deletes videos that contradict the guidelines. Pornography is banned on YouTube to protect children and young people. The same applies to content that promotes self-injurious behavior or that endangers the emotional and physical well-being of minors. Certain videos are therefore only visible to logged-in users who are 18 years or older. Even though YouTube itself uses various tools to filter out inappropriate content, user feedback is also important. You have the option to report content so that it may be deleted or even prosecuted.
YouTube uses upload filters that check whether images, music or videos in them are protected by copyright when they are uploaded. YouTube is thus acting in accordance with the EU copyright reform of 2019. The video platform informs: Only those who have the permission of the rights holder may use copyrighted material.
Since YouTube offers a confusing variety of videos, you should not leave your child alone with it. Accompany them in their first steps and discuss the possibility of reporting content. Let your child have their first experience on
YouTube Kids
where there is a safe framework.
If you decide your child is mature enough for the “real” YouTube, first make use of the restricted mode, which hides certain content, such as violence or nudity. Parents can activate the restricted mode to prevent their children from seeing such content as much as possible.
Be open if your child wants to produce their own videos. It’s a great way to get creative first. That said, discuss what topics and content will be in the videos. This also concerns whether and how much personal information other users might learn from them as a result. Be sure to discuss the ability to set videos to private or unlisted. This means that others can either not see these videos at all (“private”), or the videos can only be seen by those who have the link to them (“unlisted”) – they are then not displayed in the search.
This article is a guest post by Dr. Daniel Hajok.
With the scandal surrounding Farid Bang and Kollegah at the last ECHO awards, gangster rap has once again entered the public discussion. Parents, who all too often observe an enthusiasm for hip-hop in their children, ask themselves in view of the criticized crass lyrics whether what today reaches young people mainly via YouTube, earplugs and concert visits is not a serious danger for growing up.
With its roots in the African-American ghettos of the U.S., hip-hop was already dealing with ‘hard issues’ in the 1970s, social ills, social inequalities and more. From the beginning, the artistic means of expression was not only the power of spoken word (rap), but also DJing, break dancing and graffiti promoted the rise of hip-hop to a significant subculture, with which initially the socially disadvantaged youth and young adults of large US cities identified.
Hip-hop achieved commercial success and popularity beyond the country’s borders when rap music was put on records and on the radio. This quickly aroused the enthusiasm of young people in other countries as well: Hip-hop became the most important music-related youth culture worldwide – and has remained so to this day. In Germany, the scene emerged in the 1980s. The following continued to grow in the following period and in the 1990s the first rappers with German-language lyrics had great commercial success.
Many parents are horrified when they hear the lyrics of Kollegah, Bushido & Co. Nevertheless, gangsta rap has long been a very important and at the same time youth-affine hip-hop genre in Germany as well. Stylistic features include crass language and a demeanor of ‘masculine toughness’ on the part of the protagonists. Although there is a lot here about social grievances and social inequalities, the focus is often on the staging of the stars of the scene with things that you really don’t want with regard to your own children: violence and crime, devaluation of weaker people and the enhancement of the ego with power and status per se.
The German gangster rappers often have a migration background and have experienced exclusion and disintegration in ‘problem neighborhoods’ of our big cities. The identification potential is therefore particularly high for young people with similar experiences. The commercial success of gangster rap is due not least to the increasing enthusiasm among young people from ‘good homes’. Again, many like the fat beats and wordiness of the stars surrounded by money, cars and women. Via gangster rap, they can immerse themselves in the fascinating world of ‘Sex and Crime’ at any time and thus set themselves apart from their parents.
Gangster rap often offers our children very questionable identity designs. However, it does not affect them negatively per se. Likewise, the mostly young fans do not adopt the transported values, such as the power of the strongest and women as sex objects, one-to-one in their lives. In many places, the texts also encourage people to take a critical look at themselves and open up discussions in the clique about social ills and crime in problematic urban environments.
Gangster rap has a particularly dangerous potential when it appeals to young people with its music and the verbal battles between the cool stars, but the lyrics and video clips portray violence, criminal lifestyles, drug use, homophobia and contempt for women as worthy of imitation and promising success – and are not critically questioned. In these cases, young people may well be impaired or even endangered in their development into a self-reliant and socially competent personality.
Even with gangster rap, you are faced with the difficulty of not unthinkingly ‘maddening’ your children’s preferences while still showing a clear attitude of your own. To become aware of this, you should first ask yourself: What music did I use to set myself apart from my parents back then? How do I feel about depictions of violence, crime, and discrimination? What negative influences on my child’s development do I fear? Can I also get something positive out of her/his preference?
In any case, parents should not completely lose sight of their charges’ exposure to music, and should even take it as an opportunity for discussion. What does my child like about gangster rap anyway – and what doesn’t? How do you yourself feel about the texts and the images of the clips? In order to be able to show your own children the limits of what is tolerated and also to enforce them in everyday life, you as parents should also know the most important legal rules and be aware of the possibilities of appropriate educational interaction. The Federal Review Board for Media Harmful to Young People (BPjM), for example, has prepared a number of reports on the topic.
About the author:
Dr. Daniel Hajok is a communications and media scientist. He works as an expert witness, empiricist, seminar/workshop leader, and technical writer. His work focuses on media, society and social work, child and youth media protection, media education research and practice.
