By: Jared Pogue, MEd, LAPC
On average American kids 8-18 years old are spending 53 hours a week on digital media, with the majority of that time being spent on Youtube. By contrast, only about 6% of kids are spending time outdoors on their own accord. Things like fishing, swimming, catching lightning bug, putting frogs in jars, pick-up games of baseball or basketball, and star gazing are practically left to the distant memories of the previous two or three generations. Exploration of the natural world and creating stories together with childhood friends has changed to vicariously exploring the wild west of Youtube and posting the stories of others to share with anyone that follows their social media page. On top of this, parents are finding that their kids have lost track of normal time-oriented rhythms. Kids are mixing up their nights and days due to technology and they are finding it hard to function properly outside of the world of technology. No wonder an entire generation of parents feel like they are losing their children to Youtube.
If Youtube is where kids congregate, what exactly are they congregating around? What types of videos are they watching? A look at some of the most popular Youtube stars may give us an insight about what they are watching. The most popular Youtube channels that boys are watching are video game-oriented channels (this often means another Youtuber is streaming gameplay of a video game while producing comedic, often profane or racially-charged, commentary). Girls on the other hands tend to gravitate to Youtube Channels that have to do with beauty, make-up design (one of the most popular videos in this genre is called “How to trick people into thinking that you’re looking good”), and subtly sexually-suggestive humor channels. With few regulations on Youtube (and a tech savvy child can shut these off completely by setting up an email account and writing in a fake birthday), the maturity of the content these kids are presented with is very difficult for them navigate out of without proper guidance.
Practical encouragements and discouragement can help set your child back on the right path. First consider a time for the entire house to stop using electronics (parents this means you too have to stop). Go around the house collecting all cell phones and unplug the wifi. Expect to hear lots of griping and complaining for the first week or so. But if you stick to this, you will soon find that it becomes the norm. But this only works if you do this consistently and with no flexibility. If you do not keep your word or if you augment it in anyway, this will not work.
Second follow your kids on Youtube or other social media sites. You can often do this even without them knowing. Have conversations with them about what they are watching by watching it yourself or watch it together with them. Maybe they are looking at some pretty enjoyable and family-friendly content! Take this time to turn their daily habits into a bonding experience that you both get to enjoy. It may take some time for your child to let you into this part of their life, so keep pushing this as much as you can. Try linking outside activities to their Youtube consumption habits. Are they watching videos about drones? Help them fly or even make their own drones (ironically you can find instructions on Youtube on how to do this). Get other kids in the neighborhood to help with these projects. Even help your child to make his or her own Youtube video. Set them up with a camera, offer to help write a script, or help with costume design and get a few of their friends involved in the process. Help them to see the importance of not just being a consumer, but rather being a community-minded producer in the world.
The point of all this is not to make your child miserable by instilling technological limitations and making them be something they don’t want to be. The point is to help your child live a full, active life that shows them that life is about more than watching. Your personal touch in their life is a small picture of an even greater reality that they do not have to sit around being mindless spectators, rather they can be the ones that create and make their world even brighter.