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h ow many times have you tried to get your
child
?s attention while he was staring at a screen in rapt attention? i?m sure you?ve had to use the phrase, ?put down the screen,? far more times than you?d like to, and most often when you did, you found that the attention you were vying for was held captive by
youtube
. at first, what he is
watching
seems okay, because who doesn?t love to see their
child
smiling, laughing, and interacting with anything? but then, you lean in closer and check out what he is
watching
. unfortunately, in this digital world, there are no built-in filters to protect our
child
ren, and the chances of them seeing and hearing something inappropriate are far greater in this world than in tv land. if you?re paying attention, even those seemingly benign ?try not to laugh? videos are filled with things that parents would never expose their
child
to in the real world, like casual use of vulgar language, and repeated scenes of people being disrespectful. as a parent, the challenge is, what should we do about it? the idea of regulating
youtube
seems far too daunting, so it might seem easiest to ?ban?
youtube
. in this digital age, where we are all so connected, is that really the best solution? arguably,
youtube
has as much good as there is bad. the other day, i came home to find my son teaching himself how to adjust the brakes on his bicycle? with the help of a
youtube
tutorial. my garage door would never have gotten fixed, if he hadn?t looked up how to troubleshoot the issue on
youtube
. not only can you find a wealth of educational information on any given topic, but also,
youtube
provides a creative outlet that can benefit us all. so, although it might be easier to pull the virtual plug and put
youtube
on lockdown, it would be more beneficial in the long-term to tackle the issue head on and begin what will hopefully be an ongoing conversation with your
child
about how to safely navigate
youtube
in this digital age. what they?re
watching
before giving your
child
access to
youtube
, you should have an open conversation with him. ask him what he plans on
watching
. remind him that he shouldn?t be
watching
anything scary, and encourage him to come to you if he sees anything he doesn?t understand. teach him to evaluate what he sees. remind him that not everything that he sees online is true, and additionally, that a lot of what he sees may be advertising. creating their own channels this question should be carefully considered, but there are many
child
ren who have successfully created their own
youtube
channels. it?s an inexpensive way for your
child
to share his creative side and explore a hobby. counselor helen wilson says, ?before you allow your
child
to create his own channel, consider the following: does your
child
exhibit an understanding and respect for internet boundaries established in your home? have you had conversations with him discussing the permanence of posting content online as well as general 'internet safety?' definitely require that he gives you all passwords and login info, so you can monitor any conversations that take place with followers (public and private). also, be your
child
's first follower, and watch all of the content your
child
publishes.? set boundaries wilson says whether it?s when creating kids and
youtube
how to safely navigate the virtual world by lauren labbé meher cover kid 2018-2019 tyler b. photo credit: lauren leopold photography 4 6 b r p a r e n t s . c o m | j u n e 2 0 1 9
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