Ten year old dd and youtube channel-advice please!

[colourdilemma]

My ten year old (year 5) dd wants to be one of seven friends setting up a youtube channel and posting videos (food eating channels, room yours and the like). Previously, dh and I have said no social media accounts or youtube accounts until 13 at least. This has been somewhat taken out of our hands because one of the girls has registered an account and they all have the log in details. Dd doesn't want to miss out and they seem to be fairly aware of Internet safety. Should we "give in" and allow her to take part or stick to our guns? Anyone got experiences, good or bad, about preteens and youtube to share? I'm a Luddite and really want her to be doing French knitting and playing with barbies like I was at ten!!!

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Not at 10 I wouldn't allow it.

[colourdilemma]

That's my gut feeling-why do you think not?

[DependencyInjection]

with proper supervision, oversight and monitoring, they could learn alot especially if you can get them access to opensource video and audio software and read the manuals. They could learn some lifeskills early.

on the other hand if you throw them a phone and let them get on with it it could be a disaster.

I opted for the former, which ended up being too much like hard work for my 10yo so she gave up on the idea

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Even with parental settings things can pop up and suggested videos can be inappropriate, plus the comments can be inappropriate too.

I'd re think in a couple of years.

What's room yours? Is that filming their bedrooms?

[multivac]

Our boys have Youtube channels. We monitor them closely. They've produced some genuinely creative and interesting - and funny - stuff. They have no other social media accounts, nor will they before 13 (they are 11, and were 10 when they started, erm, Youtubing)

[colourdilemma]

So-youtube is different in terms of being "social media" as such? If it were genuinely just the daft challenges filmed and uploaded, I don't think is mind as much. I definitely and categorically don't want dd to be heading into Instagram style social media for a long time yet. Do the comments on youtube make a slippery slope into obsessively checking? That's my worry-even more than the potential nasty comments. And, sorry if I'm sounding naive and pearl clutching, does youtube have any grooming potential?
She would have to do any filming/watching within the screen time limits (20 mins a day on weekdays if they've been civil and got everything done!) already have and we already don't allow the iPad in bedrooms.

[colourdilemma]

I'm secretly hoping that if we say yes, the project will run its course and be deemed too much like hard work!!

[DependencyInjection]

here a link to the youtube T&C's www.youtube.com/static?gl=GB&template=terms

Here's the google age T&C's (min 13)support.google.com/accounts/answer/1350409?hl=en

In practice unless somebody reports Google/Youtube ignores the T&C because it's user generated content which drives traffic.

The issue here is that the OP is (IMHO) talking about content creation, not just watching Youtube. The practical reality is that any kid is capable of creating video's given the right equipment for them. It'show it's then managed and distributed.

We manage what our kids post up to youtube, they can only do it with our permission and concent. They may think that the channel is theirs, it's actually a separate account that me and the OH "manage" AKA behind the scenes control-freaky parents who watch over what the kids are doing.

Our 10yo daughter knows full well how to set up a google account and could if she really wanted to, she also knows how to record stuff on a phone camera, or on a laptop or even with her own digital camera. And she's at an age where she can read and understand the prompts. If you throw them a camera and then throw them over a wall and let them get on with it, you could be in for a world of misery.

The upside is that either way they could become a youtube star and be minted before university, or they could just have some fun and learn something along the way. Or they could discover it could be something like hard work and give up.

My personal feeling is that I like to keep an eye on it so I don't miss out on something that they are up to.

Also this could be an opportunity for them to learn internet safety, and what goes around can come back to haunt you. By the age of 7 our eldest knew what to look out for when it came to internet creepy people, she has quite a talent for spotting grown-up men pretending to be little kids, boys pretending to be girls and the mean and rude - and this is how she's described it to us, when she calls us over to check something out.

[colourdilemma]

I don't want to be super permissive with Internet stuff, but equally, I'd rather she uploaded and was honest about things because we hadn't banned it outright than went behind our backs. I'm guessing that open conversation and a calm approach might give us the relationship that allows us to deal with the trickier actual social media stuff ahead. But I flipping wish the other kids parents had said no to setting up the channel in the first place or checked with others because we're now a bit on the back foot.

[YouMakeMyDreams]

Tbh I go for the let them give it a go they might learn something with plenty of supervision. Dd is a young teen so has lots of social media which she knows I monitor. When she first started I held the passwords she didn't know them so couldn't change them. The only problems that we have had in school are with the girls whose parents didn't check and didn't know passwords.
Ds1 is very into YouTube and wants to upload videos. They know a lot about Internet safety from school and home and I'm happy to help him do it and monitor it all. Like you said it can open a good honest dialogue and takes away the likelihood of it becoming desirable and going behind your back.
Tbh they will either take it pretty seriously and learn a lot or they will do it badly lots of giggling and screaming nobody will watch the videos and it will all become hard work. .
I'm not hugely into banning or bargaining for screen time. They use it for so much and is the world we live in. Feel there is a bit of if you can't beat them join them in this while taking the opportunity to guide them safely before they get old enough to do it themselves in secret.

[bigkaren69]

I think it would be fine- a bonding/ fun experience with friends and he'll get to learn about video editing and the like. If you say no and he is forced to watch from the sidelines as his friends have fun on their new channel, it could damage his relationship with you and the friends. not to mention that they'll probably get bored of it quickly anyway

[bigkaren69]

@bigkaren69 *she, so sorry haha