Banning YouTube has been the best parenting decision I’ve made recently.

[Cadela]

Dd only had kids YouTube but even with the approved channels I allowed her to watch for an hour max a day her behaviour has been so so so much better since I completely banned it.

It was rough for the first few days where she was having meltdowns about it. I just repeated sorry darling, but no YouTube. And it’s been 2 months now and she only speaks about it wistfully - “oh mum remember when you used to let me watch YouTube?”

Honestly if you’re on the fence it’s so so so worth it!! Dd has prime, Netflix and Disney plus and honestly whilst she’s in the house YouTube will never go back on. Best thing I’ve ever done.

What's wrong with YouTube? I love it, lol.

How old is she?

I would rather carefully monitored YouTube than Disney any day.

Well done OP! You did great!

Screen free family here when at home and no regrets. Kids are still very young so don’t need screens, we will see when they are older and need them for school/safety etc. Enjoy the fun times playing with your kid rather than have her gawp at a screen!

Dd is 8, and it’s such a thing at school! All her friends watch it (and don’t get me started on bloody Roblox, never happening here)

Disney is amazing @Stichintime! all the classics on there. We are having a 1980’s film day at the weekend.

Couldn't agree more! No more endless, mindless, videos of watching children in America doing random pointless stuff. On and on…

What's wrong with Roblox? It's just a game.

YES! Its a poison. 5 minute crafts, cat videos, dumb gaming guys talking utter dross, Mr Beast and all the other utter cretins.

Full marks to OP for banning that crap.

I didn't mind it before but now they have introduced YouTube shorts and it's a nightmare as they are exposed to tiktok and other videos which they would not normally see.

Exactly!!! It’s all so vile.

Dd and I are currently loving Just Add Magic on Prime, I watch it when she’s gone to bed 😂

All the main characters are female and there is no plots about wanting boys. So rare for a tween programme.

What's the difference between YouTube and the other streaming services like Disney plus? Don't get it - surely all screen time is the same

Isn't Disney plus actual TV programmes as opposed to watching mind numbing videos. It's all shite tbh but youtube is generally bottom of the barrel stuff.

@Stichintime can I ask why you don't like Disney? Agree with @Sisterdeloris that YouTube is definitely the worst of them all really

DH called it ‘PooTube’ once ‘because most of its contents are shit’.

Agreed my 5 year old has discovered it and it’s awful!

minature cakes with squeaky voices

random American kids or grown ups - with annoying squeaky voices and pointless chat

and so much worse. It’s absolute tosh

YouTube is awful for kids when it is used as a 'channel'. My DSC were addicted to it when they first came to live with us and so it's now banned in our house also. My own DC have never seen it as a result.

I think it has it's place, particularly if it's to watch a very specific thing that you search for, but it is often used as a channel in its own right by children who have access to it and they just watch one mind-numbing video after another and can end up watching some things that would never be allowed on children's channels. My youngest DSC at one point couldn't watch any programme or cartoon for longer than a few minutes and would constantly change anything that was on, because he was so used to short clips of things on YouTube that he didn't have the attention span to even watch a short programme or cartoon the full way through.

Don't really get it either. YouTube Kids is great, so long as you manage it properly. My DCs watch normal shows on there (that are also on Disney+, Netflix, Prime). Old CBeebies series that are no longer on tv. A lot of educational cartoons come up too, then classics like Fireman Sam, Thomas, Peppa, Ben & Holly. I blocked all the kids playing with toys type videos.

If you let them watch it unmanaged then yes the algorithms will spout out rubbish. Proper content management will prompt them to watch the same kind of shows (albeit probably dated ones) as the tv streaming services you seemingly think are fine?

YouTube Kids doesn't have Shorts. Agree no kids should be on normal YouTube.

I'm with you OP. I banned Roblox first as I could see I correlation with that and challenging behaviour it was like they were in withdrawal when they couldn't be on it constantly. Next I banned YouTube as it just made my kids bratty and entitled. I just started allowing it for my dd who wants to learn to draw but she understands if I catch her watching anything other than a drawing tutorial she looses it again. Much nicer children now! Just a shame more parents don't ban it as my kids are now the weird ones among kids their age

Banned here too. I agree it causes terrible behaviour. Unfortunately some of the annoying “millionaire kids play with stuff” videos have popped up on other channels.

The attention span one is a great point. Same for most streaming stuff, the skip intro button is a curse, the frustration kids learn for adverts, the hovering on the countdown button to hit skip as soon as an advert has started. It all teaches instant gratification, makes patience a thing of the past. I remember when ther was only 4 channels ee by gum and all that. I digress.

Even without Shorts YT Kids is still awash with 5 or 10 minute videos of utter drivel. Well done to those whos kids have never experienced that side of it. I urge you to watch 5 minute crafts or cat videos to get a flavour of the whats on there.

I’ll be doing the same. We’ve lost the sound on our TV so I’m just not going to switch it on tomorrow. We’re done with YouTube.

Yes I did this too when I suddenly heard swearing and that was the last straw! They still play video games but it made them watch normal tv more. God I never thought I would be desperate for my kids to watch normal cartoons and tv rather than these ridiculous videos on YouTube!

I think the same thing. Screen time is screen time imo I don’t think there’s much difference between any of the apps really

I let my 5 year old watch YouTube kids, but thankfully he likes watching educational stuff, although he does like watching baby animals do silly things. He likes his numbers and science stuff like Dr Binocs. Whenever he learns something at school (volcanos, natural disasters, the Antartic etc) he usually comes home and asks to watch specific videos on them.
My 8 year old nephew on the other hand just watches absolute rubbish like other people playing Minecraft and Roblox (something I've never understood - surely it's more fun playing the game yourself?!). Thankfully my son isn't able to search for anything himself and his watch next stuff is usually more of the same as what he has been watching.

Of course screen time is screen time, but it’s 2024, that is part and parcel of having children now. Screens can only be banned until they’re a certain age.

I’m not against screen time at all, Dd has plenty of other interests but I’m not fussed about making strict rules about how she can watch 3 seconds a day.

However, I do mind if she’s watching weird adults forcing their children to make YouTube videos and it’s all screaming and shouting and being ott american.

Hence why other streaming sites are fine here. Feel free to make other decisions for your own child.