Watching you tube every day at school

[Slimeblimeclimb]

My DC is in yr1. They are a class of 30 with a teacher and a TA. Every day he comes home and mentions that they have spent at least some time watching you tube eg pink panther or Tom and Jerry and sometimes it is an action song. I feel this is not normal/ my expectation, but I recognise that I did not grow up in this country. AIBU?

I work in Reception and every day at home time we have a story/song on the screen while we are sorting coats, lunchboxes, water bottles etc. Sometimes YouTube, sometimes CBeebies. Sometimes linked to our topic but children are currently obsessed with Rosie and Jim! It’s only for ten minutes at the end of the day.
when I was teaching Yrs 5-8 I would use YouTube regularly- as long as it’s relevant and you have checked it first I can’t see the harm?

Our year 5s have Newsround on while they tidy the class and get their coats on. Those paying attention can informally discus what they're seeing with the teacher and other kids as they do their bits.

DD comes home and tells me the news some days. It's nice.

Thanks. Will check with my son if eg at home time or similarly something related to what they are learning. Would love it if it was newsround. Tom and jerry and pink panther seems just time filling to me.

Why don't you ask the teacher?

Because it sounds a bit accusatory if I just ask the teacher it feels and also I don't really get to see her (i only pick up from class 1 day a week and that day she is normally not at pick up ... think they have their prep time so handover is by the music teacher).

I just think it’s lazy TBH and I would be having words with the head. Not my expectation that my kid goes to school and watched TV/ YouTube, esp. when there’s no educational value to it.

I use it to teach Makaton signs, movement breaks, Mr Tumble, science concepts etc. I use CBBCfor cartoons during wet playtime. When in mainstream, we watched Newsround every day. I don’t use it for Tom and Jerry!

This is why teachers are leaving. This massive leap to running to the HT with no context about what is actually happening. There is no way any teacher would get away with putting YouTube on for extended amounts of time. Children exaggerate and are not the most reliable witnesses and parents are so quick to think the worst. There are lots of great resources on YouTube- plus it could be being used in the type of context a PP mentioned.

You don't know that there is no educational value to what they are watching!

We all know you can't trust everything a kid tells you about what they have done at school, they might have watched a cartoon once (at wet play for example) and that is the only thing they will tell you about!

What about the other 5 hours and 50 minutes of a school day when a teacher is actually doing a really bloody good job?

@MamaGarl85 @LyndaLaHughes
The OP mentioned Tom & Jerry I think was it? That holds no educational value as far as I’m aware. Other things on YouTube that could be deemed educational I’d have less problem with, as long as not for prolonged periods.
And for the OP to go to HT - doesn’t have to be to complain, but to make them aware and question it so it can be looked into what exactly it is they’re watching and essentially whether what the child is saying is accurate - I didn’t necessarily mean to get them in trouble.

I think going straight to the HT rather than just having a quick word with the teacher (if it is really that big of a deal) would suggest that you are complaining about the standard of teaching...

Also I think HTs currently have more important things to be worrying about than whether the kids have watched one too many YouTube videos that week!

Come off it. Of course it’s to get the teacher into trouble.

op have you checked it’s not in wet play times? It’s been heavily raining here recently.

our HT is very approachable and stands chatting at the gate greeting parents and kids each morning, so very easy to have a conversation with her. DCs teacher on the other hand is in an upstairs classroom and we rarely see her - maybe just once a week and because it’s so infrequent she’s always inundated with parents. Also no way of contacting her other than via the office.
so yes I’d still speak to the HT personally, albeit conversationally and ask if its usual/accepted for the kids to watch cartoons on YouTube daily. If that’s not accurate info then no harm done and OP can stand corrected. If that is what’s happened hopefully it can be stopped because IMO its not on.

This is year 1? Not year 11?

Please don't make a thing of this. If parents knew how much scrutiny teachers were under, they would realise there is no way any teacher is letting children watch cartoons for any extended period of time. It's just not happening. It will be either wet play or the type of scenario listed above. The likelihood is that even with a mention- the HT will then feel obliged to put a total stop to whatever is going on which will just cause more stress for the teacher. Just don't. If you do need to query it- then please ask the teacher directly. But parents really do need to trust teachers more and query in a supportive way not always assuming the worst as 99% of the time- there is no issue.

Why can they not have a bit of fun too alongside learning? Lots of the shows the children are shown are Cbeebies at that age which are educational. The Yr2 class I was in as a volunteer loved Mr Bean cartoon whilst they ate their morning snack and drank their milk. Further up the school they watched science experiments or Slowmo guys, things that you could never replicate in a classroom for health and safety reasons. Is hymn practise educational?

We are growing up in a world with the internet, they use interactive white boards which also have the ability to access YouTube and it is an incredible resource. It will only be a tiny part of their day, it is hardly like the teacher said I am tired and throwing out the lesson plan, there is a curriculum to follow and be taught, if there is time then depending on whether you want a riled up class or need to calm them down you can choose accordingly what to do with that 5 minutes.

I'd disagree that there is no educational value to Tom and Jerry and pink panther, it's teaching children to recognise situations and facial expression without word, you'd be surprised if you asked them how many children wouldn't pick up on how Tom for example was feeling by looking at his face. But again it would depend on the context of it being used.

We use YouTube usually for movement breaks, or to find song's for the child, we sometimes put something on for them during fruit and snack. Or if it's a wet break time play. Some children actually really need 10 minutes down time, and it mixes it up from a story which some struggle to engage in. But would depend on how long its put on for.

Lazy?! Two adults trying to reunite 30 children, two with SEN, with their (unlabelled) jumpers and (also unlabelled) water bottles, put myriad bump notes and party invites into bags, change a nappy, check who is in after school club etc etc. If that’s lazy then I’d hate to be busy.

That’s quite a specific jump to make! 😄

It is not lazy. I spend a long time going through you tube to find the most appropriate videos for my class, and then designing resources, questions, etc to go alongside it You tube is an excellent teaching resource.

That’s great IF THERE IS EDUCATIONAL VALUE, but the OP is implying that Pink Panther and Tom & Jerry are being watched daily. If that is the case than I personally feel that’s a bit of a cop out.
@alloweraoway if you’re choosing specific YouTube videos and creating resources to go alongside that, of course that’s not lazy. But IF a teacher is just sticking cartoons on for the class every day, I wouldn’t be happy with that.

Well I mean, I did grow up in this country but YouTube wasn’t around when today’s parents were kids. But now is available the world over, probably in your home country too. So that’s not really part of it.

I was shocked when I learnt how much the school relies on YouTube too. We went into lockdown halfway through my eldest’s reception year, so a lot of homeschool came along with a YouTube video of course, but he already knew loads of songs and dances from watching YouTube at school. I was shocked! But a lot of what our school seems to use from YouTube is pretty good/informative.

It’s when they watch things like Octonauts, Bluey, Disney that I question it more!

I work in a school and we use YouTube or similar daily for various reasons ...

• watching newsround
• watching a story being read
• watching a video clip to support learning
• watching a cartoon/number blocks while they drink their milk/eat fruit
• doing yoga
• doing a movement break to an action song
• calming music/images while writing
• tidy up music/video
• days of the week video
• learning a maths concept

These are just a few examples. All completely legitimate and rarely for more than a few minutes.

For some children, it's the bit of their day they remember so they mention it at home. I wouldn't think too deeply about it. Or assume that the teachers are being lazy.

Thank you for giving me so many things to think about. I fully agree with using you tube in an educational manner, but got many other thoughts around e.g. maybe 'less educational' you tube being used with snack or tidying up etc, which is not what I initially imagined, but is more likely the case. This is why I posted on Mumsnet first so thank you for engaging with the question.

It's probably just timers