Parents: The Importance of Discussing YouTube with Your Children
Parents: The Importance of Discussing YouTube with Your Children
Are
you a parent? If so, is your child old
enough to use the internet? If you have
a child who is in high school or even middle school, there is a good chance that
you are concerned with internet safety, as you should be. Online, there are a large number of websites,
including YouTube, which appeals to your children. The only problem with these websites is that
if they are not properly used, they can be dangerous. That is why it is advised that you discuss
popular internet sites, like YouTube, with your children.
When
it comes to discussing YouTube with their children, there are many parents who
wonder exactly what YouTube is. If you
have never heard of YouTube or visited it before, it is advised that you do
before talking to your children about it. Once you visit the YouTube website,
you will see that it is a video sharing website. Those who are thirteen years and older are
able to register for a free YouTube account.
Once an account has been registered, those with accounts can watch
YouTube videos, rate them or discuss them with other YouTube members, as well
as share their own videos online.
With
YouTube safety, most of the focus should be placed on uploading and sharing
videos, but it is also important that you touch on watching videos as
well. There are a number of YouTube
videos that have adult content. While
YouTube tries to ensure that each of these videos is marked, in one way or
another, not all are. You will want to
remind your child they are just, a child. You may even want to put limits on the type
of videos that they watch. For instance,
it is more possible to find educational videos on YouTube, like how-to
guides. It may be a good idea for your
children to view those types of videos, as they will likely receive a little
bit of education at the same time.
As
previously stated, most of the focus should be placed on uploading videos to
YouTube. In the past, a large number of
YouTube members posted videos that had clips from their favorite movies,
television shows, or music videos. Due
to copyright issues, YouTube is trying to cut down on these types of videos, as
they are actually illegal without proper permission. You may want to
explain this to your children, as they may not be familiar with copyrights and
how they work. In most cases, should
your children post a video on YouTube that they don’t have permission to do,
the video will likely be removed, but as more and more companies are fed up
with their work being displayed on the internet, more serious action may be
taken.
It
It is also important that you talk to your children about safety when sharing a
video on YouTube or even when making a video with the sole purpose of putting
it on the YouTube website. One popular
type of video that many young adults, including high school students, are
making are video blogs. Video blogs are
like traditional blogs, where they outline the happenings in one's life, but
they are in video format. The only
problem with a video blog is that many YouTube members are sitting right in front
of the camera, exposing their faces for everyone to see. While this can be
considered safe, giving out too much information, while showing your face
isn’t. You will want to let your
children know that they shouldn’t, under any circumstances, give out their full
name, their address, or their phone numbers, even cell phone numbers.
It
is also advised that you talk to your children about internet predators. Although YouTube members are able to talk to
each other, the dangers of meeting online predators aren’t as high as on
traditional social networking sites, like MySpace, but the threat still
exists. Let your children know that you
do not want him or her talking to other YouTube members, as they never really
know who is behind the computer. If you
and your children cannot reach an agreement, you may want to think about
blocking the YouTube website from your computers.
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