WATCH: Jennifer Palisoc looks at whether child-friendly apps are truly safe.
TORONTO – YouTube rolled out a new app today aimed at the pre-school set, complete with a timer to shut it down after a given period.
The app is getting guardedly good reviews from online analysts, but they also warn that parents still need to monitor their children’s use of media.
YouTube Kids features simple icons to allow children to select TV shows, music or educational programming. Tiles highlight favourite shows for younger children such as Sesame Street and Thomas and Friends. There is a function to allow voice searching, aimed at pre-literate kids.
YouTube is already hugely popular among youth, with much material that is inappropriate. The new app is designed to give parents some comfort their children’s eyes will not stray into the wrong places online. Parents can set time limits for use of the app and disable the search function.
“Anything that helps parents to curate media use is a good thing,” said Matthew Johnson, the director of education for MediaSmarts, a charity that promotes media literacy among young people.
In an interview with Global News from his Ottawa office, Johnson said parents still need to watch media with their children, to ask them critical questions about what they are seeing online and to encourage use of media for a reason, rather than simply to fill time.
“No technology is a substitute for parental involvement,” said Johnson.
Carmi Levy, a technology writer and analyst based in London, Ontario described YouTube kids as essentially an online TV channel for kids, and at best just another tool in familiarizing young people with safe internet practices. But he warns that parents should not use it as an excuse to allow children to roam online unfettered.
“These are not electronic babysitters. You are still accountable for making sure that your child is safe when they go online,” said Levy.
“Parents need to realize: it’s not that hard for children to bypass these apps, to bail out, go to the real YouTube and watch whatever they want. You’ve always got to be vigilant, standing over your kids’ shoulders.”
At an indoor playground in Toronto Winnie Standish told Global News that her two children, aged three and six, are so attached to smart devices that she has bought one for each. While she is careful to limit use, she admits that she and many parents use technology at times not only to educate their children, but to occupy them.
“We all use it very much and probably more than we would like to admit,” she said.
MediaSmarts advises that children under the age of two not be given any significant amount of screen time, as it distracts from interacting with others and learning about the world around them. Older children should be limited to no more than two hours per day, while always viewing with a purpose rather than as an undirected habit.
– With files from Jennifer Palisoc
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