What kind of content do little children watch on YouTube, and how can parents and carers find the good stuff? Some recent research gives an idea what to look for.
Also in this episode, we start getting to know Glenn, who’s going to be doing the movie reviews. This week we hear why Happy Feet is recommended for children aged 12 and up (PG for 8-11). More background info on Glenn coming soon in a note.
Finally we zoom out to look at kidfluencers, or children who have a large social media following - usually driven and curated by their parents. How can the law protect them? Liz discusses an article that looks at employment law, but argues that child protection probably has better tools available.
As always, Liz is really keen to get your feedback - especially on this new format for the podcast since Kim moved on. So why not …
Show notes
Henderson et al paper: Dahlia Henderson, Talia Bailes, Julie Sturza, Michael B. Robb, Jenny S. Radesky and Tiffany G. Munzer, 'YouTube for young children: what are infants and toddlers watching on the most popular video-sharing app?' (2024) Frontiers in Developmental Psychology doi: 10.3389/fdpys.2024.1335922 Published 14 May 2024
Original YouTube study: J Radesky, A Schaller, S Yeo, HM Weeks, and M Robb, Young kids and YouTube: how ads, toys, and games dominate viewing (2020) San Francisco, CA: Common Sense Media. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/research/report/2020_youngkidsyoutube-report_final-release_forweb_1.pdf
Happy Feet review: https://childrenandmedia.org.au/movie-reviews/movies/happy-feet
Happy Feet availability in Australia: https://www.flicks.com.au/movie/happy-feet/
Kidfluencers paper: Marina Masterson, 'When play becomes work: child labor laws in the era of "kidfluencers"' (2021) 169 (2) University of Pennsylvania Law Review 577-607
Toddlers & Tiaras: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1364951/; and in Australia, watch here: https://www.9now.com.au/toddlers-and-tiaras
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Children and Media Australia (CMA)
You can find the Children and Media Australia Know Before You Go service via this link.
Then, depending what you’re looking for, you can sort the list or search by title alphabetically, by age suitability, by classification or by date added. All of the reviews are prepared by people with training in child development, and they cover every G and PG title released in Australian cinemas since 2002, as well as selected M-rated movies and some pre-2002 ones that are available on streaming services.
Or at this link, you can access Know Before You Load – reviews of game style apps and apps that may appeal to young children. These cover some extra things that are relevant to games, like data collection and gambling-like content.
You might also like to sign up for our KBYG Weekly newsletter about the latest reviews, and join the CMA Facebook community.
Ep 42: Toddlers and YouTube; Happy Feet; and kidfluencers