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 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 appeal 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 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 that 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 with out the 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 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 ones life, but they are in video format.  The only problem with 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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