Hello, folks. Hoping I can get some opinions on my situation.
My 12-yo watches a lot of YouTube. It is mostly streaming personalities who have a lot to say on a variety of topics. I have either watched these videos with them, overheard them from another room, or looked some up from their history and viewed them myself.
I have problems with them and want to do something about it.
I care little about the topics being discussed; my child is allowed to be interested in their own things, even those separate from ours (their parents), and it's also reasonable for them to disagree with us. All of that is fine.
My problem is with how these streamers present their content:
- They do not provide critical scrutinization of the issues.
- They do not apply logical rationalization or reason to the stances they take.
- They do not cite sources of repute to justify their positions.
- They are needlessly hyperbolic.
- They examine no dissenting opinions.
- They present themselves as authorities on every topic with zero credentials to support that assertion.
- They succumb to, support, and repeat what is obviously propaganda.
To say nothing of the fact that the value the entertainment potential and viewership counts more than the content of their arguments.
I was raised allowed to moderate my own content because I was trusted to be intelligent and wise enough to critically select what I watched or read and learn from the mistakes I made if I consumed something negatively influential. I have tried to extend this same trust to my 12-yo, but their constant repetition of what they hear and their inability to form a cogent argument makes me feel like their YouTube viewing habits are teaching them to accept concepts at face-value simply because they are popular.
I don't feel it would be productive to start out-right blocking content and pundits because this would feel more hegemonic than educational. I'd rather increase the likelihood that they'd critique and dismiss the content than decrease the likelihood that they'd view it.
I would love to hear what others have to say about this situation.
They are also 12–almost a teenager. They are moving into a phase where your opinion matters less and their friends start mattering more.
What you are seeing as a slow indoctrination by YouTube may be more of a social game to keep up with the same media their friends consume. Each regurgitated opinion probably lands a lot better in a group of their peers.
This is the future we’ve been growing into. Kids are just living in it.
I watch a few streamers too, and I highly recommend that you follow the ones your kids enjoy until the consequences start setting in. IRS trouble, broken marriages, terminated business deals…stream bros don’t usually live happy lives. Let your kid see the beginning in full, and then make sure they stay tuned for the end.
Boogie used to be the Mr. Rogers of YouTube. Now he’s a cancer faking lolcow who tattooed “liar” on his face, then was caught lying about that too. That is a story arc a kid can learn from. There are wolves in sheep’s clothing, and now we have the benefit of watching them get exposed live.