Is it Wrong when YouTubers use Their Kids in Videos?

[darkstarmedia]

I usually don't think too much of it, although I think once the kid is old enough to think for themselves and have a basic understanding of what they want, the parents should at least ask.

 

[nutwad]

No! Not in my opinion anyways. If that's what they wish to do with their channels then let them be!

 

[Lightsen]

I've just remembered, my 7 year old cousin provided a voice for one of my animations, and most comments on that video are complimenting how adorable she sounds

 

[Mommy]

We had been struggling with this for a while about the bullying thing. We were afraid that other kids might made fun of him. If not now,then maybe later! However after talking to many big YouTubers that feature kids in their videos, they said they have not really experience any bullying from other kids instead other kids are more starstruck and acts like they have seen a celebrity. I also use Evan's channel as an example and it seemed like it helped him positively in real life. There are many videos where they partnered with Make a Wish foundation and just spend time with other kids at Disney etc...and I think that's pretty cool! YouTube has been nothing but a positive experience for my son. It helped him with his speech and made him more outgoing. There were times we took him to the park or indoor playground and because some kids recognize him, he was able to make a friend and have someone to play with. The instant he tells me he doesn't want to do it anymore, that's when we will call it quit!

Also I think it's pretty cool that kids can help other kids without even knowing it! For example we did a video on my son getting his haircut and a mom comment that she was so happy for this video because her son was scared of getting a haircut,but after he sees my son getting one, he was okay with getting a haircut. Another one was when my son was sick,there was a clip showing him drinking his medicine. Another mom said thank you because her son was sick and he been refusing to drink his medicine, he was okay drinking it after he sees my son doing it!

We have had so many amazing life experiences thanks to YouTube. Gracie has been able to hang out with kids who are fighting cancer or other life threatening diseases and bring some joy into their lives. Not many other tweens get to do that! She has traveled, made friends in other states and from other countries. She has been able to speak on stage as part of a panel at the age of 11. She has never been bullied for being on YouTube. She doesn't make a big deal about it and when we meet with other kids her age socially, if they know who she is, it gets mentioned and then they see she's just a regular teen and the hanging out moves on.

Is there an opportunity for parents to exploit their children for money on YouTube? Absolutely? Does it happen? Absolutely? Does anyone outside of the families involved know what is really going on? Absolutely not.

YouTube can be an amazing blessing for families. It can bring them together in way nothing else can. It can open up opportunities that would otherwise not be available. I can create financial security in the present and in the future. As long as the parents do everything with their children's best interests at heart, it can be awesome. Usually that's how parents do everything <3

 

[Mommy]

In the beginning when my son was 3, we did some bath video where he's playing with toys in the bathtub but he's wearing bathing suit pant. It's not like a real bath video, I don't put soap and rinse it off his body and head. Then when there was a big trend of orbeez came, we did it too thinking nothing of it because there are many of other kids channel doing it and it just seem like kids are having fun playing with orbeez,slime...etc in the bathtub. Then after giving it some thought we can see how other adult can find it "sexual" so he's in fully cover bathing suit from top to bottom. Honesty as a parent, I never thought anything of it because I would get email from parents asking about the toys or where I got the Japanese surprise toys Bathbomb so they can get it for their kids! Kids just love playing in the bathtub with toys and these videos were meant for other 3years old kids. Now that he's 5, we stop doing those videos even thou to me they are harmless. I just think it was kinda mean to assume we did it for going viral purpose,desperate for views and money and knowingly that it was made sexual of our son. There are many other videos that beats bath videos in views by far from our channel!
I've also seen people talking about Toy Freak being a pedophile because some of the stuff that's going on in their videos. I just think it's wrong to assume that, he could just be having fun making videos with his daughters!

I think many people do Orbeez videos and bath videos without ever thinking about the element that might also be watching those videos. People who think that you would do that to your child for money have got their own issue. Don't let them keep living rent free in your mind my friend <3

 

[wickisworld]

I think there are some great responses here. We started our channel because our youngest loved watching videos and then wanted to make them. My husband and I are photographers who have dabbled in video and video-editing so we decided to give it a try. If anything, it gives us more opportunities to do fun things we may not have done without it. We don't go too crazy with the toys, and I am going to implement more vlogging because I love doing it and I view it as a great way to document our memories. My 2 oldest kids did not want to be on camera, so they never are. My daughter is 12 and I purposely didn't have her in the videos too much because I thought that's how she wanted it, and she actually recently complained that she's not in the videos enough! If they want to stop someday, we will!

 

[Ernie Jo]

I've definitely used other people's toddlers and I guarantee they had no clue what was going on haha. I don't feel wrong in doing so because I've only done it a couple times and it was like a 10-20 minute shoot, but I think there's a limit you'd want to do it.

 

[Dadrules]

Hey!

Big YouTubers like RomaAtwood, Shaytards, and others use their kids in their videos all the time. But have you ever thought that it might not be the best idea? Casey Neistat mentioned that he wouldn't show his daughter's face anymore so she could grow up with a normal life.

Do you think Tubers should let their kids grow up and decide, not do it at all, or do you think it's totally okay?

I don't agree with using children to gain money in the way of having them parade around as a child doing and saying silly things. There is no way that child in those videos could possibly be aware of the true understanding that he or she will have to face in years to come. This child will have to go to school, college where is a tough place as it is without having you tube video when you was five years old being used to bully, or gain an advantage in the social circle circus of education. I can guarantee that if a video turned up at school of my daughters in pretty little pig tails she would be absolutely mortified. This is damaging to child's education at a later date and for what ? to gain money for the parent. There is no justification in using children, whatever way it is spun, the weight of whats to come when they are older by far out does any things they could get from participating in a video on you tube.

These type of videos are not for the child, they are simply for the parent to access a bigger bank account. You can do a toy review site without having to parade a child around on the video. This is done only to pull at heart strings and use the child's innocence for advertising purposes in my opinion. trust funds, savings accounts will do nothing to aid , the social humiliation children will get at a later time.

I guess we should all remember the main component of you tube is that its a social media site. We forget that at times and get so caught up in the business side of things that we forget to address the facts of life. These videos are watched and used in many ways that are not the intended by the up loader, where this is not a requirement by you tube or the internet, it is a requirement by a parent to remember this. They aren't like television adds, nor do they hold the same rights by law. I'm totally against advertising your children on the internet, in fact i would go to the extreme of giving it an actual ban unless your uploads was set to a private audience, unless placed in an environment that is policed by a suitable organisation. I have one image on my channel of my kids , this is purely because it suppose to give personnel representation. Although i can promise my children are far much older than the said picture and was asked if they had any worries before i added them.

Round up of my view - i do not see it advisable to use your child's innocence to gain money, i don't see any need for it. Children review sites don't need a child in them to review the toy. I would hazard a guess that people who do these videos are also ones that notice why toys and sweets are always on the bottom shelves in supermarkets, or massive savings on a child's entrance to an activity but double for the parent. The implications in what they attract at a later educational time is massive in my opinion. Lets not forget that actual true nature of making a video, its pretty much hard work, time consuming and some of these children videos are uploaded daily. Ask your selves the question just how much have the parents been pushing the kids to say this say that ?, a five year old plays with one toy for around 5 mins if that then they get bored and move on. Some of these videos have kids playing for what seems like eternity and not to mention the fact that even adult commentating takes repeated attempts to get right.

I suppose to sum up a few questions need to be asked

Is the child's involvement really needed ?
how long are they saying just one more turn son or daughter ?
The heat from the lighting ?
work load they are putting on the kid ?
Who's watching these videos ?
Where is the money going ?
Whats going to happen when that mean kid at school gets hold of a youtube video at a later date ?

We all know what we do to make videos, we all know the push and drive we give out creations, we all know that we tweak , we add , we motivate and even to a point try to manipulate our audience. Involving kids in this world is just simply not good. Innocence should stay that way , videos are made to gain money , to aid in our you tube fame. Leave the kids out of it i say

I guess i could go on, so for me its a definite no no no, do not make your child sit under a blistering lamp for hours making a video when they want to go and play with their Lego. Last of all i guess the most important factor is , can your child truly be aware they are going to be watched by millions ? is this not up to a child to decide who sees them and who does not. We cant just take a video of someone and make a video out of it and upload it , so why should we be able to do it to another person under the grounds " well i am their parent ".

Good choice of topic and one that should be address more over by you tube its self, sorry for the long reply i got carried away lol

 

[Cristy Ella]

My nephew has actually requested to have a youtube account. Just like anything it depends on how it is monitored. We've decided that since I do the youtube thing I'll do most the work with editing and monitoring the actual channel. If he starts to get popular then we'll reevaluate it. He directly asked about it after watching other gamers.

 

[wickisworld]

My nephew has actually requested to have a youtube account. Just like anything it depends on how it is monitored. We've decided that since I do the youtube thing I'll do most the work with editing and monitoring the actual channel. If he starts to get popular then we'll reevaluate it.

I totally agree! My son also asked to have a channel after he started watching other kids. I wasn't sure about it at first, and neither was my husband but we decided it would be fun. We had a long hiatus during the late summer and fall because we were busy with our photography business and my son kept begging to do a video so we got back into the swing of things. He doesn't even care too much about watching the videos, he wants other kids to. He LOVES the process of making the videos. He gets to play with a toy or game, and we just record it. We do everything else.

To address some comments above, there are no "blistering lights" and working "for hours". With the videos we make, unless I am documenting an experience like trips and such (which in that case, it doesn't even matter- everyone is just doing what they would normally do), our shooting time is like 30 minutes tops. If my son decided or acted like he was done during a shoot, we'd be done. Also, a lot of people who use lights in the kid videos most likely use LED (as we do) and they do not get hot at all. If they did, I would find an alternative and Im sure other parents would too.