Is it Wrong when YouTubers use Their Kids in Videos?

I'm at the age were all my friends are having babies. I love to see the baby pictures and videos that they post on the Internet, but I also have an issue with them. I don't think it's fair that the kid has all of their baby pictures on the Internet for the world to see. I have no issue if the kid wants to put things on the Internet, but I think there is a problem when s/he can't have an opinion about what gets posted. I can think of several baby pictures and videos of me that make me thankful there was no Facebook/Youtube when I was a kid. How embarrassing it would have been to look at all the awkward comments as an adult. =/ There's a lot to be said for a photo album or DVD that can sit on a dusty shelf....

If the kid wants to make videos, then I think it is fine. ^^ If the parent is filming their kid who really doesn't have a say in the matter, then I have a bit of an issue with the content if it pops up on the Internet.
 
I think the question to ask is "when is it wrong." Something we all wrestle with as parents. And we have different boundaries. Some kids toy channels have their kids talking in the background but do not have them on camera at all.

Years ago i remember subscribing to this amazing guitar playing child from korea. His yt name is jwcfree but his name is sungha jung. He's been uploading for 10 years now, you've probably come across one of his covers once. He's a young adult now and seems to be doing pretty well, still uploading and playing guitar. Over 4 million subscribers by now. Probably fairly known in his country since he's also been performing in public too. Doesn't seem like he has crumbled over the agonizing psychological weight of growing up under youtube fame.

And then you have the other side, countless examples of child actors and performers who do seem to face struggles as adults.

I do see some yt kids who might become bullied when they reach that middle school age. But that evanstube kid exudes confidence. I bet kids want to be friends with him instead of wanting to bully him.

I think kids should be able to youtube under good loving parental guidance and still be healthy. Yt or not, their success in life probably depends more on the parents teaching them good values and instilling a good sense of self confidence.
 
FamilyToyReview said:
I think the question to ask is "when is it wrong." Something we all wrestle with as parents. And we have different boundaries. Some kids toy channels have their kids talking in the background but do not have them on camera at all.

Years ago i remember subscribing to this amazing guitar playing child from korea. His yt name is jwcfree but his name is sungha jung. He's been uploading for 10 years now, you've probably come across one of his covers once. He's a young adult now and seems to be doing pretty well, still uploading and playing guitar. Over 4 million subscribers by now. Probably fairly known in his country since he's also been performing in public too. Doesn't seem like he has crumbled over the agonizing psychological weight of growing up under youtube fame.

And then you have the other side, countless examples of child actors and performers who do seem to face struggles as adults.

I do see some yt kids who might become bullied when they reach that middle school age. But that evanstube kid exudes confidence. I bet kids want to be friends with him instead of wanting to bully him.

I think kids should be able to youtube under good loving parental guidance and still be healthy. Yt or not, their success in life probably depends more on the parents teaching them good values and instilling a good sense of self confidence.
Click to expand...
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!
 
Last edited:
weeeben said:
I won't go into those bath time video's, what a terrible invasion of a childs privacy, they don't understand the concept of being made public property.
Click to expand...

OMFG are you serious? People put bath time videos of their kids on Youtube? WTF is wrong with them? I know for whatever reason parents like to take pics of their kids bathing when they're young because they think it's cute or whatever, but c'mon! It's embarrassing enough to have those in the family photo album... but I shudder to think of actual videos being posted on Youtube. What the hell. I feel bad for those kids when they grow up (assuming Youtube is still around) and stumble upon those videos.
 
MarkRodriguez2012 said:
OMFG are you serious? People put bath time videos of their kids on Youtube? WTF is wrong with them? I know for whatever reason parents like to take pics of their kids bathing when they're young because they think it's cute or whatever, but c'mon! It's embarrassing enough to have those in the family photo album... but I shudder to think of actual videos being posted on Youtube. What the hell. I feel bad for those kids when they grow up (assuming Youtube is still around) and stumble upon those videos.
Click to expand...


I don't have any bath videos on our channel but a majority of those bath time videos are kids in bathing suits not birthday suits. Usually it's innocent kids fun like slime or orbeez surprises in the bath. Kids are covered so in that case I don't see the issue with these type videos.
 
weeeben said:
it isn't fine when the parents use sexual innuendo's
Click to expand...

It was not just innuendo. Often it was 1 to 1 copy of adult (18+) movies scripts - with the exactly same zooms, angles and so on of filming. Actually up to the appearance or Ryan ToysReview this was the only way to make kids channel viral.
But do not blame the parents - some of them must have been in desperate financial situation and/or on strong psychotropic drugs. I think the main culprit here is Google/YouTube which "failed" to notice that it created the biggest pedo-heaven on earth.
Actually this is why we usually ignore YouTube recommendations and we follow just our own rules when we make and upload movies (often opposite to what YT recommends).
 
Which channels are you referring to? I have yet to see anything sexually related to kid channels. On the contrary, many children get an opportunity for quality time with their family on a full time basis. Ryan ToysReview is a great example of home videos with genuine family bonding while creating fun entertainment for a child. Nothing different than what parents normally do offline. I don't understand the attack towards their channel. I enjoy watching their vlogs and other family vlog channels like I enjoy watching friends home videos. I've come across harsh comments about Ryan's family from jealous critics that only wish to have their opportunity in being successful creating wonderful family memories.

People will always be judgemental but to categorize kids channels as a pedo heaven is ludicrous. Parents should support one another or agree to disagree without hate.
 
Derrick Toys said:
Which channels are you referring to? I have yet to see anything sexually related to kid channels. On the contrary, many children get an opportunity for quality time with their family on a full time basis. Ryan ToysReview is a great example of home videos with genuine family bonding while creating fun entertainment for a child. Nothing different than what parents normally do offline. I don't understand the attack towards their channel. I enjoy watching their vlogs and other family vlog channels like I enjoy watching friends home videos. I've come across harsh comments about Ryan's family from jealous critics that only wish to have their opportunity in being successful creating wonderful family memories.

People will always be judgemental but to categorize kids channels as a pedo heaven is ludicrous. Parents should support one another or agree to disagree without hate.
Click to expand...
Agreed
 
I agree it's up to the parents, but I think that when the kids are old enough to understand what being online means (and I think that's somewhere around 12-15), they should have full say over whether those videos stay up or not.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top