There are many new types of professions that exist today that certainly did not even 10 years ago. One of them is becoming a child YouTuber. According to Wikipedia, a YouTuber can also be known as a YouTube personality, YouTube celebrity, or YouTube content creator.
YouTube is free to use, easy to access and very popular. Most children from very young ages have been allowed to watch a YouTube video or two and might even be subscribed to a YouTube channel. One of my nieces loves watching unboxing videos! Unboxing videos involves watching other people unbox products. In the case of my niece, she loves watching other children unbox new toys.
What You Need to Know About Being a YouTuber
The decision to let your child join any social media platform is, of course, a personal one and depends on the child’s age, maturity, as well as reasons for wanting to put themselves out there. According to the Companies guidelines, YouTube is intended for users who are at least 13.
Before allowing a child to head down the path of becoming a child YouTuber, here are some questions parents can ask:
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Why do you want to have a YouTube channel?
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What kinds of videos do you want to create?
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Which are your favourite YouTube channels and what do you like about them?
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Are there any YouTube channels you don’t like? What don’t you like about them?
Approach the conversation with curiosity and without judgment, and explore accounts with your child to see why they might be interested in creating a YouTube channel.
In reality, because children today see many people on youtube doing many fun things, from unboxing to playing games; they do not see any reason why they should not be a YouTuber and share their ideas with the world.
I even had my son tell me that I was holding him back when I did not jump on the idea on having a YouTube channel.
How To Protect Your Child as a YouTuber
If you were going to consider letting your child start their own youtube channel, there are a few things to consider and discuss upfront. Of course, keep the conversation going and always be available to review how it is going.
Explore Together
Ask your child why they want to be on YouTube and ask them what they want to share and why.
Discuss Success
Kids hear that they can get super famous, and make lots of money, This plays a part in some of the reasons why your child wants to get on YouTube too. It is important that you discuss whats success looks like. What is their goal, is it to make an impact or are they looking for views and likes? How would they feel if no one watches their videos? Pursuing fame can put unnecessary pressure on children. For children who have “gone viral,” the experience definitely changes their lives in ways they can’t take back.
Talk About The Pressure of Creating Content
Maintaining a channel and having to come up with new material can be challenging. Your child might not be truly ready for this pressure. As with any form of social media, your child needs to understand what to share and what not to share online. Certain things should always be kept private such as where they go to school or information about their age and day-to-day whereabouts.
Turn off Comments
Your 11-year-old does not need hateful comments on his channel. There are some very mean people who have nothing better to do than to troll people on social media and leave nasty and harmful comments. Even under the ideal circumstances of creating a great channel with significant parental guidance, growing up in the public eye is no easy task and may have unintended consequences.
Lastly, be sure you keep the communication lines open. If you notice any negative changes in your child, do not hesitate to have them stop being on social media.
[Read more about How Instagram is Fighting Cyber-Bullying] For more on how to become a digital-savvy parent be sure to visit the Technology and Parenting Category.
