Tag Archives: YouTube

What YouTube means for representation

When he was about three years old, my now six-year-old son, discovered YouTube. Like many toddlers and preschoolers, my child would stare in awe as other children un-boxed and played with toys — many of which we had in our very own home, sitting un-played with on a shelf near by.

Maybe it was the comfort of hearing another child’s voice in the home, or the thrill of watching a kid get a new toy, but for whatever reason, my kid just ate this stuff up.

Above all, one YouTube kid kept making his way onto our screen.

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Ryan.

Ryan, the now eight-year-old star of the behemoth YouTube channel, Ryan ToysReview, began making videos with his parents in 2015, and has grown into what may be the biggest child star of my kids’ generation.

What Macaulay Culkin was to the 90s, Ryan is to this decade.

My older son has mostly moved on to watching gamers, but my four-year-old has found his own joy in watching Ryan’s channel.

And, I know that grinds a lot of gears.

Parents, including myself, often disgruntling watched our children stare fascinated at Ryan, all the while calculating in our heads all the money he and his family earn from every single video.

I thought of how this poor child was being exploited, for some sort of bastardization of entertainment. This wasn’t acting, this wasn’t a skill.

Any parent with a cellphone camera could do this.

But, one moment changed my view on Ryan and his YouTube fame. Continue reading

Five YouTube channels you’ll love watching with your kids

YouTube; you either love it or hate it, and, from my research and personal experience, I’d say there are much more people in the “haters” club.

I understand the disdain for the video streaming service. The ability for anyone to upload whatever they want to YouTube means a lot of garbage makes its way to an audience. And, often the garbage is inappropriate videos we don’t want our children viewing. YouTube has made some strides in approving how content is delivered, but the bad stuff can still slip through the cracks.

Five YouTube Channels You'll Love Watching With Your Kids

Before you write YouTube off, consider how much quality content it has to offer. The same democratic system which enables the bad stuff to make it on to YouTube is also what brings us some of the most innovative and ingenious programming unseen on any other platform.

Through my own research (i.e. watching channels with my kids) and the help of some of my Facebook fans, I came up with a list of five creative, educational and fun YouTube channels your children will love and you just might love as well. Continue reading