Youtube Kids: A "Safe" Platform for Kids is Creepier Than You Thought

Happy February Inky Buds! We literally 5 days from the end of the month! I feel like time is going crazy fast! Maybe it's just me...

This seems like a sudden/spontaneous topic, considering that I published an article about Marilyn Monroe recently. I try to keep it interesting and throw new things at you. Be on your toes, you won't know what I do next. 😋

You may wonder, "Of all topics, why YouTube Kids?" Well, there is actually a lot of controversy surrounding the platform. I had this idea thanks to YouTube. I often look on the news and on YouTube for things to write about, because sometimes my writer's flow isn't like a running river. Well, I saw a couple of videos about how YouTube Kids is going down the drain with the emergence of LGBTQ propaganda, and the return of a surreal "children's" category of content called 'Elsagate.' If you don't know the channel don't worry, we'll discuss plenty on it. Just imagine those weird YouTube thumbnails with Minnie Mouse being poked with needles, and also being pregnant.

Yeah... I'll admit, I was a bit hasty to talk about this, considering how disturbing this topic is. I don't find it particularly scary, though I find it unnerving how these channels take advantage of children and do away with their braincells. I also would like to say this before I start talking about this article: "The internet is not safe!" No matter how old you are, 25, 35, 45? You should approach the internet with caution, even more so if you are a minor. Think of the internet as a wild animal. At any moment, it could turn on you. We have a couple things to discuss on the YouTube Kids controversy. Well on that note, we can persist with the blog.

So, YouTube Kids. Parents have gotten cozy and comfortable with this platform. They were open to it, and happy with the fact that they could trust a platform to have child moderated content. Frankly, I don't blame them. You can keep your children occupied, and they will enjoy it. What they don't know is that a bunch of crazy things like this:

Are being filtered straight to your children. But why? In case you don't know, I ask a lot of questions. I want to know the who, what, when where and why. Luckily, I have some answers to this obvious problem.

What exactly is Elsagate? Elsagate is essentially a genre/collection of videos that are marketed towards children, but really feature inappropriate content. It is called this because around 2017, when it first became popular, they would usually use characters like Elsa from Frozen for girls, and Spiderman and other superheroes for boys.

But how does the content reach children?

So, what happens is that these videos use tag words like "learn colors" or "nursery rhymes" to get past the filter, and transfer to YouTube Kids. Obviously, there can't be somebody watching every video ever made and filter it by content, so a computer does it. It is programmed to filter kids' content with those tags.

The children who watch things similar get the bad videos recommended to them, or they show up on the autoplay. It's as simple as that, but the stream of videos is a rabbit hole in itself. These videos often use popular children's TV show/ video game characters and exhibit them doing odd things, mainly traumatizing to children. They exhibit things like needles, spanking, alcohol, violence, fetish-type videos, or extreme gore like the image I showed earlier. These creators even have the audacity to put on their channel descriptions that this content is "not for children."

Then who is it for? You aren't going to find a 25-year-old person watching this malarkey.

That is like how vaping companies don't recommend children using their products, but meanwhile the "flavors" consist of sweet things like donuts or cake (May use write about in the future😉) They're meant for children to click and watch. This reminds me of the extremely tiny warning cautions on medication or foods. Honestly it is greedy and so uncouth. People are profiting off of things kids like, but turning it completely unrelated to the characters, and taking away the child's innocence as well. This just show that money is the root of all evil.

This brings me to talk about children just overall on the internet. They should not be on the internet at 5 years old. Personally, I feel like the age you should give your children devices depends on how responsible they are and maturity. They should be mature enough to differentiate between what's right and wrong, and parents should teach them on internet safety and what is not appropriate.

Parental locks are also a good thing to turn to when you have children on the internet. You can even glance at your child every now and then to observe what they're watching or look at their history occasionally. I have realized that lately, children are attracted to the oddest things, most of them being a result of internet access. There were pretty weird things that children liked in my generation, but mostly safe and age appropriate. There were shows like Ben 10, Adventure Time, Gravity Falls, and other shows that were absurd in plot, but you can guarantee your child won't stumble upon a child getting tied to a chair and injected with a mysterious green liquid.

On the topic of weird things children of the technology age are interested in is horror games. During my research I found several mentions of "Huggy Wuggy," "Rainbow Friends," and "Friday Night Funkin'." I was scratching my head asking myself: "What on earth is a Huggy Wuggy...?" I then found out it was a lanky looking creature that's blue with sharp teeth.

For the record, it's this thing:

I naturally thought that this was a new installment of the "Momo" monster. Nope! Children are actually watching this on their own free will. I was extremely confused.

"What kind of child likes this stuff?"

"Are they playing these horror games themselves?"

"Where are the parents?"

I had several thoughts cross my mind when I saw this, but mainly just one word: "Why?"

I understand the thrill of being spooked, but I read that this blue creature is a stuffed animal that hugs people to death, while singing some weird verses. Yes, teach your children that their stuffed friends will strangle you to death if you hug them. I found this somewhat bizarre that small children of a young age are being exposed to gory horror games. I sometimes worry about adults with children, because some of them simply hand their child a tablet so they stay occupied. But there is some much online that could potentially endanger children, traumatize them, or expose them to lewd imagery. I don't even know how children came across Squid Game! Unsettling, and revolves around death.

So as a part of my research, I chose a random character from this "Poppy Playtime" franchise. I chose this pink anthropomorphic spider-woman thing called 'Mommy Longlegs.'

I went to YouTube and simply typed in her name and scrolled until I saw some bizarre content. It didn't take long...

Just what kind of rubbish is this? This content has no value to a growing child's mind. I completely understand that children don't always want to learn, but these recreational videos are so mediocre, and oh-so stupid.

It has come to a point where YouTube Kids is a minefield! Here's another problem on this platform: LGBTQ+ propaganda.

More propaganda? Yes!

I will end up sounding like a broken record but: Children are easy to manipulate. The U.S. Government is not above using this to their advantage by shoving LGBTQ content into their face. I personally have no qualms with the community, and take my placing as neutral in the matter, meaning I am not for or against their lifestyle. However, I don't think it is right to be showing this to children. Children don't really need to know about this. They shouldn't have to know what you do with your personal/love life. This isn't educating them on lifestyles, this is simple indoctrination and grooming of children. They are forcing political/controversial topics into their minds, when they really shouldn't have to say anything on it. That is similar to asking a child how they feel about abortion.

For my research, I signed into YouTube Kids. I searched things on 'pride' and 'LGBTQ' and the thumbnails were something else. Men in full drag (which is considered adult entertainment), asking people their pronouns, and telling children how to consent.

It is perfectly fine to teach your kids boundaries, like no one is allowed to touch you in inappropriate places no matter who it is, but this is something else entirely! I wasn't familiar with this until I began to research on this subject that people are identifying as MAPs, which means minor attracted person. These people apparently identify themselves as LGBTQ.

The disgust I felt cannot be described into words, but this video will easily allow children to give consent to adults. They won't know what they're consenting to. It is disgusting, and it gives these MAPs an opening to commit terrible acts with children because they 'consented.' This is simply wrong, leftist, and extremely woke. Instead of teaching children valuable things like art, literature, or other subjects, they are being taught about sex and sexuality. Children do not care about sexuality! Adults do!

Growing up, I never learned about any of this stuff until I came of age and reached my teens. The same with the internet, the internet barely started becoming a part of my life as I got older. I grew up with books as my entertainment and DVD players as my 'FireTV.' I feel like that did me some good, because I learned from it, and became a well-rounded person on all frontiers.

Personally, I think that with the internet becoming more mainstream and available, children are missing out on a lot of learning, and are becoming absorbed into the internet, which includes video games.

I wasn't allowed to play online games until I was much older, because my parents knew the dangers of internet exposure. That's a whole other issue, but maybe for an article in the not-so far future. Frankly, I am grateful to them for that. I was able to do so much without the internet and find myself and my calling. Children today have everything at their disposal, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but that includes a lot of different content, not all of it is good content.

In conclusion, YouTube Kids is not safe, and there is a very slim chance that there ever will be an officially 100% safe platform for children on the internet. If you need to keep your children occupied, buy a DVD player, they are surprisingly cheap now, and a couple of DVDs. You can keep your children entertained, and a vastly lower chance of seeing graphic content thrown in their face. Also, parents should become more aware of their children and what they watch. Like I said before, parent in the digital age will shove devices in front of their children so they can be left alone, and so the child gets distracted for prolonged period of time. I am against that, and that leads to so many problems, because of the lack of supervision.

I implore you guys to report any of these kinds of channels and preserve the innocence of the children on the internet. These types of things really diminish my faith in humanity, and it is truly sad and sickening.

Well, I hope you've learned something here and maybe tread lightly when it comes to the internet. I know that this article was mainly about children's internet safety, but you have to be safe out there as well Inky Buds!

Thank you for reading and have a good day🏙️/night🌃!

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