YouTube Safety and Autism

Most kids love YouTube. And many autistic children really, really love YouTube.

My son loves the never ending stream of Barney and Thomas videos. He loves the music and the variety. He can easily move from trains to Daddy Shark.

And honestly, I’ve never really worried about it. Jamie or I are always near him. We monitor what he watches. We listen. And even giggle when we hear Barney speaking in German or Spanish.

But unfortunately, some frightening news is surfacing about the platform. The same things that make YouTube great for kids also attracts people who are using it to introduce children to concepts like suicide and self-harm.

And while my very verbal six year old can tell me if he sees something scary my nonverbal autistic son cannot. He internalizes fear and it comes out in different ways.

Meltdowns, sleeping troubles, extra stimming. And as every autism parent knows, it’s a mystery to figure out why.

This is scary, scary stuff.

If your child watches YouTube, we as parents needs to be extra careful.

PediMom says, ‘Four minutes and forty-five seconds into the video, a man quickly walked onto the screen, held his arm out, and taught the children watching this video how to properly kill themselves. What did I just see? Did I really just see that? I immediately turned off the video. My son’s nose stopped bleeding, and I further investigated the video in private while he went to play.  I watched it again, certain that I had dreamt it up. I know YouTube had some sick videos, but I thought YouTube Kids was safe. They sure make it seem like it is.

But – no. There it was again. Four minutes and forty-five seconds into the video.  The man quickly walked in, held his arm out, and tracing his forearm, said, “Kids, remember, cut this way for attention, and this way for results,” and then quickly walked off.’ Click HERE to read the rest of the article.

YouTube is aware of and trying to fix the problem, but it’s a really hard one to fix because it’s really hard to police YouTube.

Recently, another terrifying video circulating the web is encouraging children to kill themselves.

And it’s showing up in videos targeting 2-5 year old children.

It’s called the ‘MoMo Challenge.’ A creepy, bugged-eyed woman offers children instructions on how to take their own lives. The horrifying video has been infiltrating popular children sites like YouTube Kids.

Momo targets children and when they do not comply with Momo’s request, Momo threatens to kill them or their families. Momo requests the child to take suicidal actions like sticking a fork in a power socket.

A 12-year-old girl has already died from what is believed to be “completing the Momo challenge.”

This image is enough to haunt my dreams let alone an eight year olds.

Kids are impressionable.

We need to be so careful as parents.

With a verbal child you could ask questions to figure out if they have seen Momo or something similar. With my son, that is not an option. I need to be extra vigilant.

If you have concerns, think about removing the YouTube app from devices. I know Cooper would be so confused and upset. And of course he will struggle to understand why.

But this stuff is just too scary.

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