Mum Donatella stopped her son from using video streaming platform YouTube after learning of ‘scary, subliminal messages’ hidden within cartoons youngsters had access to
A mum who banned her son from watching YouTube Kids has revealed the reasons behind her stance and how the youngster has since changed for the better.
Donatella, who offers an insight into her family life on TikTok, explained that she took action after coming across another mum online who said her child had “began acting weird” after using the streaming service. “When she asked him why he was acting nervous, the child strangely responded by saying, ‘because I don’t want to kill you’,” she said.
In a bid to learn the reasons behind the child’s upsetting wording, the other mum discovered it was something he had seen on YouTube Kids. She claimed: “If it looks like a cartoon, sounds like a cartoon or appears ‘kiddy’, then it makes it on YouTube Kids.”
WARNING – explicit language in TikTok video below, viewer discretion advised
She went on to claim that “f***ed up people” have worked out how to put “subliminal messaging” in what sounds like a kids’ programme. “I looked into it and it’s actually really scary how many videos there are out there.” Donatella confessed.
Sharing an example of such a video, she continued: “There will be like a cutesy little bear who will say, ‘this evening when your parents go to bed, go and get a knife and murder them’.”
“Instantly we were done, YouTube Kids was out,” Donatella said. “My son is six and trying to explain to him why he can’t have YouTube took a moment, but I decided to tell him the truth and he’s quite mature so it freaked him out.”
Donatella still allows her son to use their iPad for other activities including watching Disney+ and playing games, which she says she’s come to realise is more beneficial as playing “uses the brain”.
“The main thing I’ve noticed [since the ban] is his behaviour,” she closed. “He’s more mature now – he speaks more maturely, he understands and he listens better and his attention span is better. He has of course asked when he can use YouTube again, and I’ve explained he can when he’s old enough to understand the concept of messages he’s receiving.”
A spokesperson for YouTube told us in response: “We have a responsibility to make our kids and family destinations safe for kids and young people. That is why we created dedicated experiences for kids and families with input from child development specialists, to provide age-appropriate experiences for kids while giving parents robust controls to customise the experience for their families.
“For example, in YouTube Kids parents can choose approved content only and their child can only watch videos, channels, and collections handpicked by the parent. They can also manage watch and search history from within their child’s account settings and use other controls like screen timers.”
The video prompted one TikTok user to allege: “Normal YouTube is honestly more kids-safe than whatever is on YouTube Kids.” Another spoke from a similar experience: “We stopped our children from watching YouTube kids also, their behaviour was awful and also the same fact of not knowing what they are actually watching.”
A third shared: “I banned YouTube for my daughter too. Her behaviour has improved massively she was so ratty and angry when she would come off it! Not had any of that since.” However, others blamed modern parenting techniques, including one person who slammed: “Parents offloading their parental responsibility to streaming services and then blaming the streaming services that their children saw something inappropriate is always hilarious.”
And a second pointed out: “YouTube kids has a feature called ‘approved content’, it allows me to only tick channels/content I want my daughter to watch. No random videos will come up as suggested etc, only everything I have added.”