? about your child's internet access

[idoinjuly]

I have dd who is six and ds who will be five tomorrow. They currently have access to Youtube one their tablets, but I'm finding that a lot of their friends don't have access because of the potential for them seeing questionable content.

Do your kids have Youtube? Do they have Kidtube?

If they don't have youtube, did you also remove their access to google? My son will us the google voice thing to look for videos or my dd will google like, mermaid videos or something.

[sunshineandpinot]

My kids are 7 and 4. They have zero internet access.

[jlt19]

Mine (3 and 5) have used youtube on my phone and we've been lucky they haven't run into anything too bad. Now that they have the kids kindle fire we don't have to worry about it. I think it goes online, but I don't know how, so for now we're safe.

[nsl]

The only internet access either of my kids gets is to the educational sites (math games, spelling list practice) their teachers have set up. No way would I let them peruse any iteration of YouTube or Google without direct supervision.

[fivechickens]

Jan 3, 2016 10:38:02 GMT -5 jlt19 said:

Mine (3 and 5) have used youtube on my phone and we've been lucky they haven't run into anything too bad. Now that they have the kids kindle fire we don't have to worry about it. I think it goes online, but I don't know how, so for now we're safe.

Do you have a kids version of youtube on the Fire? We got it for them for Xmas and can't get the kids version to work like it does on my phone. Youtube works but not Youtube Kids.

[idoinjuly]

They both use their tablets under our supervision so they haven't seen anything questionable yet. DS just got his tablet for Christmas so we are trying to figure out his parameters on his tablet.

[jlt19]

Jan 3, 2016 10:42:55 GMT -5 fivechickens said:

Jan 3, 2016 10:38:02 GMT -5 jlt19 said:

Mine (3 and 5) have used youtube on my phone and we've been lucky they haven't run into anything too bad. Now that they have the kids kindle fire we don't have to worry about it. I think it goes online, but I don't know how, so for now we're safe.

Do you have a kids version of youtube on the Fire? We got it for them for Xmas and can't get the kids version to work like it does on my phone. Youtube works but not Youtube Kids.

I honestly have no idea how to get to the internet. They just do the freetime stuff.

[auntie]

DS is older, so internet access was via desktop in a public part of the house until he was about 14. Once he was old enough to be home by himself, I checked the history regularly.

[thatgirl2478]

DD1 will be 5 in a month. She has a kindle, but is using kindle free time which blocks the browser.

I wish they had a youtube for kids - there's too much chance for running across weird inappropriate crap while searching for kid stuff.

[lostrn]

My DS is 7. He pretty much has free Internet access at this point because all he's doing is looking at Minecraft crap, or looking at websites through the school website, stuff they've already used and visited in the classroom. We limit the time he's on his tablet but so far haven't had to limit his actual website visits. I guess we've been lucky he hasn't found weird, creepy stuff so far.

[revolution]

My kids have youtube kids. I haven't had any issues with it. They also have all internet and apps and stuff locked down to PG level.

[whitemerlot]

My son is 6 and he is only allowed on apps I've downloaded, or Brickset and the school website. He does have access to Netflix and Amazon prime videos, but he is a rule follower and I have never seen him watch anything I haven't approved.

[snipsnsnails]

They use the Kids YouTube on my phone, but only when I am in the same room. We had an unfortunate experience with a dubbed over My Little Pony video that was way explicit on YouTube.

I also use restrictions on the iPad when Vincenzo is using it. I'll turn on guided access or hide some of the apps through the restrictions.

We also are getting Net Nanny for our computer, as well as have safe search turned on for Google since V is starting to use the computer now during homework time.

I went to a media-safe parenting class a few months ago and they had a lot of good info!

[Gato]

My DD is 7. I let her choose a site like PBS Kids and she is not allowed to go off it. If she explores the internet, it is with me by her side.

DD2 is 3 and not allowed to use a computer or tablet.

[circa1978]

Henry will be 5 in March and has never been online. He has an iPad but it is on airplane mode and the permissions are totally locked down. The only thing available to him are educational apps and I have to unlock it before he uses it.

[gretchenindisguise]

L uses YouTube. She watches things we've approved for her and if she wants something different she asks. We haven't run into any issues yet.

[textbookcase]

C and K are 11 and 9. They each have their own laptops. They have preapproved sites bookmarked and they ask before going to any other sites. I have a net nanny thing w parental controls set and I get a daily email of their browsing history. They do use YouTube but we haven't run into any problems. They mostly watch mine craft, diy, and music videos. We really haven't run into anything bad online, they are good about sticking to the same sites. They have to use their computers a lot for schoolwork and research, so they kind of both need one of their own.

[Deleted]

My 8&10 year olds have access to YouTube.

[firedancer10288]

DD is 8. She has access to Netflix on her tablet with parental control settings. Other than that, she has zero internet access.

[Dumbledork]

DD is 6. She has access to Netflix, any games we've downloaded for her, and guided access she has at school.

What's the statistic about how many 9 - 12 year olds have seen porn online? It's something crazy high.

DD has a kindle, so she's still being exposed to tech and using it to learn and explore, but I'm trying to delay the Internet access for as long as possible. There's too much out there for her to stumble across.

[stephm0188]

My son is 7. He has access to a Netflix (his is a kid's profile), websites he uses at school, and YouTube. YouTube isn't restricted yet, but he's only allowed to watch certain channels.

[themysteriouswife]

DD is 8 and has heavily monitored access. She can use it for homework with our help. Other than that she is SOL.

ETA: She had games and apps she can use with parental controls.

[katfco]

Abby is 8 and is allowed to watch very specific videos on youtube. Caleb is 3 and they're both allowed to play on Nick Jr. That's it.

[Deleted]

Jan 3, 2016 12:27:01 GMT -5 Dumbledork said:

What's the statistic about how many 9 - 12 year olds have seen porn online? It's something crazy high.

No kids here, but reading this whole thread reminded me that when my brother was about 8/9 (he's 8 years younger than me) we found fake Britney Spears porn under his mattress that he downloaded from the internet. It was pictures of porn stars with her head photoshopped on top of it. The computer was in a public part of the house, but he snuck downstairs when everyone was asleep to download this. He was also pretty savvy about deleting the history we found out. :\

[litebright]

They just got tablets for Christmas, so we're starting to figure this out. So far, they are happy with only using specific apps and they don't really know much about the wider 'net. We have all restrictions in place that their iPads facilitate, but it's hard to tell to what extent those will actually be effective as far as browsing or YouTube. So when we start showing them how to browse, I am assuming that we'll have to be actively supervising/sitting next to them.

[sandyapples]

Both of my girls (3 and 5) got Kids Kindle Fires for Christmas. They only use Freetime. We have occasionally watched YouTube videos together on the tv. I will not be giving them free access to YouTube, Google or any other part of the internet until they are much older.

Eta: We have their kindles set to shut down Freetime after 30 minutes.

[pinkiepromise]

DS is five and has internet access but only when an adult (DH or myself) is there to supervise. They do have a YouTube app for kids for those who were asking about it.

[sarahswim]

DS is 6 and only sees the Internet when H or I show him something we think he'd like. He doesn't yet realize there's a whole digital world out there!

[8675309]

The kids YouTube app is great. I love that it has a timer set up so you can restrict how long they watch. The shows are chosen by parents so there is no chance of porn showing up.

As far as how much time they get a day, I'd say probably 30-45mins. My 3yr old never watches but my almost 6yr old would spend hours on it if I let her.

[DotAndBuzz]

The only things they're allowed to do online are school websites (Razkids, ixl math), abc ya, and pbs kids website. Everything else is off limits, and they still have to do internet in whatever room I'm in. No taking the laptop or iPad to their rooms.

They're 5 and nearly 8.