Australian children under the age of 16 will no longer be able to sign in to YouTube. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
The Federal Government has announced that people under the age of 16 will no longer be able to use their Google accounts to sign in and subscribe to channels or comment on videos on YouTube.
The announcement comes seven months after the government announced a social media ban for children, with Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and more being affected.
YouTube originally received an exemption due to its educational and practical uses; however, the government backflipped on the decision earlier this week.
Teacher Jenny Rolfe said YouTube was a great educational tool, while also being a potential source of unsuitable material.
“YouTube is a fantastic platform for education,” she said.
“I don’t think we should ban kids full stop, because I don’t think that’s helpful. It doesn’t give them the skills, the knowledge. We need to be preparing them for this world.
“But we live in a digital world where people have access to information. We need to be doing more at the front end to stop inappropriate content getting on there.”
A person who is not logged in to YouTube and trying to view a restricted video will come across this screen. Photo: Screenshot.
She said the current actions by the government was a prohibition on people logging in, which ignored the fact that the majority of people could access clips without needing an account.
“Are we really achieving the objective of protecting kids by purely not allowing them to log in to YouTube? It doesn’t prevent kids from still watching videos,” Ms Rolfe said.
“I think the answer is less about banning kids from the platform and more about educating families about the content. It is such a valuable platform to access content, but we need to ensure governments are up to date with policies, and there needs to be provisions and parameters around what is and is not available online.”
Tina Stapleton has two teenage boys who use YouTube daily and said the issue with banning teenagers specifically is that they will continue to find a way to use the platform and, in turn, become more secretive when using it.
“Knowing teenagers, they will lie about their age to gain access,” she said.
“Nine times out of 10, information that my kids need regarding assessments and projects is available online, and YouTube is great for explaining things in a way that a 15- to 16-year-old can understand.
“I think the ban is an overstep and a complete overreaction. I can’t imagine how they will police it and I feel it will cause kids to find loopholes to get around it.”
Local tutor Lucy Murphy said YouTube walked a fine line between being dangerous and distracting and being a pastime for teenagers.
“Not every house has a TV, but they do have iPads,” she said.
“Unlike previous generations, teenagers specifically use YouTube and social media as a pastime. They watch things on a screen. In saying that, kids always used to have limits on how much they could watch TV or where they could watch it.
“Many families don’t allow TV in their kids’ bedrooms or after certain times in the evening. That’s the other side of being allowed to use it, I guess.”
The YouTube ban comes into effect from 10 December.
Original Article published by Jarryd Rowley on Region Riverina.
