In recent years the number of children with electronics has risen more than any generation. The average number of kids who have a smartphone is 57 percent of kids between the ages of eight and twelve in a survey released in March 2022 by Statista.com.
Children tend to surf the internet for hours at a time without once looking up, ruining their attention spans in comparison to years ago when kids would be excited to play outside with their friends. Currently, most kids have an electronic of some kind, and no other activities are shown in their schedule with parents allowing an iPad to raise their children rather than themselves.
Cocomelon on YouTube is a good example of this type of kids’ media. This show has loads of bright colors and quick frame skips with the average time of a scene lasting three seconds. Parents have also complained about the repetitive songs constantly played by their children on devices at important times like dinner. Roblox is also a popular game for children which has had its own controversies about the safety of the site and the people who are on the app.
Another problem is that this content does not teach children things that are needed in life and is instead just funny clips. This is not a huge issue, but if this is all the child watches, then problems occur. Others prefer alternative kid channels such as Gracie’s Corner or Ms. Rachel as these have been seen as more effective for kids’ learning.
Some people say that the new content is good for kids as you monitor children to make sure the content they click on is not harmful and is helpful to them. The YouTube Kids app is available with tons of accounts made just for kid content and teaching children different facts and fun activities.
Regardless of these facts, it is clear that children’s content needs improvement in all departments due to the rapid growth of children watching this media and the aging of kids who already consume these videos and games. It is needed for children to learn and improve their brains rather than fill them with useless information.
