Friday, December 7, 2007

YouTube needs Parental Ratings

My daughter loves kitty cats. When we go on walks around the neighborhood she looks under everything for them. When she spots one she signs cat and say's "mow mow". She loves my photos of animals too. Any animal is good, but cats are her favorite. She say's she's a cat. One day I searched YouTube for cats and I found the dancing kitty cat below.



In my search, I came across some things that I didn't want her to watch so we don't play that game until I've already had time to view them first. Obviously some sort of parental rating system would be really nice to have at YouTube. Maybe there is something I'm just not aware of.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't think "ratings" work very well. What one person thinks is unacceptable, another thinks is fine. [It's like the word "terrorist". One man's "terrorist" is another man's "freedom fighter".] The only solution for parents that want to protect their kids against certain types of material is for those parents to watch material first to make sure it meets their standards. It is a parent's responsibility to censure what their kids see, not the community's.

Chris Bensen said...

Captain Jake,

I agree. The only way for a parent to guarantee the content is acceptable is to watch it themselves. I'm always surprised the words that are deemed acceptable on TV. This is one of the reasons I don't have cable or satellite TV. But, I do think YouTube should implement some sort of community rating system. Something would be better than nothing.

Anonymous said...

Here's why ratings would never work.

On prime time American TV it is OK to show a severed head (CSI, August 2006) yet to show a mother breastfeeding her baby would be unacceptable.

You would find the reverse to be true in most other western countries.

Anonymous said...

Chris- I agree with you. Even for adults who prefer not to view certain things. Its almost impossible. You try to a funny little video about animals and you end up getting things called "Fun with Animals". One can assume anything. There should at least me an option for when posting a video, they are required check boxes for nudity or violence and should go in their own section. People are allowed to view what they please but their are reasons cable and other media outlets have ratings. Lets face it. Its necessary.

Chris Bensen said...

It seems to me if YouTube added Childrens Channel it would solve a lot of problems.

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