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    Teletubbies creator warns parents over ‘empty’ YouTube programmes for children
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    Teletubbies creator warns parents over ‘empty’ YouTube programmes for children

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    21 Comments

    1. FoxtrotThem on

      That’s rich from the creator behind ‘tubby toast’.

      I’d probably be laying some of the blame for what we have now, on what came then.

    3. Hick-ford on

      True that, but traumatized me with that Dancing CG Bear and the Bear on Wheels running away from the Lion on Wheels what the hell was that! 

    5. brocanyouchillout on

      teletubbies is ten times better than the stuff kids watch nowadays. atleast teletubbies had some goddamn SOUL in it

      EDIT: i know kids stuff on youtube has always been drivel but back then, it wasn’t their primary form of entertainment, they still watched cbeebies and milkshake and all that way better stuff

    7. KingDaveRa on

      Teletubbies got away with it because whilst the bit with the teletubbies was just nonsense, they had an insert with real kids which did do something vaguely educational. Without that it would’ve been totally vacuous.

      BUT -she’s not wrong. I’ve seen the utter, utter nonsense on YouTube aimed at kids, and it’s only getting worse. It’s an easy earner – slap together a video (especially if you can rip off some well known IP) and watch the ad revenue roll in.

      It’s even worse now with AI content. Recently stumbled across an AI version of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and it’s just awful.

      https://youtu.be/B2HSYOq_m5Y

      Compared to something professionally animated;

      https://youtu.be/75NQK-Sm1YY

      I’ve said this many times, Cbeebies produces content a million times better than most of the stuff you can find on YouTube.

    8. Greybur on

      Edit – I only read the headline and responded.

      That being said, my generation used to get advertised to every Saturday morning via 30 minute cartoons so it’s nothing new. Still comes off like they’re jealous of the money people that are not them are making.

      Shut up you fanny.

      Times have changed and you didn’t keep up. Go and shout at some more clouds.

    9. somedegree123 on

      Governments responsibility surely? Since parents are no longer required to oversee kids internet usage because of the OSA and mandatory digital ID.

    10. Ok-Nerve9874 on

      reminds me of hank green making a nearly hour long video on ai . I rember whenver my science teacher didnt want to teach cause she was 8months and still had to come to class shed throw up his videos and call it a day. To her he was slop. Just to pass the time. now that theres sumn even sloppier the slop have become self aware and want to criticize. Creators from even kurtzgeat are drumming up about “content poisoning”. An important think is to note the people who dont say anything. No teacher is scared ai will replace them. Cause they arent slop. It really calls into question the industries who are suing like news papers and music artists. If u really in fear that a llm can steal your work u my friend were never working to begin with

    11. goldchest on

      Half of parents would be shocked at some of the subtle themes which are present in the YouTube videos their bundles of joy watch.

    12. Tricksilver89 on

      There’s a lot of Chinese backed English language slop being pumped out of creator “factories” that have swept across YouTube.

      A lot of the bigger Minecraft content with faceless voices beyond their characters, are all from that origin for example.

    13. Due-Resort-2699 on

      My nephew watches the most utter shite on YouTube . I’m pretty sure half it is AI slop at this point .

    14. dont-try-do on

      I work with and around kids a lot. I’m really sorry to say but I was discussing with my colleagues yesterday that a lot of children are becoming zombies.

      I was trying to have a basic conversation with a 7 year old absolutely glued to their tablet. Then this end of game scroll/gambling type set up popped on the screen. It took their FULL and absolute attention.

      The fruit machine settles on some random skin which obviously doesn’t mean anything it’s just a loot box emulator really. The kid went CRAZY. Omg omg omg I got it this is what I wanted omg. Then instantly went back to it.

      This happens daily.

      Dopamine sucking Roblox side quests are far worse than YouTube videos. If anything YouTube videos are old fashioned long format media. YouTube shorts maybe.

      Also vine is coming back so yay… More short form bullshit grab media

    15. Apprehensive_Bus_543 on

      Children’s programming is one of the most interesting aspects of our future media landscape. When Farage scraps the BBC I don’t think any British TV children’s programme production will survive. A lot of kids have already replaced British English with American English. Public don’t want to fund it and it’s not commercially viable.

    16. hoppentwinkle on

      I like YT though with my 4yo. Cos together we watch the most random stuff.

      Skateboarding. Water slides (lol), x games. This bloke who builds stuff with his 3d printer. River and wilder is good imo. Etc

      I mean… Just control what they are watching and make sure it isn’t shite!!

    17. QuantumWarrior on

      This isn’t new either. The criticism of YouTube Kids allowing straight up gore because it had Elsa and Spiderman on the thumbnail was years ago.

      There’s a guy on Instagram who demonstrated with a fresh YouTube Kids account that if you let it watch a few shorts of even good professional children’s content the algorithm will start feeding it AI slop that includes child abuse, animal abuse, abandonment, and stuff that is a hair’s breadth from fetish content.

      Absolutely do not let your children on any sort of app or site which has an algorithm pick what they watch because it will feed them bullshit right under your nose.

      Give them stuff like PBS Kids, CBeebies, or setup Plex with shows *you* curate not some corporation.

    18. Particular_Store8743 on

      Technology is changing what it means to be human. I’m tired of defending that opinion – it’s so obviously true. What we have to decide is if we think the change is for better or for worse. I’m not certain of the answer. Older people (like myself) have a tendency to experience any change as bad. But I think it’s important to seriously ask the question. And if we conclude the change is bad, then we have to do something about it. And yes, that would probably mean curtailing, limiting, and regulating the technology. And this is when everybody flies off the handle and comes up with 1000 reasons why it’s impossible for human beings to have control over technology – “Hospitals will shut down! Airplanes will fall from the sky! The market will crash!” etc etc. It’s ridiculous – it’s sad and ridiculous that so many people have abandoned human autonomy in this way – that they no longer believe the human imagination can solve problems and shape the world. It’s also bullshit. The reason they want to stay beholden to technology is they’re in love with it. Technology provides us with two things we are powerless to resist – comfort, and convenience. Human beings will sacrifice anything to maintain our comfort and convenience, and even if we were to decide technology was detrimental to human flourishing, our love for comfort and convenience would prevent anything being done to control it. So like Nietzsche’s ‘last men’ we resign ourselves to our comfortable, convenient existence, and turn a blind eye to our increasingly inhuman, powerless, submissive status, and every now and them we tut and shake our heads at an article in The Guardian about how children are turning into screen fixated slugs. I’m going to live up a tree.

    19. do_or_pie on

      As someone who has a 6 yo, CBeebies has been a life saver as the content is both wholesome and engaging. Anyone that says you can find something as engaging as Bluey on Youtube is correct, you can find anything that engages a child to watch, but it is about the quality of the content and the message it is delivering. And don’t even get me started on that content which is parents exploiting their children, Ryan (and the wannabe Ryan’s) I feel so sorry for you.

    20. YouFoolWarrenIsDead on

      My daughter watches Super Simple whenever I need to take a shit. It’s fine in moderation.

    21. iwaterboardheathens on

      The glut of soap opera stills children’s programs without any educational content whatsoever coming from the USA is very concerning

      Children’s programmes used to have morals, identification of objects, rhyming, singing, careers, literacy, numeracy and more 

      It’s exceedingly rare now

      What’s even more concerning is the amount of parents, whom, instead of parenting will give their kids a tablet or phone to watch for all of their waking hours