YouTube was added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) in 2013. It is defined as ‘a popular video-sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos’. The inclusion of YouTube in the OED reflects its significance and widespread use.
Many of us go on YouTube habitually, almost without thinking. We could say that YouTube (and social media) has crept up on us.
It has also crept into the early years. But when it comes to children, we cannot slip into a habit without thinking. We must think carefully about this change in practice.
PASSIVELY WATCHING
It is now common for groups of children to sit and watch nursery rhymes, songs and animations – passively looking at a screen.
When children sing songs, share books and learn nursery rhymes led by a practitioner, they are actively engaging, communicating and interacting. It seems, then, that using YouTube is standing in for (and occupying the time and space of) adult-child interactions.
Maureen Hunt, independent education consultant, says, ‘During the first three years of life, the child's brain is developing rapidly – it is the most sensitive period of language acquisition. Their language and communication skills develop in an environment where children are exposed to the responsive interactions and communications of their caregivers. These face-to-face interactions encourage children to engage in active learning, which supports the development of strong language and literacy skills.
‘Simply being exposed to sights and sounds on a screen is an entirely different experience. It is incomparable to the significant and irreplaceable role of the adult.’
It is also worth bearing in mind that using YouTube in nurseries can also undermine parental attempts to limit screentime – if children are seeing videos in nursery, they may want the same at home.
PEDAGOGY AND USING YOUTUBE
We must address the question of how we are using YouTube with young children. Is it a substitute for invaluable adult-child interactions? Or is it a relevant resource that both practitioners and children engage with to support children's learning?
Konstantinos Skordas, pedagogy manager at London Early Years Foundation (LEYF), says, ‘We may occasionally use YouTube in our nurseries to find music or educational videos. However, as we know, children's learning relies on active engagement, hands-on activities and meaningful interactions with adults.
‘Educational technology has a role in supporting children's development. Using YouTube as a passive media platform does not align with our focus on social interactions, conversation and play-based learning, so we don't use it in this way.
‘Children do not directly access YouTube – teachers may use it to enhance learning in a relevant context. For example, if some children are expressing an interest in volcanoes, they may show one erupting on a YouTube clip. The adult will be involved and interacting with the children, making sure they are engaged and not simply staring as a screen.
‘At LEYF, technology may be used as an added resource to support teaching. However, it never takes the place of the crucial role that adults play in children's learning.’
The key message is that planning around children's development comes first. Digital media can then support this pedagogy.
REGULATING HOW WE USE YOUTUBE
Despite the proliferating use of YouTube in early years practice, there are very few or no regulations about it.
Alex Dave, safeguarding education officer at LGfL (the London Grid for Learning Trust), says, ‘The vast majority of children over three years now go online in some way or another [84 per cent, according to Ofcom].
‘Guidance and support about what good use of digital media and online safety looks like has been neglected. This, at best, creates disparity in how children in the early years learn to use digital media safely and, at worst, puts them at risk of a variety of online harms.’
LGfL believes that guidance should include expectations about:
- Appropriate controls and systems that aid online safeguarding. For example, device/broadband controls, filtering and use of Safe Search.
- The promotion of a pedagogically led approach to all digital media use: the key to this is how practitioners support and develop children's learning while using media. Allowing children to watch short reel videos without adult input does not benefit children developmentally and can negatively impact their attention span and mood.
- Regular and positive engagement with parents about using digital media.
Alex adds, ‘Tablets and screens can often be used without much consideration for the impact on children and their development. To mitigate this, we strongly believe settings must have sector-wide guidance and training, which helps them to implement robust policies and approaches to safe technology use.’
LGfL has developed a free document of guidelines for settings to download – Policy Guide for Online Safeguarding & Digital Media Use in The Early Years (see Further reading).
CALL FOR POLICY
Katy Potts from Islington Council actively campaigns for policy on using YouTube in the sector and leads the Early Years for Digital Standards Action Group.
She explains, ‘The very youngest children are watching streaming services and platforms, often featuring user-generated content and auto-play designs, with aggressive algorithms, and often on mobile devices. Meanwhile, there has been a rapid decline of commissioning of content for early years such as In the Night Garden.
‘Children under five are reported in the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) for self-generated child sexual abuse images where a child is persuaded or tricked by a predator. Safeguarding protections and standards have not kept up with the technological changes. There is guidance for families and professionals on appropriate digital activity for older children and teens, but very little that's relevant to early years children. Media coverage focuses on phones and social media with secondary-school-age children.’
The Early Years for Digital Standards Action Group has written to the minister for education expressing the urgency for:
- Guidance and support for families and carers with children from birth to five years. It says this needs to focus on the interests of the child, not the tech industry, and include information about the differences between the active use of technology and passive consumption of it, including the critical role of the adult.
- Updates to guidance from the Department for Education and Ofsted on digital standards for professionals working with under-fives.
- More explicit reference to the youngest children in the dialogue around online harms from Ofcom, the Children's Commissioner and the Online Harms Bill.
The group would also like to see a Scientific Advisory Committee responsible for advising ministers on digital technology in relation to early child development.
Katy adds, ‘Several groups and departments need to work together: the digital tech sector; government; charities; education and health. We all need to improve the digital experience for the next generation. Without strong leadership from the Government, the efforts we are all making to have technology as a force for good will fail.’
THE POSITIVE USES OF YOUTUBE
YouTube can have great benefits when it is integral to good pedagogy and used well as an active resource: children get the opportunity to see a wide range of dances, hear different genres of music, see footage of other cultures, learn a new skill (alongside the adult), and so on.
It may also be supportive to adults who are less confident when it comes to movement, dance or singing: YouTube can help by taking all the attention off them.
The key thing here is that the adult is involved and interacting with the children. This is very different from YouTube ‘filling a gap’ or providing passive screentime.
FINALLY…
The need for policy and guidelines for using YouTube in the early years is clearly imperative. This is not only to protect the youngest of children but also to ensure that their early education is not thwarted by its escalating use.
FURTHER READING
- Policy Guide for Online Safeguarding & Digital Media Use in The Early Years: https://bit.ly/42EzUtB
- parentsafe.lgfl.net – website dedicated to supporting parents with online safety and more
