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His Father Allows Him to Watch Inappropriate Videos

Question:

​Our 6-year-old lives with his father, who last weekend uploaded a YouTube video publicly that is very concerning to me. I have no idea what recourse to follow since the internet and the first amendment are such grey areas. His father created a video which uses a clip from the movie "Home Alone." But it's edited: the young boy, not much older than our child, is shown to get shot and killed! It is alarming, disturbing, and scares me terribly. I live on the opposite side of the country. What should I do to show my displeasure and concern?

Answer:

Dad and son

We agree, the video you have described is alarming. We are concerned about the violence, but also whether your son should be exposed to the YouTube videos, at all. We know when children are exposed to things, they are unable to erase them from their mind. If they are scared or confused by what they have seen, that fear and worry stays with them and can eventually affect their behaviors and their emotional health.

We do not know what your relationship is with your son's father, but we would hope you could share your concerns with him. Perhaps you already are aware of the amount of electronics your son is allowed to be exposed to. Studies are indicating it is not good for children to have too much exposure to "screen time".

The other thing you could do would be to report this to YouTube directly. Let them know your concerns.  Perhaps they will remove it. Good luck, and let us know if we can be of further help.