624
Devastated father says his 9-year-old son spent $118,000 on YouTube ad campaigns for his Minecraft channel using a company credit card — bill racked up in just three weeks was supposed to be one $20 (www.tomshardware.com)
submitted 1 week ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
206 comments fedilink hide all child comments
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 300 points 1 week ago (21 children)

I'm sorry, why is a 9 year old even allowed to post to YouTube? There's a lot of mistakes the Dad made to lead up to this, hard life lesson for him mainly.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • hideshow 21 child comments
    •
  • [–] 143 points 1 week ago (7 children)

    I watched Charlie's video on this and the dad takes a lot of the ownership of what happened and how having all your accounts connected via Google can backfire spectacularly when the only thing the kid really understands from this is, more money = more views, and "dad set a limit" so as long as the card clears, it must be good to go. Crazy story.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 7 child comments
    •
  • [–] 84 points 1 week ago (6 children)

    The first failure was allowing his kid to have a YT channel at all, or at least not one that is heavily monitored and restricted by him or the other parent. The financial fuck up is the consequences of poor parenting.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 6 child comments
    •
  • [–] 14 points 1 week ago* (3 children)

    Parents are going up against multi-billion dollar companies, no one has sufficent parenting skills for this except the Amish.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 5 points 1 week ago (2 children)

    Well sure but I mean, just don’t set up the YouTube channel for your 9 year old? Seems pretty simple to me.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 0 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    That would assume dad has the time and energy for that. In a world where both parents need to be working in order to survive. Most people have no clue how any of the digital world works, but we somehow expect everyone to master it all when they have children?

    Wild take, tbh.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 3 points 1 week ago

    He knew enough to know that his 9 year old was posting videos on YouTube and gave him a credit card to buy ads. It's poor parenting and ignorance is a bullshit argument. You don't have to master the digital world to know that letting your prepubescent child post content online without strict oversight is bad. Again, he clearly knew this was happening because again, he funded it. Shit parenting.

    I know single working parents with multiple kids that are surely worse off than this guy that aren't this stupid and are better parents just by being attentive to their children's actions and hobbies.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 67 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (8 children)

    IMO that's not the issue

    The issue is the lack of safeguards. In our rush to call out the dad based on the headline, we shouldn't let Google and the banks off the hook. The dad should have set limits on the card/account and paid closer attention to the kid's view/ad activities, but both google and the banks benefitted from the poor design/usability issues that led to this.

    EDIT: Since it was the company card, maybe the dad couldn't have set limits on there. He used the company card on an older purchase, and since it was tied to his account, google offered the card as a payment option when the kid went to boost his ad. While I'm at it, screw the advertising industry that made YouTube into the mess it is now.

    As for this bit

    why is a 9 year old even allowed to post to YouTube

    I remember about 15 years ago, a lot of kids wanted to post gameplay videos and music/art they made to YouTube. Some parents handled that poorly yes, but others took the time to watch the videos and approve them before anything was uploaded.

    Kids want to explore their interests and it can be healthy to explore it with them, and teach them things along the way. Telling them no outright might push them to do it anyway, but this time without supervision.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 8 child comments
    •
  • [–] 5 points 1 week ago

    It's ultimately a parenting failure. But there should be way more education for young adults about online safety and parental controls.

    If the parent is in full control, then they can upload their content, thats more responsible. I dont personally agree with it anyway, I think 9 is far too young to expose to the internet like that.

    I think YouTube should require a password everytime you make a purchase, but still this wouldnt have happened if the parents were better educated. They learnt a hard lesson.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 2 points 1 week ago

    Google make it obnoxiously hard to use a card just once. You have to explicitly delete it, and cancel or individually move every subscription an account may have to other payment methods before it can be deleted

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [+] -8 points 1 week ago (5 children)

    Yes, parents have to let kids do anything they want because kids will do it anyway. Parenting 101.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
    •
  • [–] 25 points 1 week ago (3 children)

    I read it more as, if your kid is intent on something, rather than slap them down, try and work with them to turn it into a positive experience.

    Most kids adore doing stuff with their parents. It lets them practice adult skills, with the safety net of a trusted adult behind them.

    With something like streaming, it would be down to the parent to keep them safe and let them explore their creativity. It sounds like this dad screwed that up, but is trying to at least own his part of that.

    There are nuances between feral parenting and helicopter parenting.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

    And if kids want to do something stupid it's ok to explain to them why it's stupid and propose something else.

    What if they want to film Jackass type content? Or "pranks"? Or play american football? Or read Harry Potter? Part of parenting is guiding your children to more fulfilling hobbies, not just letting them chase everything that's trending at the moment.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 12 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    Fully agreed on that. There is also a balance of allowing them to explore an idea space, while keeping them clear of risks and negative problems.

    E.g. my minion is currently obsessed with Minecraft. They are actually getting quite good at the design part too. They want to play online though. I'm not happy with that, so I am setting up a private server. It will be whitelist access only. They will be able to play online and talk with their friends through Minecraft, but not random players online. When they are older, I'll allow it, but only when I am in the (physical) room, keeping an eye on things.

    If you try and shoehorn your kids into only what you think is acceptable, then you will have problems. If you have shown you will help them explore their own interests, they will come to you with them. If you regularly shut them down, they will go behind your back, where you have no control.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 5 points 1 week ago

    And this is a great way to do it. Kudos.

    As you say, it's all about balance. You don't want to isolate your kid from all of their friends but you also don't want them to do every stupid TikTok trend because all the other kids do it.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 5 points 1 week ago

    I'm not sure how you got that from that comment.

    Kids want to explore their interests and it can be healthy to explore it with them, and teach them things along the way. Telling them no outright might push them to do it anyway, but this time without supervision.

    Basically, teach your kid how things work rather than just telling them "no."

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 3 points 1 week ago (2 children)

    It really depends how smart the kid is. I don’t see the problem with a smart 9 year old uploading gameplay videos if it’s done right. As long as it’s supervised by the parent, the parent approves what the kid can upload and limit how many videos the kid can upload in a month. Comments can be turned off and they just use an internet nickname instead of their real name. Kid can even wear a mask to hide his face. Like it can be used as a learning tool to teach a kid how to use a pc and software, how to stay safe on the internet and what privacy means. Also how to plan and develop patience and discipline.

    Of course I doubt these parents did any of that.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 9 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    I think it has to be the parents account and the parent shares videos themselves. Do we really want 9 year olds obsessed with metrics like views and stuff? This is how you get "brain rot" children, why arent they playing outside or with toys? They are 9, not 15. Kids are extremely impressionable at that age.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 3 points 1 week ago*

    yeah the dad could have turned it into a teaching moment when the kid complained about views instead of throwing money at it. But making YouTube videos doesn’t automatically mean they will obsess about views it really depends on how the parents guides their kid, they can even hide the metrics from the kid. There are extensions that will hide the numbers from the page.

    Also screen time should be limited anyway, if you limit how much time a kid can spend on the pc there is plenty of time left in a week to play outside and play with toys. It’s all about balance.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent