We now live in a time when anyone, including children, can use the Internet with ease. Unfortunately, this means that they are at risk of exposure to adult content as well. DJ Jade Rasif took to Facebook group SG Mommies to share about a ‘sugar baby’ ad that showed up when watching a video with her niece.
She hopes that parents will take precautions to avoid sexually suggestive ads reaching young children.
Ms Rasif, mother of a boy aged almost 2, shared a post on Facebook group SG Mommies.
In the post, Ms Rasif said that she was watching a YouTube video about children who survived life threatening illnesses with her young niece.
As is customary of watching YouTube without an ad-blocker, an ad about ‘sugar babies’ earning money from dating ‘sugar daddies’ played before the video. You could say that it was far from PG.
Cambridge Dictionary defines a ‘sugar daddy’ as a wealthy, usually older man who gives money or gifts to younger person.
This is done in hopes that, they get to spend time and perhaps have a sexual relationship with them.
Unfortunately, Ms Rasif was asked as to what a sugar baby was. The children were even amazed at how much a ‘sugar baby’ could earn.
The ad, which promotes a certain sugar dating website, depicts a young woman who makes $5,000 a month by dating a wealthy, older man.
This made Ms Rasif question why YouTube doesn’t have the same ad regulations that are enforced on Singapore TV.
She hopes that parents will skip explicit ads quickly, especially when young children are around.
But she also added that while she doesn’t have anything against ‘sugar babies’, she doesn’t want to glamourise the lifestyle to the little ones.
Thankfully, there are ways to avoid young children’ exposure to indecent ads.
One can download YouTube Kids, which provides more child-oriented content to children. Furthermore, parents are able to manage the amount of screen time their kids gets.
Another option for parents is to go completely ad free via YouTube Premium. This would allow children to avoid ads completely. A subscription costs 11.98 SGD/month.
While authorities can put a stop to such ads, in the end, parents too have a responsibility to make the internet a safer space for their children.
This could involve downloading more child-friendly apps and teaching children how to sensibly interpret the content they find.
We hope that YouTube will improve their guidelines for ads to make it an inclusive service.
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Featured image adapted from Instagram and Facebook.
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