At some point, our kids are going to have access to the internet without us sitting beside them. That's the part I keep coming back to. Today, it might be choosing between two favorite shows. A few years from now, it will be YouTube, social media, search engines, group chats, algorithms, and eventually an internet that we can't possibly curate for them. So maybe the goal shouldn't only be controlling what children can access today. Maybe part of our job is teaching them how t

For a long time, parents could think about kids’ media in fairly simple categories. Netflix was streaming. YouTube was YouTube. Social media was social media. Those lines are disappearing. Netflix has been steadily bringing established YouTube creators onto its platform, including Ms. Rachel, Mark Rober, Danny Go!, Salish and Jordan Matter, the Sidemen, and others. And this isn't a small experiment. Creator-led programming, particularly children's and family content, is perfo

TV-Y. TV-Y7. TV-G. PG. We've been using some version of these labels for decades. And as a parent, I've realized something: They answer a question I'm rarely actually asking. When I'm deciding whether my child should watch a show, I'm not just wondering: "Is this technically appropriate for their age?" I want to know: Is it scary? Is it loud, fast-paced, or highly stimulating? Are the characters constantly yelling at each other? Is there bullying? Does it model behavior I'm g