Are we getting ruder and less cultured?

Do we know what kids are watching online?

The UK is at risk of losing a ‘common culture’ and could become more demanding and arrogant, according to the annual Childwise monitor report, which examines how children across the country are consuming media, finding that we could be raising a generation without any clear shared history or culture.

Children between the ages of five and 16 are spending two and a half hours a day watching video content online, with YouTube dominating as the most popular way of watching any and all on-demand content. Childwise noted that more children are ‘binge watching’ content with programs like Netflix, Amazon Prime and YouTube all supporting autoplay functionality.

“TV sets have been the focal point in a lot of homes for many years, but they are falling out of favour amongst children,” said Simon Leggett, research director for Childwise. “Viewing has changed to become personal and private rather than a group activity gathered round a traditional television set.”

Instead of the OFCOM-regulated Saturday morning cartoons and presenters, children now get to choose their own entertainment, with controversial figures like Jake and Logan Paul topping the charts of popularity amongst youngsters, despite shocking images such as Logan showing his audience footage of a suicide victim, and brother Jake posting inappropriate ‘I lost my virginity’ video, both of which broke YouTube’s terms.

The youth watchdog expressed worry that this could be a generation of rudeness and impatience as kids embrace the voice-recognised, on-demand mobile world at their fingertips. Described as the ‘Alexa generation’, after the Amazon voice recognition software similar to Apple’s Siri, experts are concerned that children raised by new technologies are learning a less civil way of communicating their needs than their predecessors.

“We are on the tipping point with this technology and it is about to become mainstream for children,” continued Legget. ““Will children become accustomed to saying and doing whatever they want to a digital assistant ‘do this, do that’ – talking as aggressively or rudely as they like without any consequences.

“Will they then start doing the same to shop assistants or teachers?”

Will binge-watching and YouTube stars change the way kids develop, or do you think these findings are blown out of proportion? Let us know on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.