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- [00:01]
Commercial Announcer
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- [00:36]
Dave Graveline
Welcome back into tomorrow our 31st year covering the latest in consumer tech, which of course includes products, gadgets, gizmos, software, just anything online, all kinds of cool stuff. We want to thank you for tuning in. Thank you even more for participating on the program. So don't ever hesitate put that's a very cool thing. You know, kids and teens are spending more time online than ever. If you're a parent, you should know that with some saying they use social media sites almost constantly, the online habits have families focused on digital well being and can leave many parents wondering how to cultivate a healthy online environment for their kids. Well, our next guest is a cardiologist, researcher and public health experts. He previously served in two U.S. administrations as U.S. deputy Assistant Secretary for Health. He has quite the credentials behind him. He's the Global Head of YouTube Health, Dr. Garth Graham. Dr. Graham, welcome into tomorrow. How are you, sir?
- [01:49]
Dr. Garth Graham
I'm good, thank you for having me, Dave.
- [01:50]
Dave Graveline
It's a pleasure to have you. This is a very important topic and one that we try to cover as often as possible. We hear from parents all the time. What do we do and you know, a month, among other things. You've got some great tips like something even as simple as how to build in timers and content controls which will certainly support some healthier digital habits long term, I'm hoping.
- [02:15]
Dr. Garth Graham
Yeah, yeah. And you know Dave, healthier digital habits is really the key. I'm glad you said it that way because the goal is really to think through how we help children navigate within the digital world, not from the digital world. Because so many of our kids nowadays are digital first or digital natives. Technology is a part of their everyday life and so we have to figure out how we help them navigate that safely. And to that point I think they, I'd say there's two things that parents, including myself as a parent, you know, we should always do. One is this idea of setting boundaries within the context of a family plan. So you know, what are the kinds of things that make sense for you as a family? And then what are some of the boundaries you want to set. And that goes to some of the tools you're alluding to, Dave, where parents can set, well, being reminders on YouTube. Take a break. Bedtime reminders on YouTube for their teens. And they also can limit the amount of short form videos that their teen views through the scroll feature. So there's all these different kinds of tools around the boundaries that a parent wants to make. And then the last thing I was going to say, or second thing I was going to say is age appropriate experiences. You know, a 9 year old and a 12 year old may be different than a 15 year old. And you know, how do you, particularly on YouTube, you want to go in, set those settings to the age appropriate experience. I'm sorry, the age appropriate experience for your kid. Yeah. So that they understand all. They get exposed to the right kinds of content.
- [03:55]
Dave Graveline
Very good point. And I'm sure that you speak frequently to parents who, I guess, feel somewhat overwhelmed, especially by the pace of technology. Because what you mentioned early on too is a lot of the kids know a whole lot more than we do. You know, I've had to ask my own grandson and I host a tech show for 31 years. You know, how do we do this? Why can't I make, you know, have access? And he goes, give it to me. And he does. And he's 13, you know, but that's been happening for years. So again, parents, grandparents as well, are overwhelmed. What can you say to them?
- [04:31]
Dr. Garth Graham
One of the things we've heard that and one of the things we've done is try to make these controls really simple. Kind of simple like how you even have, you know, like your Netflix account simple in terms of being able to toggle through experiences. So now we've simplified the signup experience, but also the ability to switch within kids, within the same family around that. Because, David, it is complicated. I love to see as a parent, you know, there's so many things going on at the same time. You want these simplified experiences. And that's one of the things that we worked on. But the second thing I will say, Dave, to your earlier point about, you know, navigating, you know, the time periods we grew up in versus the time periods that the kids or kids are growing up in. That's where we get to take the concept of what are our values, what's important, what's the kinds of things we want, you know, the boundaries we want to set for them. Those things are a little bit more timeless and that we can utilize these tools to be able to Set up those experiences.
- [05:32]
Dave Graveline
And so the customized digital boundaries are not only available, but make a lot of sense.
- [05:39]
Dr. Garth Graham
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. And the other thing too, Dave, is, you know, kids grow. And so you want to, based on your parent, you know, you as the parent or you as a grandparents, your understanding of their development, their, you know, abilities to process and handle things, be able to change those boundaries based on what you think and your judgment. So I think a lot of these things is just more about putting parents in control over their kids experiences.
- [06:12]
Dave Graveline
And I would imagine some of those parents that might have some frustration with the kids accepting what you're doing. Oh, come on, mom and dad. I see a lot of stuff.
- [06:22]
Dr. Garth Graham
Whatever.
- [06:23]
Dave Graveline
Yeah, that's the problem is that you
- [06:25]
Commercial Announcer
see a lot of stuff.
- [06:26]
Dave Graveline
But giving that expert advice, I guess maybe parents can also explain at the same time, you know, hey, as you get older, we relax some of these restrictions or you know, bed just like we can make bedtime a little later. As long as your grades are good, you know, so maybe that's a good way for parents to feel a bit of relief. Maybe.
- [06:46]
Dr. Garth Graham
Yeah, I agree. You know, you know, just being able to evolve as your child evolves and your judgment of their, you know, ability to process and handle and how they're doing the technology, I think that's really important. But the other thing I would say, Dave, is we should try as parents to model the behavior as much as we can. And you know, I try to model good digital habits behavior around my kids as well. And so, you know, a combination of, it's important for us as companies to make it easier for parents and for parents utilizing tools and then a combination of parents also thinking through how do they model some of this behavior for their kids.
- [07:32]
Dave Graveline
So in other words, it's good to see your kids watching you put your phone down for a change. And I think that's part of the problem because the kids are gonna see that they're just copying your behavior. Oh, okay. So we're all on our phones now. It doesn't matter that it's dinner time.
- [07:51]
Dr. Garth Graham
Right, right. You know, I'm glad you use the dinner example because that's, that is one where, you know, my kids were influential in teaching me how to make sure that I was doing what I said, you know, despite if there was a work call or something else, you know, being attention to the boundaries that I set for them and for us. So it's, you know, it goes both ways nowadays.
- [08:11]
Dave Graveline
Oh, very true. But then again, a parent still has to have that control and as you mentioned, if it's a work thing, you know, what are you going to have as my child that's going to top that? A school friend thing? No, no, no, no, no. It's not the same. So you really have to, you know, play along, but also keep some restrictions. And again, mom, dad, put the phone down.
- [08:35]
Dr. Garth Graham
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, that's, that's, that's, you know, it's funny, I laugh when you say that, Dave, because you must have been at our house at dinner time a couple of months ago, because that was the active debate we had. And you know what I think. What I think is important is important, too, for us to even have the conversation. Oh, yeah. And it's important for us to understand what our kids ecosystem looks like as we go through these. So you set a point about friends being as important as work, and I think my son thought that. And so I was like, oh, that's interesting.
- [09:13]
Dave Graveline
Yes. I'm putting this food on your table by my work. And you think your friends are doing that? No, no. There are priorities. Right. And of course, I would guess with all the advances in tech, I mean, that we've been covering for so many years, I'm assuming now is a good time to talk about that digital. Well, being with your kids, because there's no better time. Make it happen.
- [09:41]
Dr. Garth Graham
That's exactly right. It's a good time. You know, there's, there's a lot of things that our kids can learn from talking about. My son, he spent a lot of time learning algebra through algebra videos and, you know, other, you know, learning a lot about the math, the math world.
- [09:56]
Dave Graveline
Good.
- [09:57]
Dr. Garth Graham
And so there's a lot of things out there that weren't available necessarily during our times. That's available now. So we want our kids to be able to experience that, but in a safe way.
- [10:07]
Dave Graveline
Oh, for sure. Boy, I could talk to you all day, Garth, because you have. Well, first of all, you and I see eye to eye, and that's helpful. But also, there's so much more to talk about. I hope we can get you back on again in the news near Future. Love it. Dr. Garth Graham is the global head of YouTube Health. You can visit, of course, YouTube.com and see what he and his team are up to. We appreciate you joining us. I'm Dave Graveline. Stay tuned. Into Tomorrow continues right here on the Advanced Media Network.