Newly filed internal documents show how Google viewed its work with schools as a way of turning children into lifelong customers — while the company simultaneously acknowledged research suggesting that YouTube, one of Google’s main platforms, can be unsafe and distracting.
\n\nIn a 2018 presentation, one slide noted that the public sees YouTube as problematic for students because there is “No way to block unsafe content, comments, ads,” a challenge without a workable solution. A presentation last updated in 2024 said some survey respondents blamed YouTube for keeping them awake at night, among other negative effects on their well-being.
\n\nAt the same time, other presentations described how Google’s growing presence in schools — through Chromebooks as well as its learning platforms and YouTube — helped the company build a “Pipeline of future users.”
\n\nOne internal November 2020 presentation slide said acclimating children to Google’s ecosystem in school would hopefully lead them to use its products as adults: “You get that loyalty early, and potentially for life.” Another undated slide deck suggested imagining a world where “Parents ask their children ‘Why aren’t you watching more YouTube?’” and “School Administrators shift budgets from Textbooks to YouTube subscriptions.”
\n\nEducation experts and parent advocates…
Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/