It's a hit with children, yet the Cocomelon chain worries children's professionals. Here's why.
Parents are warned: overexposure of children to screens is harmful and can have unsuspected consequences on their development. But some mention the educational aspect of their content, particularly on YouTube. This is the case ofa successful channel: Cocomelon. Like Julien Doré and his adaptation of Ah les crocodilesshe shares songs and nursery rhymes for 0 to 3 year olds, but through the adventures of baby JJ.
Because in addition to the child stars of the platform, sometimes exploited by their families (a phenomenon which inspired a Disney+ series), child protection associations are interested in these videos for toddlers. It must be said that the figures are staggering: Cocomelon has nearly 1.5 million subscribers in France alone, with videos like The wheels of the bus reaching over 81 million views. It is the most viewed children's program in the world according to The Parisian“YouTube's second most-watched channel behind Indian entertainment giant T-Series”. His bath song has 7 billion views worldwide in 6 years.
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Cocomelon: the YouTube phenomenon for babies
Cocomelon was created in 2005 in the United States and arrived in France in 2021. It can now be found on YouTube but also on Netflix, Deezer, Spotify, Max or on VOD on TF1. Gulli broadcast the 3D series until 2022, before reversing its decision. According to a source close to the matter cited by The Parisian“baby TV is not Gulli, not to mention the fact that it is not very authorized”.
Because for some detractors, we must be careful: the channel could be addictive for little ones. The method works: “a catchy melody, garish colors, slowly moving characters and poor texts”, summarizes the newspaper. For David-Julien Rahmil, author of the book Children's Internetthe “educational varnish” learning the colors of the alphabet or colors appeals to children but the texts would be poor and the whole thing would overstimulate young spectators for the psychologist Samuel Comblez, also deputy director of 30 18 and the e-Enfance association. He evokes high risks of dependence and difficulty returning to calmer activities. “It may be dangerous”, summarizes the professional.
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The dangers of the chain for children
For David Julien-Rahmil, Cocomelon would be harmless if viewing time was very short “but this is rarely the case”. Repetitive and limited stories that don’t offer “no real learning”. The Moonbug studio which owns Cocomelon speaks to Parisian of a “very solid educational program”, which would have been done in collaboration with education experts.
Child protection associations reacted in 2004 to the admission of two baby channels in France, BabyFirst and BabyTV. In 2010, the Superior Audiovisual Council stopped them. But things have changed with the internet. What's more, tablets pose a greater risk of overexposure, which can cause learning disabilities.
Editor for Aufeminin since 2022, Charlotte is passionate about cinema, French and international, and a fortune reader. Curious about everything, she talks as much about personalities as…
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