Common Sense Media Review
By Dana Anderson , based on child development research. How do we rate?
Quality, ad-free PBS shows (but it's still screen time).
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 3+?
Any Positive Content?
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 4 parent reviews
Privacy Rating Pass
Privacy Rating
Our expert evaluators create our privacy ratings. The ratings are designed to help you understand how apps use your data for commercial purposes.
Pass
Meets our minimum requirements for privacy and security practices.
Warning
Does not meet our recommendations for privacy and security practices.
Fail
Does not have a privacy policy and should not be used.
Privacy Rating
Our expert evaluators create our privacy ratings. The ratings are designed to help you understand how apps use your data for commercial purposes.
Pass
Meets our minimum requirements for privacy and security practices.
Warning
Does not meet our recommendations for privacy and security practices.
Fail
Does not have a privacy policy and should not be used.
Is It Any Good?
From using the word "Big" instead of "Maximize" to increase the size of the video currently playing, to listing the time of each clip or full episode, PBS creates both a child- and parent-friendly video portal site. Most parents clearly don't want their preschoolers or young grade-school age kids exploring YouTube or other video sites. But the PBS Kids Video site can be easily navigated even by preschoolers (but parents should always sit with kids this age when they're using the computer). One caveat: Once a show is selected, each clip will run consecutively into the next, so if parents aren't paying close attention, a child could easily be sucked into far too much screen time without even noticing.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Why PBS shows are good, quality shows. Ask your preschooler why they like some of their favorite PBS shows, and tell them why you like them, too. Read about how a PBS Kids series helped lower income kids learn to read.
Discuss why television time is still television time, whether watching it on a flat screen or a computer monitor.
Consider clicking on the "Games" portion of the video site with your child and take their love of a particular show into the more interactive realm of PBS Kids' educational games.
Website Details
- Genre: Video Sites
- Pricing structure: Free
- Last updated: July 7, 2022
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.
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