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Parents Are Spending Thousands On YouTube Camps That Teach Kids How To Be Famous (dailydot.com) 134

Posted by BeauHD from the gotta-start-em-while-they're-young dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Daily Dot: Various YouTube summer camps have begun launching across the nation, designed to turn regular elementary and middle-school-aged children into bonfire internet sensations. Per a recent report from the Wall Street Journal, parents are spending nearly $1,000 dollars a week for their children to learn how to create branded social media-related content. Though YouTube is not affiliated with or in any communication with any summer program, such camps are on the rise, and parents with means have made them a thing.

One summer camp gaining traction is YouTube STAR Creator Studio. Located in Culver City, California, its website states that it "branches out from traditional storytelling to how to create the fun and hilarious content that kids love to watch." The camp is designed for those in first through sixth grade, according to the website, and charges $375 dollars a week. Another prominent company is Level Up, which, according to the organization, became the first company in North America to offer YouTube classes and camps when it opened five years ago. Level Up takes an educational approach toward the platform to attract kids who "want to learn how to create an awesome YouTube channel," and promises that the class will give students the "skills to create engaging videos." The topics covered in Level Up's the summer camp range from learning how to interview people, draft storyboard ideas, and source and sync audio files. "[At our program] younger students are only able to use their parents' accounts," Level Up Founder and CEO Jeff Hughes said. "We work hard to protect the child's and parent's privacy. All of the channels and videos are set as private. All comments are disabled for safety. In addition, we have some parents who want their children to learn the skills but don't want their videos posted yet. In that case, we go through the entire creation process with the exception of uploading. We store them on a thumb drive or Google drive for the parents to bring home."
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Parents Are Spending Thousands On YouTube Camps That Teach Kids How To Be Famous More

Parents Are Spending Thousands On YouTube Camps That Teach Kids How To Be Famous

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  • That is the price of most camps (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Arzaboa ( 2804779 ) on Friday May 24, 2019 @10:34PM (#58651276)

    $375 for a week is cheap even if you look at it in terms of daycare. $1000 a week is less than many other summer camps.

    --
    It's not about the money, money, money. - Shmoop

    • Re:That is the price of most camps (Score:5, Insightful)

      by YrWrstNtmr ( 564987 ) on Friday May 24, 2019 @11:01PM (#58651336)
      Summer camp is fine.
      Training to be a youtube star? That's just stupid.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by gweihir ( 88907 )

        That's just stupid.

        That is probably why it appeals to so many people: They find themselves adequately reflected in this.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by ShanghaiBill ( 739463 )

        Training to be a youtube star? That's just stupid.

        Not at all. Look at the world around you. Look at who's in the White House.

        Being able to exploit and manipulate social media is probably the most important skill there is.

        ... signing my kid up now.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by gtall ( 79522 )

        It is probably stupid in another very special way. The kids, now with their Youtube Creator's Certificate, might just feature their inane parents in their videos. That would be poetic justice.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Cederic ( 9623 )

        So you'd rather they put on a theatre show?

        Learning camera operation, framing, editing, script writing, prop design, creation of something from scratch, public (sort of) speaking, make-up, audience engagement.. yeah, real waste of fucking time.

        • If it was done right you would teach them how to make a long shot that requires no editing, make up and other nonsense.

      • People train their kids to be sports stars, movie stars, rock stars all the time. I don't see anything wrong with training them to be Youtube stars, as long as the skills or discipline learned are transferable to other jobs if the YouTube career doesn't work out. Photography, lighting, composition, audio engineering, video editing, video processing, financial management (making sure you're making more than you're spending) all seem like skills which can be used in lots of other fields. And unlike sports,
    • summer camps aren't cheap. A decent one is around $800/week. You can charge an arm and a leg for a few weeks of peace and quite for parents.

    • $375 for a week is cheap even if you look at it in terms of daycare.

      I got totally lambasted on the "air travel carbon credit" story a few days ago for suggesting that the cost of air travel was prohibitively expensive for most Americans. Now I find out you could either have a round-trip ticket to Paris, or send your kid to camp for an entire week.

      I'm not a parent, but judging by the rugrats I've seen, sending the kid away and enjoying a "staycation" might hold appeal to some parents.

    • Re:That is the price of most camps (Score:4, Insightful)

      by geekmux ( 1040042 ) on Saturday May 25, 2019 @04:18AM (#58651878)

      $375 for a week is cheap even if you look at it in terms of daycare. $1000 a week is less than many other summer camps.

      -- It's not about the money, money, money. - Shmoop

      Yeah. And $10,000 will seem cheap compared to the psychologists you're gonna have to hire by the time these kids hit puberty, after being professionally trained to be a social media narcissist and internet addict, only to find the world doesn't need more of you.

      Part of the formula for winning the social media lottery (an accurate description of the chances of success) is uniqueness. Start running every wanna-be-narcissist through the same Look-At-Me Boot Camp, and the end results are likely as predictable and boring as watching the next generation of YouTubers look and act all the same.

      Normally as a parent we cheer on success, but in this case, I hope dreams are crushed every day. A sense of worth should not be tied to clicks, likes, or online "friends", and yet that is exactly what we're fostering. And you wonder why kids would become damn near suicidal when those comments go viral negative, or their online popularity drops drastically.

      Fuck Narcissist Boot Camp.

      • For a better study of why this is bad - look at a UK TV programme called "Love island" where narcissts were put on an island and filmed, and told they'd be sensations on sociual media. And they were - for about 15 minutes before everyone moved on to the next bunch of narcissts.

        2 of them committed suicide afterwards.

        But its a really popular show, so they're making series 3!

        • For a better study of why this is bad - look at a UK TV programme called "Love island" where narcissts were put on an island and filmed, and told they'd be sensations on sociual media. And they were - for about 15 minutes before everyone moved on to the next bunch of narcissts.

          2 of them committed suicide afterwards.

          But its a really popular show, so they're making series 3!

          And yet, 21st Century narcissists would call Roman Gladiator battles barbaric.

          Fuck mental health. Are you not entertained...

        • good, let's do it at scale and make the world a better place for everyone else.

      • Level Up sounds like it's less about how to be a narcissist celebrity and more about learning how to make fun videos. For a lot of kids, it's probably much more interesting than the typical summer camp where they just play sports and do craft projects. It sounds like it might be similar to a summer program that I went to as a kid. It was a three week program with classes where the kids got to learn fun things that they wouldn't get experience with otherwise. I did the computer programming class every year,

    • The only thing this can lead to is to make Youtubers resemble more and more the starlets of music nowadays.
      All cookie-cutter young female starlets taken from virutal anonimity directly to stardom on the reason that they fit the profile on the music executive's spreadsheet.
      I refer to them as "spreadsheet starlets".

      If the next generation of youtubers have learned their trade in the camps organized by the same company, then we will see the same formulaic homogeneity in Youtube videos as we see in music.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by rnturn ( 11092 )

        I'm not a big consumer of today's "pop" music but my daughters are of the age where they might listen to it. Even they haven't heard of any of the people who are on the "So You Wannabe..." shows except for whatever buzz the show's critics put up on the web.

        Prediction: Hardly any of these kids are going to make it big on Youtube---or any other web site. The parents sending their kids to these camps are suffering from the same delusion afflicting the parents of pee-wee football players: they think that, beca

        • "Even they haven't heard of any of the people who are on the "So You Wannabe..." shows..."

          oh, no, they have. probably watch them regularly with friends. they just know enough to play dumb in front of you, lol.

    • Yeah, I'm not sure where the hate comes from. The cost seems to be in line with other summer camps and they let a kid explore an area that intrigues them. And hopefully it's going to teach them that to do it right there's more than just babbling into a camera for 10 minutes. There's scripting, editing, re-takes, sound, lighting... All of those can be careers in and of themselves. The concept is no more stupid than space camp for aspiring astronauts, or robotics camp, or any other focused summer camp. A

  • What a racket! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by JustAnotherOldGuy ( 4145623 ) on Friday May 24, 2019 @10:42PM (#58651290) Journal

    What an awesome racket...I only wish I'd thought of it.

    I would have also stipulated that I got 5 or 10 percent of their earnings (if any) for the next 20 years.

    • A lot cheaper than film school!

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

    • I would have also stipulated that I got 5 or 10 percent of their earnings (if any) for the next 20 years.

      The cost of drawing up that contract will be more than you'll ever earn from it.

      • I would have also stipulated that I got 5 or 10 percent of their earnings (if any) for the next 20 years.

        The cost of drawing up that contract will be more than you'll ever earn from it.

        Probably, but I'd only have to draw up the boilerplate once, and I'd only have to 'create' one successful youtuber to make my money back.

        I was flabbergasted to find out how much some of these "influencers" make for doing the silliest shit. People will actually pay to watch you play games, talk about games, film public building buildings or trains, babble about makeup and hair styles, or just ramble about miscellaneous crap. Some of them (not many) make some real money at it.

        What a world.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

          I was flabbergasted to find out how much some of these "influencers" make for doing the silliest shit. People will actually pay to watch you play games, talk about games, film public building buildings or trains, babble about makeup and hair styles, or just ramble about miscellaneous crap. Some of them (not many) make some real money at it.

          What a world.

          Well, as a point of comparison, PewDiePie makes literally millions per month off YouTube. Even someone like Logan Paul makes half a million per month (it's h

    • Why bother worrying about the 5 or 10 percent? None of these kids will actually become stars. The ones that do, won't learn how in a class.

  • Go skating and rack yourself on a street sign.

    BOOM! A million hits and a starring role on Fail Army.

    Oh brave new generation and the people in it...

  • Teach kids to be insufferable attention whores (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Rick Schumann ( 4662797 ) on Friday May 24, 2019 @11:11PM (#58651360) Journal
    This story gave me an instant migraine headache. Parents, what the ever-loving fuck do you think you're doing!? This is even more cancerous than Facebook. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with people?

      • Old man yells at cloud.

        Won't be any jokes being told when Little Johnny Narcissist blows his brains out, all because his online popularity dropped 20% overnight.

        And this doesn't start and end online. Wait until this next generation of self-entitled attention whores enters the real workforce (after 99.9999% of them fail to become the Next Big YouTube Thing). Intolerable won't even begin to describe it.

    • Parents, what the ever-loving fuck do you think you're doing!?

      Relying on developable skills rather playing the lottery to give their kids a leg up in a world of ever decreasing social mobility. They are doing the same thing our parents did when we were told the path to success is to get a fancy degree and a good job, just that this isn't necessarily true these days.

      • Relying on developable skills rather playing the lottery to give their kids a leg up in a world of ever decreasing social mobility. They are doing the same thing our parents did when we were told the path to success is to get a fancy degree and a good job, just that this isn't necessarily true these days.

        You want you kid to have a prosperous life with decent income? Teach then to be a welder or something.

    • ... to have kids. Or even an IQ that matches your shoe size. Sadly its one of the problems of modern times all around the world, 1st, 2nd and 3rd world - the stupid just keep breeding and making more stupid whereas the smart know they can't afford 10 kids so don't have them.

      • the smart know they can't afford 10 kids so don't have them.
        Why posting when you abviously have no clue?
        The poor used to have many kids because only many kids gave a low certainty that you had enough kids who pay/contribute/take for you in old age ... dumb ass.
        Oh, side note: lack of contraception, dumb ass.

        Kids only were a question of affordability in the western world around the 1970s - 1990s, how sad is that? A family in the west that can not "afford children"?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Viol8 ( 599362 )

          "The poor used to have many kids because only many kids gave a low certainty that you had enough kids who pay/contribute/take for you in old age ... dumb ass."

          Its not 1850 anymore dumb ass. Yes, in some parts of the 3rd world it still applies but not on the majority of this planet.

          "Kids only were a question of affordability in the western world around the 1970s - 1990s"

          Seriously? Who are you , Elon Musk? People still can't afford to have them even today rich kid.

          • Seriously? Who are you , Elon Musk? People still can't afford to have them even today rich kid.
            So you live in a western world country and can not "afford kids" ... how sad is that?

    • What, did you think that children existed for any reason other than making their parents look cool? We give them insane names to show off how creative the parents are, splash them all over the internet to display how great a job parents are doing...

      And let's face it, you need your props to be of the highest quality if everyone is going to agree that you're great. If your kids aren't bringing in advertising dollars, you failed as a parent and may actually have to get a job.

  • Please tell me this is a Poe.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AHuxley ( 892839 )
      People did the same to get on TV. Acting, food TV shows, sport. Movies.
      Now its all about that sound and video quality for a video-sharing website.

  • Summer Camps (Score:5, Interesting)

    by jargonburn ( 1950578 ) on Friday May 24, 2019 @11:49PM (#58651436)
    The parents should be forced to attend a Parenting summer camp. The first week of lessons can all be about how they should be parenting their child, not trying to leech off them.

  • It's right there in the title folks. Children are not a means of making money.

    • Children are not a means of making money.

      *coughs in McCauley Culkin, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, the Jackson Five, Lindsey Lohan, Jerry Mathers, Jonathan Lipnicki, Christina Aguilera, Dakota Fanning, Honey Boo Boo, and basically all the kids who grew up on the set of Modern Family*

      Say what you will about the fact that half that list ended up needing skilled therapists later on in life, but don't act like parents haven't been making money off their kids since Shirley Temple's antics that predate television and color film.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by skam240 ( 789197 )

        "...but don't act like parents haven't been making money off their kids since Shirley Temple's antics that predate television and color film."

        Umm... I wasn't at all.

  • Its a damn job (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Elfich47 ( 703900 ) on Friday May 24, 2019 @11:54PM (#58651448)
    The parents are not realizing (or are in denial) that to be a paid streamer you have to: Have a subject that people are interested in, have a large potential audience, have a decent speaking voice, sound personable, be knowledgeable on the subject, have a computer (or multiple computers) that can keep up with the load of the task and the streaming, be reasonably photogenic, have someplace to set up and run your streams from, have a unique hook that reels people in and keeps them coming back, and be willing to stream 4-8 hours a day, not counting prep, editing, research or anything else that goes into producing a video show.

    The streamers that actually make money work 8-10 hours a day, and don't have much of a life outside of streaming. If they aren't streaming, they are editing, prepping or doing all the other things needs to keep something like this running.

    And the youtube market is saturated. Breaking out through the chaff is a long term endeavor of trial and error, refinement and improvement. Elementary school kids don't want to put in the hours for that kind of grind.

    And at first through sixth grade, I can only assume the kids said "wow that's cool" and the parents signed them up (with some of the parents thinking they have the next super streamer in the family). The kids then find out it is a lot of work after a couple of months and decide to look at karate, bike riding, finger paint, playing tag. The super pushy parents are left with unused webcams and headsets saying "but you said you wanted to be a streamer" and the kid replied, "well that was last week".

    • There's also an element of luck involved. Popular channels get into the recommendations, and so become more popular - it's a positive feedback loop, and just having one good week can bump that loop and see a channel gain a lasting boost in popularity.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by JD-1027 ( 726234 )
      Or... Maybe this camp is about having fun?
      My kid played football in a league to have fun, not to prepare for his future career in Professional Football.
      What if maybe this camp is just about getting some young kids in front of a camera and by the end of the week, they have a few videos they can watch themselves and show a couple of their friends?
      My kid might enjoy it, not sure. I know they had fun making a youtube video at home once just for fun and to see it on youtube.
      And the price is not that much hig

  • Nobody in their right mind want to be famous. Bit even if you do, this will not get you there. It is a nice way to separate morons from their money though.

    • The lawsuits that the bad parents will be bringing are going to be epic, tho. Epic for me, anyways.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by gweihir ( 88907 )

        What lawsuits? Has anybody assured them anything?

        • What lawsuits? Has anybody assured them anything?

          Oh, it thats how lawsuits work? I didnt know. I had assumed a lawsuit didnt need to be winnable to be brought against someone, but maybe the person who said, and I quote, "The sheer incapability of some people to deal with reality is truly staggering" knows more about.... reality...

  • Don't build you house on sand and in the case of YouTube, quicksand...

  • YouTube age limits? (Score:4, Informative)

    by grep -v '.*' * ( 780312 ) on Saturday May 25, 2019 @07:41AM (#58652300)

    The camp is designed for those in first through sixth grade

    I thought YouTube had age limits for it's users. [youtube.com] Hey, wait: affirm 18, or affirm over 13. Does that give YT any legal shielding for teenagers? AND, I didn't realize that children (not of-age, or below 13 in the "contract") could enter into legal contracts anyway. OTOH there's no signature, so NO PROBLEM I guess.

    12. Ability to Accept Terms of Service
    You affirm that you are either more than 18 years of age, Blah blah blah. In any case, you affirm that you are over the age of 13, as the Service is not intended for children under 13. If you are under 13 years of age, then please do not use the Service.

  • quite useful skills (Score:3)

    by e**(i pi)-1 ( 462311 ) on Saturday May 25, 2019 @07:48AM (#58652326) Homepage Journal
    you don't go to music classes to become a star violinist or pianist, you don't go to school to win the nobel prize, you don't go to such a camp to become a youtube star too. The odds in each case worse than winning the lottery. I have never seen such a camp but I can imagine that it can teach very useful skills: how to work with technology, how to present a topic coherently, how to be clear. How to be short. How to organize a more complex workflow. How to overcome obstacles etc.
  • I didn't read the whole article but I don't think the stated goal of these camps is to teach the students how to be famous any more than the stated goal for a youth football camp is to prepare the kids for a future in the NFL. They teach "how to create engaging content" and things like that which isn't necessarily a bad thing and a skill that can serve them in their future jobs which most likely won't be Internet "influencer" or anything like that.

    If the parents are sending kids to these camps with the i

    • That said, I do think it's part of a disturbing trend of parents spending lots of money on expensive programs that have their kids too focused on one activity. A year in youth hockey can cost upwards of $5,000 or more.

      Yeah, the expense of Youth Hockey does tend to weed out the non-serious pretty quickly. If cheap is the metric, you go for non-competitive soccer.

      But there is nothing better to produce a well behaved kid than competitive Ice Hockey. Well, maybe the teachers assistant, Ritalin. But Hockey gives them a chance to grow up into a normal person instead of a pre-zombie.

  • This is what Californians do instead of getting their one fully-funded, Green-approved high speed rail line built.

  • the youtube game is becoming a dark place unfortunately
  • As opposed to spending thousands to teach them how to figuratively whore themselves out, just cut to the chase and have them pose nude for money. Whether or not they "service" fans is up to the parents who are clearly putting a lot of thought into the health and safety of their children.

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