Parents are making serious money from YouTube vids of their entertaining offspring, we’re talking eye-watering sums.
Howard Davies-Carr, 41, has made more than £100,000 from uploading films while 18-year old Jamie Hagan amassed a fortune of £40,000 (and rising) from filming his eleven-year old bro.
This stuff is funny: think 17-month-old twins Sam and Ren talking in gobbledy-baby-goop to each other, but seeming to understand every word, and 8-month-old Micah laughing hysterically while his Dad rips up job rejection letters.
But does this leave a bad taste in the mouth? It’s great for parents who uploaded YouTube vids to share with friends, only to receive a massive windfall; but now the word’s out – will parents up and down the country be staging ever more desperate ‘situations’ to garner the YouTube pound?
Is it possible that kids may be put in danger? When money’s tight, as it is for most families at the moment, people go to extreme measures.
Or is this judgment prudish and way-off-the-mark? Am I coming over all Daily Mail, I mean what’s wrong with a bit of innocent fun? And any extra source of income these days is welcome, the vid of Micah laughing at his Dad’s rejection letter being the perfect example.
If five minutes of running round the kitchen in a clown costume means mum and dad can buy new shoes and decent food for the month, maybe it’s not such a bad thing.
Still though, one particular clip makes me uneasy – a little boy coming round from the dentist’s anesthetic asking if this is real life and telling his dad he’s got four eyes. 100 million people watched the clip generating £100,000.
Is it all a bit of fun, or child exploitation… what do you think? Join the debate. 
Wow I had no idea people had the potential to make so much money from YouTube! I think there are so many shades of grey in this discussion… thanks for raising the issue.
Wow! So how exactly do they make this money? Is it through royalties when it’s shared on other sites? Yeah, it does kinda hit me the wrong way unless it’s innocent fun like the 2 above examples.
It’s a bit worrying. Children don’t have the power to complain. I’m sure it will get abused by some people.
Don’t think many people would turn down the money though.
True, I think you hit the nail on the head Rebecca, the main problem is that children don’t have the power to complain.