A mum has urged parents to be cautious with their phones after her toddler son was left ‘uncontrollably shaken’ when he unintentionally watched a ‘disturbing’ cartoon on YouTube.
Kelly Arvan, from Victoria, said her three-and-a-half-year-old boy Kia was playing with her iPhone when he unknowingly stumbled across a ‘twisted’ scene of what was supposed to be a children’s cartoon show.
The mum-of-two said she had only turned her back for a moment when she saw her little boy drop her phone in horror.
‘I was so worried, it was extremely out of his character to react that way so I knew something was wrong instantly,’ Kelly told Daily Mail.
‘He dropped the phone and he looked at me and he was uncontrollably shaking. He was literally shaking. He couldn’t speak.’
When she went through the phone, she was disgusted by what she saw.
The gory cartoon, believed to be intended for adults only, showed a kitten being brutally shot, followed by scenes of bugs crawling out from a gaping, black hole in its stomach.
‘Oh my God. As a grown woman, as an adult, this kid’s cartoon was absolutely disturbing,’ Kelly explained.
Kelly Arvan has urged parents to be cautious with their phones after her son Kia was left ‘uncontrollably shaken’ when he unintentionally watched a ‘disturbing’ cartoon on YouTube
She said the video was truly frightening, with distressing scenes that made her feel sickened so she couldn’t imagine what little Kia was going through.
‘It was a really scary cat cartoon,’ Kelly said.
Struggling to describe the traumatic video, the horrified mum was lost for words.
‘I can’t even tell you, it’s disturbing,’ she said.
‘It’s disgusting. The things that are on the internet these days that kids can potentially have access to, lock your YouTube apps.’
Daily Mail has contacted Google, the company behind YouTube, for comment.
Kelly and her husband recently upgraded their phones so she hadn’t got around to setting up Face Lock on her iPhone when Kia started playing with it.
She said she only gives her toddler access to Netflix Kids.
‘My son isn’t allowed to watch YouTube,’ Kelly said.
‘He’s only allowed on Netflix Kids – that’s it. He’s not even allowed to watch Peppa Pig. You all know what happened there.’
The mum said little Kia was playing with her iPhone when he unknowingly stumbled across a ‘twisted’ scene of what was supposed to be a children’s cartoon show
The mum said she has since locked all the apps on her phone, making them harder for her toddler to access.
‘I have again locked all my apps on my phone so he can’t open them except for the ones I’m happy for him to,’ Kelly told Daily Mail.
‘Be aware that harmful videos are so easily accessible to kids, can happen within seconds and to ensure apps you don’t want them accessing are locked.’
Sharing her experience on her social media, the mum urged parents to lock up any apps that may be inappropriate to young kids.
‘I’m so disturbed and 100 per cent blame myself for my sweet boy seeing this gross s***,’ she said.
‘I’m always so careful but one second we don’t look, things can happen. If you’re a parent, lock your YouTube app on all devices right now.’
Her video has been viewed more than 2million times, with many parents saying they have banned their kids from watching YouTube, including YouTube Kids.
‘YouTube is banned in my house,’ one shared.
‘There is so much disturbing stuff on these apps. I was watching a YouTube Short the other day which ended up being something very similar to what you described and it scared me. YouTube kids isn’t much better either,’ another said.
‘We don’t allow any YouTube on the devices for this reason, not even YouTube Kids as it’s just as bad,’ one revealed.
Sharing her experience, the mum urged parents to lock up any apps that may be inappropriate to young kids (pictured with her toddler son Kia and baby boy Kian)
Back in July, Kelly urged parents to stop letting their kids watch Peppa Pig after she noticed Kia mimicking the TV character’s ‘bad behaviour’.
She said her three-year-old son Kia had started impulsively saying, ‘You’re not my best friend’ to everyone around him.
At first, she was confused because she didn’t know where he had picked up the catchphrase – but she asked him to stop repeating it, and he did.
A few weeks later, Kia was watching Peppa Pig when the main character suddenly blurted out, ‘You’re not my best friend anymore’ – stopping the mum in her tracks.
‘It’s insane. I have watched back episodes myself… and Peppa isn’t a good influence at all. I’m shocked,’ Kelly told Daily Mail.
The mum said she has since banned her son Kia from watching the show because she doesn’t agree with the way Peppa treats her little brother George.
‘It worries me because Peppa is really mean to her little brother. My three-year-old son Kia has a seven-month-old brother Kian and he treats him so kindly and loving so I would never want Kia to get a bad influence from Peppa,’ Kelly said.
‘It’s a great warning for other parents who are totally oblivious like I was.’