Common Sense Media Review
By Susan Yudt
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Video site from Vice is too graphic for teens.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 18+?
Any Positive Content?
What's It About?
Vice began as an underground magazine and has evolved into a far-reaching media company. Its latest offering, the online broadcast network VBS.TV, embodies all the buzzwords of the Vice brand: hip, controversial, offensive, and shocking. With Spike Jonze as its creative director, the site features 40 shows of original content about art and music, news, travel, and extreme sports, as well as quirky offerings like "The Cute Show" (think kitties, bunnies, and cupcakes). There's also a lot of adult content.
Is It Any Good?
Parents will probably not want their teens anywhere near VBS.tv because of content like "The Vice Guide to Sex," which ventures into very disturbing terrority -- like bestiality. It's a shame, because some the investigative pieces are fantastic -- like the environmental exposs "Toxic" and "The Vice Guide to North Korea," a 14-episode documentary that goes inside the notoriously press-shy nation. Too bad there's no VBS Jr.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about which shows on the site look interesting. Why do you think the site mixes lighthearted shows about cute animals with ones about dark topics like war, prostitution, and drugs? What audience do you think this site is trying to reach? How is violence in news stories or documentaries different from violence in TV shows or movies?
Website Details
- Genre : Video Sites
- Pricing structure : Free
- Last updated : August 25, 2016
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