Name: Shark, LifeOfShark, and Shark Attack

Ages 2-5: Not suggested

Ages 6-10: Set boundaries with channels depending on the content: that is, with supervision and conversation. 

Ages 11-13: Same as ages 6-10

Ages 14+: Depending on your child’s maturity, by these ages, they might be fine to watch and understand what is real (some of the gaming hacks) and what is performance (pretty much everything else). It’s worth your time to stay up to date on the videos in case it veers into more mature content as Shark gets older. As of this article’s publishing date, he is 22. 

Categories (with links): 

• Gamers/Gaming
• Playthroughs
• Roleplaying
• Pranks/Trolling
• “IRL” Games
• Reactions

Origin Story: Shark started his YouTube career at nine when he met a YouTube idol Toboscua (TobyGames) and shared that moment with the world. His real name is Andrew Smith, and he lives in Canada.

Channels

Summary

• multiple channels
• high-energy playthroughs 
• heavily edited challenges, like “Testing 100 Minecraft Scary builds in 24 Hours”
• Shark’s main channel is sometimes useful for gaming tips
• Role-playing gaming* can be fun

Shark ✪✪✪

• His main channel, which was renamed Shark from his original “09sharkboy,” mostly does show interesting ways to play Minecraft. When he’s by himself, he brings us through pretty entertaining hacks and teaches coding inside the game.
• The problem is that every second or third video is pranking or trolling his friends, so watch those closely or make a playlist they can watch. 
• If I was better at Minecraft, I could see myself learning about the game from him, and I know my kids have picked up their controllers to try things out while watching Shark’s channel. He often gets into how to add coding and where to find codes to enhance your game, which I always appreciate. 
• His screengrabs move very quickly, and that can get annoying, but it matches his style: breakneck nerdery inside of the game.

LifeOfShark ✪

• Maybe you steer clear of LifeOfShark’s purely dumb clickbait, or allow it once in a while.
• Plus, once Shark’s friends join him, his content becomes a mess. It’s probably a fun way to hang out with your friends in real life, but his friend Kevin doesn’t seem to add much value to the game except for loud exclamations and annoying facial expressions. 
• Take the opportunity to talk through some emotional language and get as specific about how they would label Shark and his friends’ behaviors as you can. 
• They sometimes caption their videos, but words are misspelled more than once in the videos I watched. 

SharkAttack ✪

• mostly reaction videos to TikTok pranks and has very little value, to be honest. It also opens up the TikTok floodgates (if you’re lucky or diligent enough that they haven’t seen that app). 
• Most of what he’s watching involves pranking or people generally not being nice to one another, which the kids will probably try to emulate.

Can this channel be watched unsupervised?

TLDR: No

• Keep a close eye or ear on his videos.
  • The content on his main channel is generally family-friendly, often priding itself on not having any curse words.
  • His other channels are not as diligent with no cursing, although they rarely venture into actual swears. 
• Young viewers may think that the obnoxious reactions his friends make are funny or cool. 
• It’s easy for kids to mimic what they say and how they act without knowing what it means. 

Algorithm Check

• YouTube will suggest Shark’s other channels and his friends, so staying on just his main channel isn’t always possible. 
• His LifeOfShark channel is pure clickbait and fairly obnoxious. Samples are below.
• He also has TikTok Reaction videos. Most of the TikTok he reacts to is harmless but taken from the dumb parts of TikTok. 

*Role-playing in video games is almost exactly what it sounds like. According to the 2021 article “RPG Guide: 6 Types of Role-Playing Games” on Masterclass.com:

Role-playing games (or RPGs) are video games where players engage with the gameworld through characters who have backstories and existing motivations. The RPG genre often includes NPCs (non-player characters), side quests, downloadable content (dlc), and larger story arcs. 

READ MORE: Teach Kids to Be YouTube Smart

Image Credit: Shark channels

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