Fifth-grader starts YouTube channel

While many students have been finding ways to pass “quaran-time” doing things like reading, watching Netflix, playing video games, and sleeping, fifth grader Delaney Lockwood has found an especially creative way to spend her time: creating and uploading videos to her YouTube channel, “We B Bored.”

The very first video, titled “D does Mom’s makeup,” was uploaded on March 21, 2020, at the beginning of quarantine. Since then, Delaney has uploaded eight more videos, with the most recent video added April 11. Her videos, she says, are meant to make people smile.

“I enjoy making people laugh and smile. It just brightens my day when someone says it made them laugh,” Lockwood said. 

Lockwood’s video-making process involves several steps, the first being a brainstorm to come up with an idea for a video.

“First I think about what I want to do, and then I start asking myself questions like ‘Has anyone done that before?’ ‘Is it original?’ I look up what I have thought of and if I find a video, I’ll either think of something new, or see how different my idea could be from theirs,” Lockwood explained.

After she comes up with an idea, Lockwood figures out the script, setup, and any costumes needed. Filming comes next, with either Lockwood or her mom doing the actual filming, depending on who is in the shot. While she edits, Lockwood sometimes decides she needs to re-film certain parts.  

The more recent videos that have been uploaded to her channel have been quarantine and online school related. However, creating these videos has been no easy task. To make content for her YouTube channel, Lockwood has learned how to edit videos on her own. In her most recent video, “Moms of Quarantine,” Lockwood learned how to add music into the video during the editing process.

“I thought it would be funny to add music, so I had to figure it out. Three weeks before starting to edit, I could not do music; no matter how hard I tried it just sounded really bad… that was a challenge I have overcome,” she said.  

This kind of problem-solving is just one of the many skills Lockwood has gained from working on her YouTube channel, and her mom has noticed: “I really like seeing her commit to something and doing all the steps and following through with it. It has actually really helped her with time management, which I think at her age is important to start learning…Sometimes she really wants to make sure she gets it [a video clip] cut at a certain point and she will work and work and redo it until she gets it. That persistence and attention to the little things is definitely beneficial,” Lockwood’s mom said.

The extensive time at home that quarantine has forced everyone into has given Lockwood the time to start her channel, something she may not have otherwise been able to do.

“It is helping me start off because I have more time to figure out things like different editing tools,” Lockwood, who plans to continue making videos after quarantine ends, said. 

So, to all the students out there who are bored and bummed sitting at home all day, look to fifth-grader Delaney Lockwood, who is choosing to make the best of the situation: “We got bored, so that’s why I started making YouTube videos – to entertain myself. I love making people laugh. My message is that you can always find light in anything.” 

To check out Lockwood’s channel, click here.