The time kids spend online has increased and the YouTube platform has become a favorite form of entertainment for many kids. Unfortunately, there are numerous dangers involved in allowing kids to access YouTube, including adult content and rude comments left on videos. Without any type of parental controls in place, parents find themselves having to with young kids to access and play the videos for them. We want to keep our young youtube lovers safe!
YouTube has a separate app called YouTube Kids to make it easier for parents to monitor the viewership of young YouTubers. When kids outgrow that platform, a system of tiered levels of parental controls can be applied to the main YouTube app to filter content.
A separate YouTube for kids
The new YouTube Kids platform is available at youtubekids.com or by app download and allows parents less oversight to control what their child is viewing. Parents set up the account by selecting one of three tiers for their child to access, and the content of the main YouTube app is not accessible. The categories of age-appropriate content are divided into Preschool (ages 4 and under), Younger (ages 5-7) or Older (ages 8-12).
Parental controls for older kids
The three levels of parental controls for the main YouTube app helps gradually give kids more governance over what they choose to view. In this system, YouTube is accessed by a Google account managed by parents, who assign an appropriate level of access to the account.
The three levels include:
- Explore: Contains videos selected for kids age 9 and up.
- Explore More: Contains videos appropriate for kids that are ages 13 and up
- Most of YouTube: Includes almost all content for older teens, except age-restricted content
Even with parental controls in place, you should continue to monitor how long your kids spend online and what type of content they are viewing. To learn more about managed accounts, visit youtube.com/myfamily/.
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