It’s the place millions of kids go to watch other kids unwrap toys; where 15-year-old ‘celebrity’ gamers share videos of themselves playing; and where a baby shark became a worldwide sensation.
To kids, YouTube is unlimited entertainment, a platform constantly updating, with new channels to discover and love. But with that much content, changing so rapidly, how can you keep track of what your kids are actually viewing?
Keep an eye open
No one expects you to sit with your child and watch everything they are viewing to make sure it’s age-appropriate, but if you make a rule that YouTube can only be watched in public areas like the living room or car, you’ll be able to hear it and occasionally glance over.
If you want even more security, you could upgrade your account to the YouTube Premium family plan, which lets you view browsing history and block any accounts you’re unsure of. You can also view the number of videos being watched.
Block mature content
Turning on safety mode will stop your child from viewing mature content, so that’s a given.
But for more security, download YouTube Kids, a version of YouTube that has mature content automatically blocked.
Subscribe to the channels you like
The fastest way to get your child to not watch a video is to tell them to watch it. But if a certain channel keeps popping up on their feed, well that’s a different matter.
You can get the videos you want popping up in your child’s YouTube feed by subscribing to their channels.
Keep your little YouTuber safe
If they haven’t already started pestering you, it’s only a matter of time before watching YouTube won’t be enough and a kid will start having dreams of becoming a famous YouTuber themselves.
If your kids begin creating videos make sure they are all set to private and are categorised as unlisted in the settings. This way they can only be viewed by those you give permission to, and can’t be found in search.
