5 preventive measures to keep your child safe on YouTube

YouTube’s worldwide popularity among kids is undeniable. The app can be used to educate children, to help them pass the time while waiting or on long travels or to develop their creativity, but there are still some dangers that parents should consider. Explicit content, misinformation and cyber-bullying are not rare on YouTube. How can you prevent these issues from affecting your child? 

1) Talk, listen, and explain

Your approach towards YouTube will probably have to adjust according to your child’s age. While younger children need thorough and attentive monitoring, older kids may require more freedom of choice. However, no matter your child’s age, it is beneficial to openly communicate your views while listening to your child’s wishes. You may explain your worries to your child and tell them why you think they should avoid specific types of videos. Take into account the various issues that can be associated with different types of content: unboxing videos may support your child’s urge to buy a uselessly large number of toys, some videos may capture video games that contain violence, YouTube challenges may be dangerous for your child… On the other hand, be willing to learn what your child watches online and let them explain the appeal of their favourite content to you. Then, adapt your rules to manage the different possible risks.  

Ask your child questions: What do you like to see on YouTube? When do they spend time on the app? Talk with them about YouTube and try to understand why they find certain content amusing or exciting. Understanding your child’s desires may make it easier for you to create rules that they will be willing to oblige to. 

Psychologist Jarmila Tomková also adds that younger children may appreciate your supervision: “Don’t be afraid to oversee your child’s behaviour on YouTube. You don’t have to do it behind their back, openly explain your protective actions and motivations. Young kids may appreciate being monitored – it calms them, and they see it as a sign that you care for their well-being.” Finally, don’t forget to discuss commenting as well: your children should not leave any hateful comments online or even react to any such comments they may encounter. If they would, for instance, try to protect their favourite influencer, they may receive more hateful responses, which could be difficult to process at their age. When your child encounters hateful or disturbing comments online, could you encourage them to come to you? Together, you can react to the situation by reporting the comments. This helps your child to respond to unpleasant situations without feeling burdened by having to solve them all alone. You can also use these moments to discuss your child’s emotions and offer your support.

What do children usually watch on YouTube?

• Let’s Plays: usually live narration of players playing video games; Minecraft is especially popular among younger children
• Unboxings: videos that capture users opening different types of goods, such as games, toys or collectables
• Makeup and Fashion: some popular formats include hauls (videos of users presenting their new clothes, makeup, accessories, etc.), Get Ready With Me videos (showing users preparing their outfits or putting on makeup), daily routines or tutorials
• Arts and crafts: many YouTube videos can be used to develop viewers’ creative skills, including painting, drawing, crocheting, photography, etc.
• Vlogs: some users produce video blogs that capture their regular daily activities or their opinions on specific topics
• Fun channels: these contain parodies, challenges, skits or even videos capturing users reacting to funny content
• Cartoons: there are channels dedicated to this type of content, such as Animated Cartoons for Children by Dreamworks animation
• Educational channels: YouTube can benefit your child’s learning; some popular educational channels include Khan Academy Kids, Bright Side, or Kid’s Learning Tube

2) Use restricted YouTube and YouTube Kids

YouTube has previously stated that the platform is not intended for users under 13. In their attempts to protect young viewers from explicit content, the restricted version of YouTube is the default for any users under 18 and those not signed into the app. Any content uploaded to YouTube must follow, but some videos may be tagged as suitable for mature audiences only due to explicit language or content. These videos should not appear in the search bar and cannot be accessed in the restricted mode. Unfortunately, YouTube’s restricted mode is not customisable, so parents cannot adjust its settings to their preferences and needs. 

In 2015, YouTube developed a separate app named YouTube Kids, which targeted mainly preschool children. Videos on this platform undergo specific inspection and can only contain topics suitable for younger audiences. Still, some accidents related to harmful content were uploaded onto the app. Parents can create accounts for their children, specify their age, filter the content, and see what their kids consume on YouTube Kids. The app offers videos suitable for the child’s age group, dividing the content into six categories.

YouTube Kids’ home screen categories

• Shows: includes kid-friendly programming from popular YouTube creators and family media networks, as well as both new and nostalgic characters
• Music: includes nursery rhymes, kid-friendly song covers, dance tutorials, and sing-alongs
• Learning: includes content to promote fun, active learning: from ABCs and 123s to science experiments and language learning
• Explore: includes content that inspires children to explore the world around them, develop new hobbies, and explore topics that interest them
• Gaming: includes content featuring kids' favourite video games and gamers; this category is only shown if you've selected the Older content setting for your child
• Shared: includes all of the channels and videos on YouTube that you’ve shared with your child; this category only shows if you’ve shared content with them from YouTube. 

Source: YouTube Kids Parental Guide, 2022

Using the YouTube Kids platform may make preventing your child from seeing inappropriate content more accessible, but monitoring your kids using the app is still advisable. 

While YouTube Kids is suitable for younger children, tweenagers (10-13) may no longer find its content appealing, yet they may still be too young to wander around the full version of YouTube without supervision. In their case, YouTube encourages parents to try their supervised experience account. This will enable parents to monitor their kids, adjust their settings and let their children start to explore YouTube more safely. There is less advertising content in the supervised experience version of YouTube, parents can adapt content settings to fit their tween’s age, and children are restricted from commenting or creating their videos. YouTube is said to be working on making self-expression on YouTube possible for teenagers in a safe, regulated way. 

3) Actively personalise the platform 

To ensure your child only watches safe content, create playlists of videos you have pre-approved. You can also disable search on YouTube Kids so your children cannot look for unapproved content alone. When you come across channels you find interesting and suitable for your child, you can subscribe to them and get early access to their new videos. Additionally, you may try pausing watch history (both on YouTube and YouTube Kids), which will stop the app’s algorithm from recommending videos to your children. However, always watching the same content can be tedious, so let your child know that you can look for them together if they want to find new channels or videos. 

4) Empower children

When you allow your child to express their thoughts and desires, they may be more willing to hear and understand your concerns. Learn about the content they want to watch and try to find reasonable solutions to their requests whenever possible. If you want to create personalised playlists for their use, you can do it with them by your side. Even giving your child some seemingly unimportant task – such as naming the playlists – can make them feel more included in creating the best YouTube environment for them. You should also teach and encourage your child to block inappropriate channels or report any videos that they find harmful or hateful, which may help them feel more in control of their own watching experience. 

5) Use a parental control app 

Apart from taking the time to monitor your child’s behaviour on YouTube and counting on the app’s ability to filter harmful content, you can opt for an intelligent helper that can aid you in protecting your children online – a parental control app. These can assist you in putting your rules into practice and making it more difficult for unsuitable content to reach your child. For instance, the ESET Parental Control App can prevent your kids from exceeding their time on YouTube or viewing inappropriate pages and videos. 

For more online safety tips...

Want to learn more about how to keep your children safe online? Visit Digital Matters, a free online learning tool developed in partnership with Internet Matters, to help both parents and teachers educate children about online safety.