Do you have kids who are too old for the YouTube Kids app but still young to get complete access?
Kids are online all the time. It makes their safety online a top priority. That’s why YouTube improves its age-appropriate experiences.
New Options for Parents
YouTube introduced new options for parents who have tweens and teens. These options will allow parents to set up a YouTube account for their tweens and teens that offer more freedom than what YouTube Kids can offer.
Although supervised experiences can offer more content for tweens and teens, they still have limited access to YouTube content.
It’s not the same as YouTube Kids, which launched in 2015. This app allows parents an option to allow kids to watch limited content.
But the supervised accounts are for kids who are too old for the dedicated YouTube Kids app.
In the announcement, YouTube said that children are curious. They want more independence. They also like to explore new ways to learn and create.
The company invested in tools that protect families and kids who are watching YouTube. With the recent announcement, parents have new options for their kids who wish to explore the said app with a supervised account.
YouTube is a platform for individuals who are over 13 years old.
If kids are watching, parents must co-watch. The app recognized that tweens and teens need a different experience.
They want more autonomy. That’s why this new parental control allows teens and tweens to watch appropriate content.
What Kind of Content is Available?
Youtube didn’t announce exactly what kind of content is available for supervised experiences. However, it assures that it will have tutorials, gaming videos, news, music clips, and many more.
Parents can choose from three levels of controls. The Explore level has content suitable for 9 years old and up.
The Explore More, on the other hand, is designed for kids 13 and up.
The “Most of YouTube” level will have everything except content labeled age-restricted.
People over 13 years can make their own YouTube accounts that aren’t supervised.
The new feature will still rely on human review, user input, and machine learning. In that case, it’s not perfect and YouTube admits it. Mistakes can still happen, just like with the Kids app.
In that case, parents need to be vigilant by constantly checking the settings.
YouTube has been consulting with experts to help the company in creating new features and developing new policies.
The new education resources will improve awareness while building safer and better Internet for all of us.
“We understand the importance of striking a balance between empowering tweens and teens to more safely gain independence, while offering parents ways to set controls. In addition to choosing the content setting, parents will be able to manage watch and search history from within their child’s account settings. Parents can also use other controls offered by Google’s Family Link, including screen timers. We’ll continue adding new parental controls over time, such as blocking content.”
YouTube
Despite these features and restrictions, YouTube is still a dangerous place for kids as it allows misinformation and conspiracy videos.
