How can you restrict what your child watches on YouTube?
YouTube has more than two billion monthly users, along with a wide selection of inappropriate content . Mothers regularly report terrifying YouTube videos that terrify their children, such as Huggy Wuggy, an eerie blue bear with fang-like teeth.[*]
Unfortunately, the YouTube content filters are not foolproof. Adult content that is too violent or sexual has been known to bypass YouTube’s carefully crafted algorithm. Since 80% of parents with children under the age of 11 acknowledge that their children are active viewers, it is likely that they too will encounter these videos.[*]
Restricted mode It first appeared in 2010 to tame YouTube’s younger audience. But more options have been added to YouTube parental controls over the years.
Four Ways to Set Up Parental Controls on YouTube
Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how set parental controls. controls, so your kids can enjoy a safe YouTube experience.
1. Enabling Restricted Mode
YouTube Restricted Mode is an optional setting that helps filter out adult content. When enabled, YouTube filters adult content on that specific device or browser.
There are two ways to use Restricted Mode:
- If your child shares their YouTube account, YouTube, enable Restricted Mode on your child’s device without affecting what they see on their device.
- If your kids have their own accounts, enable Restricted Mode on all their devices to block potentially lewd content.
Libraries, universities, and other public institutions often use Restricted Mode to control the content on their computers. It’s also a great option for children and young adults who are no longer eligible for supervised accounts.
📌 Note: Currently, children 13 and older in the United States are not eligible. eligible for supervised accounts. They are of legal age to manage their own accounts.
To turn on restricted mode on your children’s mobile devices:
- Open the YouTube app.
- Tap your profile photo in the upper right corner.
- Tap Settings and then tap General.
- Toggle Restricted Mode to the on position.
To turn on Restricted Mode on your children’s computers:
- Go to youtube.com.
- Click your profile icon in the upper right corner.
- Click Restricted Mode: Off.
- Toggle Enable restricted mode to the on position.
You can also lock restricted mode instead by navigating to the same area and clicking Block restricted mode in this browser. You will need to sign in to your Google account to confirm that you are making this change. The same steps apply when you unlock Restricted Mode in the future.
To activate Restricted Mode on a Smart TV:
- Open the YouTube app on your Smart TV .
- Go to the sidebar menu and scroll down to Settings.
- Navigate to Restricted Mode and click on the Activate button.
No filter is 100% accurate, as stated in the disclaimer. The good news is that this is a great first step in preventing kids from accessing inappropriate videos.
📌Note: Restricted mode is independent of age-restricted content. Age-restricted content is a setting that creators must select when uploading videos that are only suitable for viewers over the age of 18.
2. Set up supervised accounts
Supervised accounts are intended for children under the age of 13 in the United States (or the applicable age in your country). This restriction allows parents to apply content settings that limit the videos and music their children can access.
- You’ll need to create a Google account for your child before you begin. Children cannot manage their own accounts if their date of birth indicates that they are under 13 years of age.
- Once you enter your child’s date of birth, a message will ask you to connect to an account supervision within 14 years. days to avoid deactivation.
- To link your account, click My father is here, then sign in with your Google account. You can set parental controls for apps like Google Play, Chrome, YouTube, or other Android mobile apps.
Several of these parental controls are most useful for Android devices, Chromebooks, or other Google devices in general. However, supervised accounts are still effective protections on Apple devices (iPhones or iPads) and in Safari.
Supervised accounts are ideal for children and tweens
This is because There are three levels of content settings available:
- Browse: Allows children to view content appropriate for children ages 9 and up.
> allows children to view most YouTube videos, except those marked for an 18+ audience or deemed inappropriate for viewers when using supervised accounts.
This account type also restricts personalized ads, which means that the ads shown are not based on profile information. from a child’s account. Instead, YouTube will only show ads relevant to the content a child watches.
Supervised accounts also restrict various YouTube features, including access to:
- Broadcasts on vivo (with Explore setting only)
- Community Posts
- Feedback
- Create a channel and upload videos
- In-app purchases
- Other YouTube apps
To update your child’s supervised account settings, go to Families.google.com or download the Family Link parental control app.</p
📚 Related: How to Block Websites on iPhones and iPads [4 Ways] →
3. Sign up for YouTube Kids
A third option is to use YouTube Kids. The YouTube Kids app provides a supervised experience that curates fun, educational, and kid-friendly content.
YouTube Kids is a standalone app that you download to your child’s device so they can watch kid-friendly videos from creators like Blippi, Dave and Ava, Cocomelon, and other approved content.
Like supervised accounts, you’ll need to start by creating a Google Account for your child that you’ll then link to your own. Then, access your privileges and settings through the Family Link app or at Families.google.com. These settings include:
- Content level settings (more on this shortly)
- Turn search capabilities on and off
- Grant or revoke full access to YouTube Kids
Once you’ve connected their Google account to yours, you can download the YouTube Kids app on their devices and sign in with their account.
Like supervised accounts, YouTube Kids also offers three different levels of content. However, these are also aimed at younger children. You can choose between:
- Preschool: educational content intended for children under four years of age.
- Kids: Content Age-appropriately selected for ages 5-8.
- Older: Age-restricted content for ages 9-12.
Again, Google and YouTube communicate about how their filters don’t always exclude adult content. Inappropriate videos for a selected age range may occasionally go unnoticed.
Report any content you deem inappropriate or turn off search so your kids can only see vetted content.
With YouTube Kids, there’s one last level of content that gives your child access to only handpicked and personally approved content: Approved content only.
To turn this on, follow these Steps:
- Open the YouTube Kids app on your child’s device.
- Tap the lock icon in the bottom corner of the app.
- Complete the multiplication problem or enter a custom passcode if you have one set.
- Then tap Settings and select your child’s profile.
- Tap Edit Settings in the Content Settings box.
- Click the So approved content.
- Tap Add or Remove Videos in the Content Settings box.
- Add collections, channels, or individual videos that you approve before you tap Done.
📚 Related: Internet Safety Tips for Kids
Follow these steps to dismiss content:
- Open your child’s YouTube or YouTube Kids app.
- Swipe across the home screen to view which videos are recommended.
- Tap the More icon (three vertical dots) next to any video you want to dismiss.
- Tap Not interested
- Optional: Tap Tell us why to choose from the I already watched the video options or I don’t like the video.
strong> to remove the video from your recommendations.
You can also tap Do not recommend channel in that same menu if you want to exclude that channel from future recommendations .
This process is useful if your child’s search settings are completely disabled. You can further dictate the content they can see by removing specific videos from their feed, so those videos don’t show up accidentally.
And as your kids get older, reset their Not Interested > comments to allow new suggestions. Go to the My Activity tab in your account settings, click Other Google Activity, and then click Delete under >YouTube Not interested in comments.
📚 Related: How to Block Websites on Android Devices (7 Methods) →
You can’t look over their shoulders all the time. Aura can help
The goal of parental controls is not to over-monitor what children see. You just want to make sure they only see age-appropriate content and avoid potentially traumatic or harmful experiences.
Start by having conversations with your kids about how there are websites, videos, and other content on the Internet that is simply not age appropriate. Talk about how they can watch this content when they grow up.
While YouTube parental controls are a great start for an app, Aura can help with universal content filters and screen time limits. No matter what website, social networking site or app your kids access, they can only see content that you approve.
- Customize what kids watch online: Easily select apps, games, and websites to limit or restrict entirely. Aura parental controls work with Apple iPhones and iPads (iOS 13 or later), as well as Android mobile devices (Android 9.0 or later).
- Set time limits for apps and sites web: Create different app limits, website categories, and a daily time limit for each child in your household.
- Stop in-app messaging – If apps like Snapchat or Instagram are blocked Using Aura’s content filters, you won’t be sending or receiving messages from these apps.
- Stay safe from malware, spyware, ransomware, and more: Aura antivirus software automatically detects and isolates such threats to protect your devices.
- Browse safely with a built-in Virtual Private Network (VPN): Protect your data from malicious websites, especially when you (or your children) use Wifi. Aura also prevents your family from entering phishing sites that can steal information.
Choose tutoring over monitoring. Try Aura parental controls today. →
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