A Parent's Guide to YouTube's Safety Features for Kids

For many parents, navigating the internet can feel like venturing into uncharted waters. Could your child stumble upon inappropriate content? Get drawn into connecting with a stranger? With Safer Internet Day on February 11, it's a great time for parents to learn more about the online spaces where their children spend time, and how to make their experiences safer.

Fortunately, YouTube has introduced features designed to make screen time secure and entertaining for younger users. Ahead, we’ll explore the options and controls available on this platform—such as YouTube Kids, Supervised Experiences and its new wellness features—so you can manage your child’s YouTube usage with confidence.

YouTube Kids: What parents need to know

YouTube Kids is a separate app designed to provide a safer and simpler viewing experience for children. Packed with tools for parents and caregivers, it empowers you to guide your child’s viewing journey and hand-pick the content they can watch.

The app lets you create a profile for your child and customize their experience based on their age. You can set screen-time limits, block specific videos or channels and even turn off the search feature to ensure your child only sees what you’ve approved. Content is organized by age group, making it easy to tailor the app to suit everyone from preschoolers to older kids.

To manage screen time, you can set limits directly within the YouTube Kids app or use the Google Family Link app for broader parental controls.

YouTube Kids is also designed with advertising mindfulness. Most ads are age-appropriate and clearly labelled, and for families seeking an ad-free experience, subscribing to YouTube Premium is an option.

How does YouTube's Supervised Experiences work?

When kids who are in their tween years feel like they have outgrown YouTube Kids but aren’t quite ready for the full version of YouTube, parents can turn to YouTube’s Supervised Experiences.

This feature allows parents to help their children watch videos safely by letting them customize what content is available. Parents can block specific channels and decide which features their kids can use.

While using supervised experiences, kids won’t be able to comment on videos, create their own channels, upload videos or make purchases. Live streams are monitored for safety, ads in certain categories are prohibited and personalized ads are turned off.

Wellness features to support mental wellbeing

YouTube offers built-in wellness tools designed to help young users balance screen time with healthy habits. These features, aimed at promoting mental well-being, are especially useful for families looking to manage viewing habits effectively.

Take a Break reminders prompt users to pause their video-watching sessions at customizable intervals. By default, this reminder activates every 60 minutes, encouraging users to step away from their screens.

Bedtime reminders help users wind down by sending alerts at specific, parent-set times. These reminders encourage viewers to stop watching videos and prepare for sleep, supporting better bedtime routines.

Both features display as full-screen takeovers, appearing across Shorts and long-form videos to ensure they’re noticed. They are globally available and remain on by default for users under 18, giving parents an extra layer of support in promoting balanced screen time habits.

FAQs

1. How do I set up parental controls on YouTube?

To set up YouTube parental controls, parents first need to download the YouTube Kids app. Once the app is downloaded, they should create a profile for their child by providing the child's name, age and birthdate.

After that, parents can choose from three content levels that match the child's age group: preschool, younger or older. To finalize the setup, parents must tap the lock icon, solve a math problem or enter a passcode and access the settings to personalize content and features like search and watch history.

2. What age is YouTube Kids For?

YouTube Kids is designed for children from preschool age up to 12 years old.

3. At what age should I let my child have access to more YouTube features?

YouTube Kids is tailored for kids who are 12 years old or younger. If parents feel that their family is ready to expand to more content, they can move into YouTube’s Supervised Experiences. This option enables parents to oversee and control the videos their children watch, helping to create a safer environment for watching online.

4. Are there any family-friendly YouTube channels to check out? 

YouTube offers a wide range of family-friendly YouTube channels for families to watch together. Some family-friendly channels to check out include 5 Minute Crafts, TedED and TheBrainScoop.

5. How does YouTube filter out inappropriate content?

YouTube provides several tools to help parents control and customize their children's viewing experiences. These include YouTube Kids, Restricted Mode, and supervised experiences for older children. Together, these tools offer parents various options to manage what their children watch, suitable for different ages and maturity levels.