YouTube, in particular, is an astoundingly popular platform with people watching 4 billion videos a day (and that\u2019s a conservative estimate). There are two more stats that give us a good idea who watches a lot of those 4 billion per day:<\/p>\n
Percentage of US Internet users aged 14-17 that use YouTube: 81.9%<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
2nd most popular search on YouTube: Minecraft (the most popular search is Music)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Unfiltered Content<\/h2>\n
What\u2019s most worrying about this is that there is very little stopping kids from watching all kinds of mature content videos on YouTube. They can as easily find and watch Adventure Time as they can clips with strong language, nudity or real life violence.<\/p>\n
Lots of Screen Time users have taken to blocking the YouTube app completely because of this. This will work for Android devices, but with most households having multiple devices available there are other avenues for kids to explore.<\/p>\n
Also there is the option of installing the Youtube Kids app<\/a> on your child\u2019s device and adding the normal Youtube app to the Screen Time Blocked Apps list. The Youtube Kids app only has content that is suitable for kids. We\u2019re testing this app at the moment and will write a separate blog post about its qualities.<\/p>\n
Parental Controls (restricted mode)<\/h2>\n
YouTube has made an attempt at adding in some parental controls<\/a> to their site to help filter unsafe content including turning off comments. You\u2019ll see why I said \u2018attempt\u2019 later on (they\u2019re not foolproof or extensive enough), but there are families out there that will find them useful.<\/p>\n
How to enable restricted mode in the YouTube Android app<\/h3>\n