STOP THE PRESSES: The Pew Research Center survey shows that 85 percent of U.S. teens, ages 13 to 17, use YouTube.
Most people know that YouTube is a place to upload and share videos. There are many great resources for educational videos which have been widely used since Covid-19 closed the schools across the country.
The challenge as parents or grandparents is that inappropriate content can creep into kids and teen content so it is always wise to watch YouTube with your kids to be sure what they have selected is appropriate.
A teen can create and post any content on YouTube without your knowledge which may be simply a creative outlet, yet it can put them at risk. Simple peer pressure or moments of immaturity to share information could make them vulnerable to bullying, predators or online harassers. Be familiar with the influencers your teen likes to watch, review some of the videos to see if the content is offensive. Be sure that any videos that your teen uploads are saved as private. You can review the videos and allow your teen to share them via their Google Circle to a specific group.
Parents should be cautious about videos that start out seemingly harmless, but have offensive content buried in the middle of the video, so watching the first few minutes isn’t always enough when it comes to keeping your teens safe.
YouTube does offer a filter known as "Restricted Mode" which will limit the questionable videos. Go to your account settings page on your child's or teen's device and toggle on Restricted Mode at the bottom of the page. The YouTube app offers some additional settings that will remind a child or yourself to take a break from the app.
Steps you can take for your child/teen's safety:
Manage screen time from the iPhone Screen Time Settings or on the Android use the Digital Wellbeing Tool.
In YouTube, you can look at the Graphing Feature to see how much time they are spending in the app and setup reminders to take a break.
Help choose the channels that they like and you approve, then subscribe to that channel. By subscribing to a channel they will be notified of a new video when it is release.
Lingo to Know:
YouTubers: a person who creates and uploads videos on theYouTube online video sharing service. The popular YouTubers are known as Influencers and who have a large fan base. Most YouTubers are in the business of making and uploading videos for money. A YouTuber is paid around $3-5 per every 1000 video views. It is becoming a popular way to make extra money.
Examples of popular YouTubers:
Perfect Dude (Sports)
Kids Diana Show
Ryan's World (Child Unboxer)
Bethany Mota (a positive role model and popular with girls)
Joey Graceffa ( a popular gamer and blogger)
YouTube Unboxing:
These are very popular with kids, you need to be aware that not all unboxing videos are age-appropriate. Unboxers have the job of building excitement about new products and their cool features. Some companies send toys or products before their release to the most viewed Unboxers on YouTube. Ryan Toy Reviews - is a five year old who has made millions unboxing toys and reviewing them on YouTube. You can imagine how young children would love watching him on YouTube.
YouTube is also a great place to find a video on anything you want to know. Cooking, Photography, Plants, Smart Devices, if you want to know about it...just search on YouTube and you will find something interesting for you to learn! You might even find me in the next month or so!
YouTubeKids was created by Google with fun features and cool videos for young children. It is a mostly safe, but you will notice a tremendous number of ads targeted for kid products. For more detailed information check out this link YouTubeKids