What is YouTube?
YouTube is a video sharing app bought by Google in 2006, ranked in 2018 as the second most popular
online desnaon. Over 400 hours of footage is uploaded to YouTube every minute with a huge range
of interests represented. Video’s are uploaded to the app by users onto their Channel, YouTube’s
version of a Prole, allowing other users to view, comment and vote on whether they like or dislike
the content (Upvotes and Downvotes).
As the app has a huge number of both adult and child users, there have been instances where
inappropriate content has been accessed—an example being that some videos of children’s TV
characters have been dubbed using more adult language and themes.
Do age restricons apply?
Yes, even for just watching videos according to the terms and condions—which might be quite disappoinng for our children to
hear! YouTube state in their terms and condions that anyone accessing the app should be over the age of 13 due to the personal
informaon the app will collect such as locaon, viewing habits and searches. Not all content on YouTube is appropriate for all ages.
Are there any privacy sengs/controls?
Anyone wishing to post a video has a number of opons available
to them. Videos can be posted publically meaning anyone using
YouTube can watch it (a potenal audience of over 2.5 Billion
people). You also have the opon to post an unlisted video which
allows you to share a link with family and friends rather than
allowing other users to nd it in a search. The last opon is
private which means only you will be able to see and access the
video. You also have a few opons available on how other users
can interact with your content. You can turn o comments and
up/down votes (very similar to likes on Facebook/Instagram)
A lot of children and young people are drawn to YouTube to watch their favourite “YouTubers” - an individual who regularly posts
content to their Channels. Gaming is a very popular interest so there are a huge number of YouTubers posng videos on Fortnite,
Minecra and the FIFA games. Some oer their views on fashion, make up, sports and many other interests. A number of
YouTubers are paid to adverse products by popular brands and as a result it can be dicult to tell what is an opinion and what is a
paid product endorsement. Not all are age appropriate as some YouTubers have been cricised for popularising pranks and not
considering their impressionable audience when performing outlandish stunts in public. One popular YouTuber amongst children
and teens was recently campaigned against for posng an insensive video mocking suicide.
YouTube do oer an app specically for under 13's to use called YouTube Kids. This
may or may not allow your child to watch their favourite YouTubers, depending on
how age appropriate they are. As always, discuss this with your child before
allowing them access to either version of the app. The app also comes with a mer
so you can set a maximum amount of me for them to watch videos and you have
the ability to turn o the search feature so they can only watch from approved
channels chosen by YouTube
It’s free on the app store for both Apple and Android devices
YouTube also comes with a Restricted Mode feature. This restricts
access to adult material and can give children access to a greater
selecon of appropriate videos than using the Kids app. It is not a
perfect system so there may be occasions that inappropriate or
adult themed content may be accessible but these can be reported
to YouTube who will either reclassify them or remove them
completely.
Things to think about
Age appropriate content
Manage their screen me
Want to learn more?
YouTube help:
hps://support.google.com/youtube/
Help for YouTube Kids including how to set parental controls:
hps://support.google.com/youtubekids/
More informaon for parents and carers:
hps://www.internetmaers.org/
YouTube is designed to be used by everyone so somemes some of
the videos our children may come across might be adult in nature or
just generally inappropriate. YouTube, however, will suggest videos
based on the viewing habits of the account which means that videos
watched by others may inuence what can be seen on the home page
of the app. This can also cause a problem when YouTube chooses
another video for you to watch—it guesses what you might like based
on what you have watched or searched before. Even the most
innocent viewing and searching can somemes lead to something
inappropriate being played next. The Autoplay feature can be turned
o through the app by accessing the sengs page and clicking on
Autoplay.
You can report any video on either the standard or Kids app which
breach YouTube community guidelines for content, and you also have
the opon of excluding videos when using the app by highlighng the
‘Not interested’ opon.
There is always something to watch on YouTube which can make it a never
ending viewing experience. This means that without any boundaries, our
children could very well end up spending their whole day watching the
app. To enable parents to properly manage screen me, the YouTube for
Kids app comes with a mer that you can lock with a passcode. When their
me is up, they’ll need your passcode to connue.
It’s a lile more dicult to manage me but sll easy to monitor through
the standard YouTube app. You can set the app to remind them to take a
break and the app also oers a log of how long has been spent using the
app. This can show you how much they’ve watched today, yesterday and
in the last 7 days.
It’s also worth remembering that YouTube can also be a distracon during
homework and at bedmes so consider some rules around when and
where they can access their mobile device - keeping them away from the
closed doors of bedrooms can help keep you more in control of the me
they spend on it.
If you have concerns about the immediate safety of a child, you can call Lincolnshire Police
on 101 or, in an emergency, dial 999
