YouTube Parental Controls
Parental Controls for YouTube are essential if you are going to permit a child to access the platform. There is an incredible amount of content on YouTube, which is entirely unsuitable for children. Channels which promote, self-harm, suicide, pornography, the list is endless. Many parents have also encountered popular children's cartoons, edited and voiced over with adult content. There are also countless Gaming channels which are popular with children even though they contain very adult content, and quite often, no shortage of bad language.
While we do strongly recommend you use Content Filters, unfortunately they are not 100% successful at blocking all inappropriate content. If you are going to permit a child access to streaming content, we highly suggest that you uninstall or restrict YouTube by using the YouTube Parental Controls. Only permit younger children to use YouTube Kids. It is also better if you have viewed the content first yourself before permitting young children to view any content.
Autoplay and Up Next
Parents should disable the Autoplay feature on You Tube. This prevents the Up Next videos from loading and playing automatically. To disable the YouTube Parental Control feature, go to Settings ==> Autoplay ==> Autoplay next video. Disabling this feature ensures that only the content that has been selected is played. Our concern here arises from having no control over what content may appear next, and the Auto Played content may, or may not be child friendly.
Reming me to take a break
The migration from Terrestrial and Satellite TV is well under way. Many homes now also have Smart T.V.'s and Chromecast. Gone are the days of having to wait until next week for the latest instalment of your favourite T.V. show. But access to unlimited content brings with it, binging. The accessibility of so much You Tube content can also lead to over consumption. In an attempt to address this, You Tube has a new feature ‘Remind me to take a break'. This enables users to set their own time limit for viewing content. We strongly recommend the use of this setting. Over consumption of digital media can become problematic. Being reminded to take a break might help to foster healthier viewing habits.
To enable the feature select Account ==> Settings ==> General ==> Remind me to take a break
Restricted Mode
The content filter for You Tube is located under the Restricted Mode setting. Once enabled, Restricted Mode will prevent access to videos that may contain inappropriate content. Remember that no filter is 100% accurate. However, enabling the setting should help to avoid much of the inappropriate content.
It is also important to note, while you can enable the Restricted Mode setting while using a browser, it will only apply to that specific browser. If you enable Restricted Mode for You Tube on a digital device, don't forget that You Tube can also be accessed through a web browser. If You Tube has been restricted on one particular browser, there are numerous other web browsers available in App stores, which can be installed and used to access You Tube. This can be one method of getting around the restrictions that parents set up for You Tube.
For the PC
Restricted Mode is located at the bottom of the screen, access the options by clicking on the icon.
For the App
Select Account ==> Settings ==> General ==> Restricted Mode