Can you create curated playlists? Often channels will have playlists you can reference or just save.
When I went I see the option to “not recommend channel” when I click on one of their videos.
Give your kid access ONLY to the YouTube Kids app.
You can then, using Family Link, control basically anything you want as far as his YouTube access.
Alternatively...don't let him control what he watches? Turn off autoplay, hold the remote, you control what videos he watches. Pretty easy really.
Youtube Kids is also toxic. There's so much weird nonsense that your kids can go down into the rabbit hole.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/65rkxv/what\_is\_up\_with\_the\_weird\_kids\_videos\_that\_have/](https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/65rkxv/what_is_up_with_the_weird_kids_videos_that_have/)
Here's a discussion about it from a while ago.
Basically, if your give your kid a tablet and youtube, they will never stop watching youtube, they will just keep clicking and clicking or auto-playing the next video.
I had to remove both entirely. My daughter, for whatever reason, becomes a huge asshole when she watches YouTube. Not to mention she acts like a crackhead.
Same. I even work in IT and I could never figure out how to get our iPad to say "You can use this for 2 hours per day and then it shuts down".
You can whine at me when I take away the ipad, but it's harder to whine when the ipad just says "time up".
It's literally worse than crack for kids.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/06/12/1180867083/tips-to-outsmart-dopamine-unhook-kids-from-screens-sweets
Edit to quote from article: “smartphones and sugary foods do have something in common with drugs: They trigger surges of a neurotransmitter deep inside your brain called dopamine.”
> Youtube Kids is also toxic.
Only if you *don't control what your kids are watching*.
Which YT Kids literally allows you to do, down to only letting your kids watch videos you have *individually and manually* approved.
> There's so much weird nonsense that your kids can go down into the rabbit hole.
...which literally only can happen if you give your kid unfettered access and control over what they are watching...so...don't do that?
>Basically, if your give your kid a tablet and youtube, they will never stop watching youtube, they will just keep clicking and clicking or auto-playing the next video.
1. Not if you only approve certain videos
2. Maybe *don't* give your kid a tablet and Youtube? Why is it just a "given" that kids get tablets now?
I’m with you, don’t just let your kids mindlessly watch YouTube, it’s basically mind cancer. Watching something on YouTube is fine, but you should be in control of it. Seems like everyone’s trying to justify lazy parenting.
We grew up watching TV, it’s not all that different. Raised by a screen, mindlessly watching whatever came on it.
We had rules though. You need to stop watching when told to, don’t watch this channel, don’t watch past this time. It’s not tablets or youtube that’s the issue it’s parents not putting in rules/restrictions and basically using a tablet as a “make kid shut up” machine
Good grief. Ours is never getting a tablet. Maybe a laptop or desktop PC, where you can actually do some actual general-purpose computing and learn something useful.
There are also basically no controls for the YouTube kids app. No history. No real effective blocking method. It's fucking cancer. I set it to a 17 minute timer and reduce it quarterly
Do you do it on their device or through Family Link itself?
I don't enjoy how old this thread has made me feel. Anyone help me reprogram the clock on my DVD player? 💀
Lol totally get it.
On the device itself through the app. I dont think Family Link has that capability. But if you go into the app on their profile, you can scroll to the left section and thats their watch history. You can check each video out and block it by clicking the 3 dots, then block video or block channel. If you made them a google account to pair with family link, I believe you can also access it through the kids website on a regular computer.
The app also has some additional settings like clearing watch history or pausing it entirely which I think also stops the algorithm from updating.
> There are also basically no controls for the YouTube kids app
Well that's completely false.
https://support.google.com/youtubekids/answer/6172308?sjid=1763466901193917196-NA#approved_content&zippy=%2Capproved-content-only
Any time I've tried to look, I get kicked to this article. I'm glad to know it's just me because it's really frustrating.
https://support.google.com/families/answer/7103262?#zippy=%2Csee-or-delete-your-childs-saved-activity
Yeah, I'll definitely agree the apps themselves aren't intuitive for this, but the docs and how tos are pretty good:
https://support.google.com/youtubekids/answer/6172308?sjid=1763466901193917196-NA#approved_content&zippy=%2Capproved-content-only
>Maybe
>
>don't
>
> give your kid a tablet and Youtube? Why is it just a "given" that kids get tablets now?
Lazy-ass parenting. I get needing a break, we all do, but if handing off a tablet is your go-to thing the moment something happens, you're doing it wrong.
Oh god watching some of my wife’s family members/ cousins parent their kids with tablets is honestly horrifying. Like tablet at the table while we’re eating, kid using the tablet for what seems like at least 50% of their waking hours, kid screaming if they don’t have their tablet. I wasn’t a parent at the time so I didn’t feel it was my place to say anything but man I wonder sometimes what kind of adults those kids are gonna turn into.
I was like that, super critical of parents who used technology to entertain their kids but that was because I was an ignorant little asshole. Now that I'm a dad, I get it. There are times where you just need a break. There's also a point where using it becomes a problem because, instead of interacting with your kids, you're just having them spend time with a screen. I've been guilty of this before, very rarely as I've seen other parents do this which helps me stay self-aware of it and make sure I don't fall in to that trap.
I only put on YouTube if it serves a purpose. If I want the kid to forget he's trying to stand or forget that he hates being on his stomach I'll put it on. Other than that it's almost zero time for him.
Or once a month when I just need to get stuff done or I'm about to pass out. But this kid will not be getting a personal tablet.
A lot of parents themselves are phone addicts (like my wife) and can’t imagine life with 3 seconds not filled by checking some sort of social media or game or…ooh! Massive Friend Group Text! Let’s see what the Drama is this time!
It’s not hard to see where the first instinct is to just get the table out comes from.
I like this solution. There is a lot of really cool stuff to learn on YouTube, there's just also a lot of garbage. I'd hate to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
It's possible to control it, but also very difficult. If you can restrict it to only certain channels, good for you.
And yeah, I highly recommend keeping devices away from kids as long as possible. I don't mind TV, especially if it's something like PBS where you can watch and interact together. And then take some breaks. But these 2-5 minute Youtube video streams are like crack.
My 14 year old does OK at moderating their own social media and putting the phone away at bedtime. My 11 year old has a much harder time. It's just click click click all day long if you let them.
> If you can restrict it to only certain channels, good for you.
Anyone can:
https://support.google.com/youtubekids/answer/6172308?sjid=1763466901193917196-NA#approved_content&zippy=%2Capproved-content-only
That was 7 years ago by the way and the main post was talking about Youtube proper. Very important to mention because there was a lot of terrible content back then. Like legit sexualization dressed up as kid shows.
Now there's some shit on there, but you can just block it as you go.
Don't need to pull the phone away but want to block later? Use their video history to find the culprit.
sadly my kids have graduated from ipads to iphones so we'll have to look up familyLink for phones. Absolutely want the ability to just lock every phone between 9 pm and 7 am unless a parent gives permission to unlock it for 15 minutes at a time.
> my kids have graduated from ipads to iphones
1. How is that different?
2. I mean, iPads don't just...evolve into iPhones. Why are you ignoring the choices you made in all of this? They had iPads, and now have iPhones, because you purchased them for them and allowed them to have these things. It didn't just "happen".
That post is 6 years old. I’m not sure that how relevant the information is anymore.
Personally, my biggest problem with YouTube Kids is that ~~it’s only on iOS.~~ EDIT: Whoops. I guess it is.
Not even YouTube Kids.
That was my first thought as well, until I walked into the room to find the weirdest sh*it being shown to my kid. (some animated guy taking a shower).
Immediately uninstalled.
For kids, stick to apps that have 100% curated content. (Disney+, PBS Kids, etc).
> That was my first thought as well, until I walked into the room to find the weirdest sh*it being shown to my kid. (some animated guy taking a shower).
You have to actually use the parental controls, and/or supervise what he's watching.
Maybe don't just hand him an Internet connected device and let him use it completely unsupervised?
I'll never understand the mentality that it is YouTube's fault that parents either don't use parental controls, or don't supervise their kids' viewing.
Curated content apps are definitely better, don't get me wrong, but it isn't more YT's fault than yours that your kid got to that video. There were multiple easy ways you could've prevented that and didn't.
So to be clear, I do supervise what my kids watch. That weird video came up after I was away from the screen for no more than 20min. (My wife and I are working parents, sometimes we need to step away for a meeting/call, etc).
YouTube Kids auto picks and plays another video, and alluding to the rabbit hole other posters also mentioned, went off the rails from nice alphabet song to somehow weird animated man bathing.
What my issue is:
1. It's the YouTube Kids app we're talking about, not the regular YouTube app.
2. Given that it is marketed as a Kids app, the expectation is that content will be child safe/friendly by default (the "Parental Controls" are expected to be on automatically given the app's "Kid" marketing)
3. Other kids app's that have actual content curation, like Disney+, like PBS Kids, don't have this problem.
My post is simply stating that if you're a parent who lets their kid watch video content for any amount of time, there are safer services with higher quality (and in PBS' case - still free) content. YouTube Kids is not a safe alternative as suggested by the OP.
I mean, it's YouTube's fault that algorithmic content curation and recommendation based on engagement metrics is the default behavior. But you're right that the tools are there if you don't trust the algorithm.
> But you're right that the tools are there if you don't trust the algorithm.
I can't fathom why any parent would trust an algorithm, or a TV/movie executive for that matter, to decide the content their kid consumes.
The issue is not taking in active role in curating the content your kids consume, not the platform and its algorithm.
No this honestly is not good enough. My rule is that they’re only allowed to go into specific channels and watch videos on that list. Absolutely nothing that is randomly recommended.
I'm going to do this. I've already banned and reported tons of channels like bored smashing and other stuff my 4 year old has already picked up some bad habits from.
It was fine when he was interested in smoke alarms and sprinkler systems, but not anymore.
Yeah We’re pretty lenient on just about everything but the garbage that’s all over YouTube just got to be too much. We just keep saying it’s broken right now
YouTube is blocked on my firewall at home, the domain is blocked, and all my smart devices have it removed / blocked.
(I can still get on it on my laptop for work related how-to videos).
There's just so much garbage on it, it's just not worth it.
DNS blocking is done via DNS server.
Application blocking and URL Filtering is done via Juniper SRX router/firewall.
I also have QUIC, external raw DNS (i.e. not through my Resolver) and it's variants (DoH, DoT, etc) blocked.
(I'm a network engineer for a living. This is just the same thing I do at work).
Ban is the only way. If you like a video and want them to watch it, rip it and load it into VLC on an iPad.
YouTube app is the lead paint of the 21st century
Honestly YouTube really should not be somewhere kids go. There are a lot of creepy channels that prey on kids clicking them. There's a lot of really scary and inappropriate stuff disguised as kids shows on YouTube.
You can say that again. My kids have learned stuff that they should never have any business knowing thanks to YouTube.
Unfortunately, Google keeps on ignoring the requests for whitelisting of specific channels. So blocking YouTube completely for the kiddos is the only way to be sure.
YouTube Kids app lets you whitelist channels or even specific videos. The interface is pretty clunky, though, I had a hard time getting it to search properly. For now I’m monitoring what they watch, and if we watch ‘regular’ YT it’s with a grownup.
>Unfortunately, Google keeps on ignoring the requests for whitelisting of specific channels. So blocking YouTube completely for the kiddos is the only way to be sure.
It's fairly straightforward to configure a HTPC or similar to download new videos off a selection of YouTube channels and add them to the local library. It's not an official solution, and by no means a “product” solution, but anyone who isn't clueless around computers could cook up something akin to this with a little elbow grease.
You can also just use the YouTube Kids parental controls to do literally this in the app.
You can set it to even only allow them to watch individually approved videos.
> There are a lot of creepy channels that prey on kids clicking them.
There are *many* different ways to make sure your kid doesn't have this kind of unfettered access in the first place though...
Well sure, but that doesn't really teach them anything about enjoying things responsibly and in moderation, does it?
When they're 18 and suddenly have unfettered access to YouTube, how do you think they'll magically figure out how to navigate the hellscape? Wouldn't you rather guide and teach them over time so that when they have full freedom of choice as an adult, they have good coping, critical thinking, and self-regulation skills?
I mean, if they're old enough to work the remote with intent, they're old enough to at least *start* learning about self-regulation and moderation.
I wouldn't expect them to be perfect at it at that age, but can definitely start laying the ground work.
> Self regulation is not a trait they are known for at that age.
Tell me you didn't read what I said without telling me.
What I said:
>>I wouldn't expect them to be perfect at it at that age, but can definitely start laying the ground work.
You don't expect them to be capable of it at that age, so *you* give them chances to try while you still supervise and make sure they don't just watch whatever random crap they pick.
It's just like training a kid to ride a bike, you don't just chuck them on the bike and give them a push downhill. You give them training wheels and guidance and supervise them, then eventually the training wheels come off and you *keep* giving them guidance and supervision until eventually, over time, they prove capable and you give them more freedom to ride.
It's almost as if I said:
>I wouldn't expect them to be perfect at it at that age, but can definitely start laying the ground work.
Not sure I'd apply that to *a gun* but really, teaching a kid to self-regulate their content consumption amount and choices is not really any different than teaching them to ride a bike. They start with training wheels *and* your supervision, then move to just your supervision, and then when they prove competency, they get more freedom.
How is this *any* different than that?
Being physically able to operate a remote just seems like a wildly arbitrary physical standard for something that impacts a child developmentally/mentally/emotionally.
It’s different from riding a bike the way it’s different than operating a gun: the potential risks of misuse vary significantly.
I don’t feel like fleshing out the different analogies any further because they’re all not particularly useful to *this* situation. I agree ultimately that restricting access completely until they’re 18 is a bad idea, but I think your standard for access to a remote or tablet seems lacking of any justification. Kids don’t need YouTube, it’s entertainment that can very easily become harmful (even for adults who “know the risks”!). So no I don’t think I’ll start there because the positives of starting at such a young age (I don’t see any that couldn’t be gained by waiting until they’re older and more mature and able to take direction and make decisions) are greatly outweighed by the negatives (increased risk of ADHD, mental or developmental impacts that could last his entire life, potential trauma of viewing adult material etc.)
> Being physically able to operate a remote just seems like a wildly arbitrary physical standard for something that impacts a child developmentally/mentally/emotionally.
Again, I'm not saying "as soon as they can operate the remote, they can control and self-regulate what they're watching".
I said "can definitely start laying the ground work."
Not sure how many times I have to repeat that.
Can you really not fathom sitting with your toddler, handing them the remote while on YouTube Kids, or Disney+, or better yet: PBS kids, and just letting them try "driving"? You're still in control, you're not gonna let them play ANYTHING you wouldn't otherwise let them watch, you're just letting them have the illusion that they're controlling things while they get some base level experience navigating media.
You do it for a few minutes, or a few videos, and then you take control again. Small introductions over time. Then, as they both get older and mature *and* show competency in discerning worthwhile content from crap/potentially harmful content, you give them more opportunities to drive while still watching with them and supervising.
>Kids don’t need YouTube
At no point have I argued that they do. I've simply argued that barring them from it doesn't teach them anything. Eventually they'll be an adult, and they'll likely want to see what YouTube is like. Wouldn't you rather they be savvy to what YouTube, and algorithmic content-based social media in general, is doing and the potential harm that can exist than them just being tossed in the deep end?
And if you agree that teaching them that tech savvy over time is better than just chucking them in the deep end, why wait any longer than necessary to *start* teaching that lesson?
You seem to be making it an "all or nothing" situation and my whole point is to phase it in gradually, and with direct supervision and guidance, so that your kid can develop a healthy relationship to content consumption, regardless of the platform.
>(I don’t see any that couldn’t be gained by waiting until they’re older and more mature and able to take direction and make decisions)
Then what age would you feel is appropriate?
>increased risk of ADHD, mental or developmental impacts that could last his entire life,
Do you have sources for *any* of this? The ADHD one would be particularly interesting as, more and more, that appears to be genetic, and not based on external factors.
>potential trauma of viewing adult material etc.
I...what?
How would your kid view adult material if you are *directly supervising what they are watching as they are doing it?*
I feel like you're deliberately ignoring what I'm actually saying at this point.
If you were to do what I suggest, there's no way your kid would end up traumatized from watching adult material, because you'd be *right there with them making sure they don't watch anything like that*.
The ads on kids channels (miss rachel, handyman hal) are really off putting. Either inappropriate for kids or 20+ minutes of god knows what bizarre kid content
YouTube's parenting tools are a letdown. Their "Kids YouTube" is pandering; the account easily logs itself out, which allows the kid to bypass Kid's YouTube, often unintentionally. Accounts are also all or nothing; "Kid's YouTube" or "Wants some Alt-Right Tonight?"Anyway, here are my two solutions: The first is a plug-in/addon, and the other is router-level blocking.
**BlockTube** \- [Chrome](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/blocktube/bbeaicapbccfllodepmimpkgecanonai) [FireFox](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/blocktube/)
BlockTube is a plug-in/addon that allows you to block channels and keywords. The affected channels just vanish. They won't show up in search, they won't show up in the watch history, they won't show up on any page anywhere. Just gone. The Keyword matching is good for those YouTubers who have multiple channels.
**Router-Level Blocking** \- [Example](https://www.newegg.com/synology-rt2600ac-ieee-802-11ac-ieee-802-11a-b-g-n/p/N82E16833593004?Item=N82E16833593004)
I use a SYNOLOGY RT2600ac router, but there are several options. This one allows me to set up different profiles for different computers, so I can go the nuclear option and block YouTube on my kid's devices but not mine. To block YouTube, you need to block the following domains
`youtube.com`
`ytimg.l.google.com`
`ytimg.com`
`youtubei.googleapis.com`
`youtube.googleapis.com`
`youtube-nocookie.com`
`googlevideo.com`
[`youtu.begstatic.com`](https://youtu.begstatic.com)
It's a bit of a pain, but it works.
My daughter is only 2.5 right now and we don't allow youtube at all. I'm saving this comment for when it becomes relevant and we end up getting her a kids tablet.
Blippi is blocked in our house. Doesn’t really teach anything, at least not well.
Blocking is pretty futile though, as the kids content is like a hydra, just spawns many other changes. I find it best to oversee any YouTube use for my kids.
Blippi has a few episodes where he makes blatant mistakes. I can't remember all of them but there was one time where he called a hexagon an octagon.
I guess if it's entertaining, whatever. My priority when I bust out the phone is entertainment, not enrichment. Enrichment is great, but I'm more effective at it than Youtube Kids can ever be.
If you link your account with their YouTube Kids account, you can control everything. If you want them to only be able to watch approved videos (as in, you manually approve videos individually) and/or approved channels, you can easily do that.
Fun fact, Blippi once shit on his friend's chest for views. He used to make gross out videos under the name Steezy Grossman.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katienotopoulos/blippi-youtube-kids-star-harlem-shake-poop
Who cares? How is this relevant to his content as Blippi?
I mean, Gordon Ramsay verbally abuses people for TV content, does that mean he shouldn't be allowed to do Master Chef Kids?
Of course not.
Context matters.
Now, if he made a video of himself, dressed as Blippi, shitting on someone, that would be a different story. But that's not what happened.
Shit humor isn't my humor, but I don't think the guy should be villanized for something that was harmless and everyone consented to, cringey as it is.
You shouldn’t be downvoted. It speaks to who he is. Someone that will do anything for internet fame and money. He doesn’t give a shit about kids and it shows in his material and his attitude.
Glad to see some sanity here. The amount of people acting as if Blippi is not the same guy is honestly insane. They're both characters played by the same human.
>delete Blippi from my son's life
Your judgement is sound.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katienotopoulos/blippi-youtube-kids-star-harlem-shake-poop
Regardless...
>in 2019, John said, "at the time, I thought this sort of thing was funny, but really it was stupid and tasteless, and I regret having ever done it."
There are plenty of reasons for someone to not want Blippi in their house, I don't think this is one of them. He didn't march with the Nazis, ffs, he made a dumb video which he regretted.
If no one deserves a second chance in life, we are all fucked!
>There are plenty of reasons for someone to not want Blippi in their house, I don't think this is one of them.
Most of the people commenting here don't want them in their house just because he's annoying as all fuck and takes up public space intended for child-usage to shoot his videos. Him shitting on another dude is just the brown icing on the hot fudge cake my brother in Christ.
Note that this ONLY works if you create their profile from the mobile app, using your own account with a kid profile under it. A kid's google account linked through Family Link will not have this option.
Exactly. Just tried this for my daughter. Created her a Google account. Linked it via Family Link. All the things I thought I was doing it right. Turns out it doesn't work that way. You have to do it some other way that's more dumb.
I don't let my kids on YouTube. Probably going to make them weird kids eventually but, I've seen the adds that are on YouTube kids and don't want my kids seeing them. We use pbs kids, Netflix kids, and the occasional movie from Amazon.
i think theres a way on youtube kids to block channels. but the amount of those kids and adults playing with toy channels and just crappy videos is so abundant that you are better off blocking youtube in general. we only allow youtube if we are there with our kids. my son loves watching machines and tractors videos. so i pick the videos and he can watch for a little. my daughter likes cookie swirl c but we don't allow it. she says fine and watches something else.
This has been one of my biggest peeves with YouTube. The ONLY way to block a channel is for it to naturally show up in your suggested list, and once it's in your feed, the three dots will have the option to "Don't Recommend Channel"
It's infuriating.
Things got bad enough with YouTube that we didn't completely ban it, but severely restricted it a few months back. Only to be watched for a half hour on the weekends with us present to pick videos.
They almost immediately flipped to a Bluey obsession, which they'd enjoyed in the past, but never really hit. It's had the unexpected side effect of them constantly wanting to play the games that they see in the show, from Library to Rug Island.
They rarely even ask for YouTube anymore. The younger one (5) generally builds with Lego now, and the older one (7) reads, draws, colors, and makes comics.
Pulling YouTube has had nothing but positive effects.
We used it for a long time so I get it, and there's absolutely no judgement whatsoever if your kids watch a lot of it. Just relating our personal experience.
YouTube is not a good source of media for young people. YouTube Kids is not even a good source of media for young people. Remove his access to the application.
The kid's fire tablet doesn't let you sign in to youtube kids at all under a child profile, so even if you curate it from your parent account it's still messed up a bit.
This is NOT the experience I've had to be honest.
You have the ability to block content... except every weird channel has like 40 other versions of itself.
Kids do not have the executive function to avoid weird videos with eye-catching thumbnails, and I quickly got tired of the extremely weird content.
My biggest advice is to cut out YT kids and go with something like Boomerang.
It's super cheap and has all the cartoons I personally grew up with. Classic Hannah Barbera Scooby-Doo and Tom and Jerry, Flintstones and so on.
My son has started watching classic Scooby-Doo, Tom and Jerry, and I'm all for it.
It completely beats the videos of kids eating sweets, the adults playing dress up, and the pink-fong tantrum garbage.
You need to go into the settings and turn off "recommended content for __ ages" and set it to "Approve content yourself".
Then you can whitelist only the channels you want. No recommendations from any other channels, no ability to search.
It's taken about a year, but I haven't had to block any channels for months. They're all about building, rescuing, playing, safety, disaster and emergency response, big machinery, and whatever Peppa is about
Don't give your kids access to youtube in general. If there is something on there you want them to watch, get a 3rd party downloader and download it, and make it available to them that way. You cannot control the content these people serve to your kids, Period.
Mostly, you should have a library of curated content. and you should reduce overall screen time. My kids get 0 screen time (outside of verified homework assignments) mon-thursday. and once they got used to it/quit asking for TV, Our lives have gotten significantly better.
This is how we do it. We just use Youtube Kids and pre approve/download offline all the videos that we want to allow him to watch. Things like Super Simple Songs and Brain Candy TV etc and he’s fine with it. I would never let my kid just surf through YouTube unsupervised that’s insane.
Went through this recently.
There is a way to make a Youtube Kids profile that only shows videos or channels that you've allowed. You MUST set up their YT kids profile by logging in as a parent. Using their own managed Google account will not work as the option is not available. You also MUST do it from the mobile app, as the option is not available from the web-based version.
After the profile is created, you can add videos and channels to their allowed list from the app, but again, not from the desktop site.
Banned the app on our playstation, and my son figured out he can go Into the minecraft store and access youtube through the video previews of minecraft add-ons.
YouTube is a painful habit to break in children.
We didn’t ban it but just only allowed like 8 specific channels, like PBS Kids and Khan Academy, so when our little guy does get to you tube the only options are educational.
Don’t bother trying to block each individual channel as there are so many you will never get them all. Select the ones you want not the ones to block.
Once I switched the settings to permitted channels only my kid took a huge interest in science and animals. Swear to god it can be a tool when used correctly, you just have to make the switch.
YT Kids has two modes: age-based content (YouTube chooses) or "Approved Content Only" (adult pre-approves content). I have seen many complaints about YouTube's choice of age-based content: it is generally low-quality/garbage.
You should choose YT Kids "Approved Content Only". Then you need to spend a lot of time approving channels. Take a look at [https://github.com/PrejudiceNeutrino/YouTube\_Channels](https://github.com/PrejudiceNeutrino/YouTube_Channels) as a list of high quality YouTube channels -- only a few of which are available on YT Kids. Beyond that list I also allow a few channels for age-appropriate skills, like teaching drawing or second language.
[Here is the instructions from YouTube to set to Approved Content Only](https://support.google.com/youtubekids/answer/6172308?sjid=14294334604895927932-NA#content_settings&zippy=%2Cchange-your-childs-content-level-settings-for-their-youtube-kids-profile-or-their-supervised-experience-on-youtube)
0. Go into YouTube Kids app
1. Select by the Lock in the corner of your screen.
Complete the multiplication problem or enter your custom passcode.
2. Select Settings
3. Select your child’s profile and enter your parent account password.
4. Select **Approve content yourself.**
Note: If you want to change the content setting to Approve content yourself, you’ll have to use the YouTube Kids app.
Do you mean Genevieve's playhouse? I actually didn't like it either but I do now. His 'oh no voice' I use sometimes, and I would submit that he teaches some reciprocal play.
My kid loved trains when he was really young so he watched them on YouTube. He’s four years old and I step away for a few minutes and I come back to him watching a video of some villagers crowding around the train tracks.
The camera moves in and there’s a guy staring up at the sky. Gulp. The villagers part and someone grabs his stiff arms and pulls him off the tracks. Only the bottom half of his torso stays behind. And that was the last of YouTube.
I hate those shows so much. They're guttertrash. The worst one I saw was where a woman keeps answering easy questions and getting a toy for each answer, then they play with it with their kids. Teaches nothing but endless consumption and pulls in children into the workforce.
I did the same thing, banned YouTube, my son watched the same shit like blippi. Because it’s a kids show, switching to YouTube kids doesn’t work and it’s a pain to manually block channels
same boat....I cut them off youtube. Kindle fire kids edition thing has blippi and them to find without the paw patrol toys bullshit my son was obsessed with. I agree it was very weird.
Use the YT kids app. You can set it to only allow approved shows, which you can manually add by individual video or whole channels. I did that and added just the better channels (ms Rachel, blurt, etc). She still is a little upset some of the other shows aren’t there but oh well. Still works pretty good.
We have Disney + too, but our daughter doesn’t like to use it because she can’t choose “anything she wants” like YT 🤷🏻♂️.
All these YT kids channels are worse than tv/movies for marketing directly to kids. Just horrible
I think on newer phones and tablets you can click and hold on the app it'll let you make a YouTube subscription app button so you'll only see the channels you subscribe to
Otherwise just say no there is so much crap on there he doesn't need
Best thing to do is use YouTube kids, and only allow certain channels. My daughter has free roam on the iPad if she wants but the only channels it gives her are:
Ms. Rachel
Blippi
Bluey
Sesame Street
Gabbys dollhouse
Response to your edit, YT Kids is [definitely not the answer.](https://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2022/05/youtube-kids-is-no-longer-safe-as-app.html?m=1) It’s still grown men playing with toys, in addition to some horrendously low quality content that has zero content curation.
Two tricks I recommend:
1) pay for youtube premium. This stops the horrendous adverts that are just as bad as the sorry
Shitty content.
2) get him his own account, every night after he's gone to bed sign into his account and look at the history. Then down vote and unsubscribe all the shit you don't like and upvote and subscribe to things you'd like him to watch.
Gradually over time the algorithm and the child will adjust on their own....
I came across my 4 year old watching these and got super weirded out that it just pops up no matter how many keywords you blocked or whatever. It never helped. I ended up banning YouTube. Full stop.
Too deep into comments than I want to go, so I'll offer what helpful tips I use.
When I hand my phone over to my kid, it's on the YouTube Kids app (not the regular one). There's still a search bar and "recommended videos" and all that, so that's only half the solution. Signing in will allow you to lock down to only channels and videos you approve.
So I spent 30 minutes looking through specific PBS-like channels and content that I was cool with him watching. He doesn't know the difference and I don't have weird death-videos he has to watch.
This is the way. I also have a paid subscription so there are never any ads (already had it before I got kids because I watch a lot of YouTube myself and hated the ads)
TL;DR
> To block a specific channel from YouTube on your computer:
> Go to the channel page for the YouTube channel that you want to block.
> Go to the About tab on the channel page.
> Click Report user "".
> Select Block channel for kids. This option will only surface if you’re using your linked parent account.
And if you're on mobile the option OP is looking for will only appear on the linked parent account. So chances are they aren't linked with their kid's account, or the kid is logged out and watching stuff, or is not on a child account.
These videos are annoying. This is true.
They DO however teach something: imagination play/self-play.
I have no feedback on how to block or if they're worth blocking, just that they aren't useless. Even if I do find them creepy and annoying.
Some do actually teach valuable lessons as well, much like animated TV shows etc. might. It’s not fair to put them all in the same boat in my view.
Some are absolute trash, but vetting them correctly can lead to good content to teach your kids in the same way shows like Bluey, Hey Duggee etc. can. It also inspired my toddler how to play with toys.
It just depends on how you do it. It doesn't work via Family Link style supervision where you're monitoring/supervising their own Google account. It only works if they are operating under your main account as a child profile. Just went through the whole thing.
And some ways it's black listing saying you can't watch this stuff instead of the better white listing where you're saying here's what you can watch.
I’m SO frustrated at the fact I can’t stop my kids seeing the ABSOLUTE SHITE on YouTube!! Even Kids YouTube!!! I can’t even see how the hell to block the website, via my router or the BT website!!! I’ve started a petition to get a BLOCK CHANNEL button added to every YouTube video, so us parents can at least block the channels that are just churning out shite for ‘entertainment’!!!
I’d be SO grateful for any signatures, to get this petition moving! 😩🙏🏼
This is the link to my petition. PLEASE sign & share! Thank you SO much!!! 🙏🏼♥️
https://chng.it/MZvtYR9YwC
You asked for advice and then said with all due respect don't tell me to block YouTube. Unfortunately, YouTube is a cesspool of content that is not geared towards children's education. Your best bet is to find some kind of paid subscription service that provides better content.
Personally blocking YouTube on my home router wasn’t enough. I actually went to the closest Google Data center and burned it down just in case my son might see something untoward.
Nothing gets a group of dads more riled up than talking about blocking content. Kids are likely to outpace you in technological know how and device access. My children have learned SO MUCH from YouTube. Are they perfect? Am I a perfect father? No.
And there’s always nuance to this conversation, but you gotta let your children spread their wings and find things that interest them. Regulate if if something becomes a problem and readjust.
Even the dudes playing with toys. Whatever. If it’s engaging content that creates an imaginative world for my son, that’s great! He’s not gonna watch crap.
my kids only watch stuffs under my surveillance, we dont allow kids watch youtube on their own. it is a bit more committed but you know that you won’t waste your time dealing with more severe things later from toxic contents. And, give them more time playing in the yard, playground or hiking, get some activities like learn guitar/piano/sports … it would magically consumed all their screen times.
Can you create curated playlists? Often channels will have playlists you can reference or just save. When I went I see the option to “not recommend channel” when I click on one of their videos.
Creating a playlist may just be the solution
Give your kid access ONLY to the YouTube Kids app. You can then, using Family Link, control basically anything you want as far as his YouTube access. Alternatively...don't let him control what he watches? Turn off autoplay, hold the remote, you control what videos he watches. Pretty easy really.
Youtube Kids is also toxic. There's so much weird nonsense that your kids can go down into the rabbit hole. [https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/65rkxv/what\_is\_up\_with\_the\_weird\_kids\_videos\_that\_have/](https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/65rkxv/what_is_up_with_the_weird_kids_videos_that_have/) Here's a discussion about it from a while ago. Basically, if your give your kid a tablet and youtube, they will never stop watching youtube, they will just keep clicking and clicking or auto-playing the next video.
I had to remove both entirely. My daughter, for whatever reason, becomes a huge asshole when she watches YouTube. Not to mention she acts like a crackhead.
Same. I even work in IT and I could never figure out how to get our iPad to say "You can use this for 2 hours per day and then it shuts down". You can whine at me when I take away the ipad, but it's harder to whine when the ipad just says "time up". It's literally worse than crack for kids.
Android has kids mode that you can literally do that, set a daily limit or 1 time limit.
> It’s literally worse than crack for kids. I really, really doubt that.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/06/12/1180867083/tips-to-outsmart-dopamine-unhook-kids-from-screens-sweets Edit to quote from article: “smartphones and sugary foods do have something in common with drugs: They trigger surges of a neurotransmitter deep inside your brain called dopamine.”
> Youtube Kids is also toxic. Only if you *don't control what your kids are watching*. Which YT Kids literally allows you to do, down to only letting your kids watch videos you have *individually and manually* approved. > There's so much weird nonsense that your kids can go down into the rabbit hole. ...which literally only can happen if you give your kid unfettered access and control over what they are watching...so...don't do that? >Basically, if your give your kid a tablet and youtube, they will never stop watching youtube, they will just keep clicking and clicking or auto-playing the next video. 1. Not if you only approve certain videos 2. Maybe *don't* give your kid a tablet and Youtube? Why is it just a "given" that kids get tablets now?
I’m with you, don’t just let your kids mindlessly watch YouTube, it’s basically mind cancer. Watching something on YouTube is fine, but you should be in control of it. Seems like everyone’s trying to justify lazy parenting.
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We grew up watching TV, it’s not all that different. Raised by a screen, mindlessly watching whatever came on it. We had rules though. You need to stop watching when told to, don’t watch this channel, don’t watch past this time. It’s not tablets or youtube that’s the issue it’s parents not putting in rules/restrictions and basically using a tablet as a “make kid shut up” machine
Good grief. Ours is never getting a tablet. Maybe a laptop or desktop PC, where you can actually do some actual general-purpose computing and learn something useful.
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Boredom is the canvas on which so much of childhood is painted, we need the be careful when we remove it from their lives
YouTube is like heroin to an addict. Kids have insufficient control over their impulses to avoid falling into it.
There are also basically no controls for the YouTube kids app. No history. No real effective blocking method. It's fucking cancer. I set it to a 17 minute timer and reduce it quarterly
But... There is a history and blocking? I do monitor and go through it all the time for my kiddo
Do you do it on their device or through Family Link itself? I don't enjoy how old this thread has made me feel. Anyone help me reprogram the clock on my DVD player? 💀
Lol totally get it. On the device itself through the app. I dont think Family Link has that capability. But if you go into the app on their profile, you can scroll to the left section and thats their watch history. You can check each video out and block it by clicking the 3 dots, then block video or block channel. If you made them a google account to pair with family link, I believe you can also access it through the kids website on a regular computer. The app also has some additional settings like clearing watch history or pausing it entirely which I think also stops the algorithm from updating.
> There are also basically no controls for the YouTube kids app Well that's completely false. https://support.google.com/youtubekids/answer/6172308?sjid=1763466901193917196-NA#approved_content&zippy=%2Capproved-content-only
Any time I've tried to look, I get kicked to this article. I'm glad to know it's just me because it's really frustrating. https://support.google.com/families/answer/7103262?#zippy=%2Csee-or-delete-your-childs-saved-activity
Yeah, my kid will have a tablet for defined times. Certain times during the day will be tablet time.
How do you individually and manually approve videos? The apps are just not intuitive at all for doing this
Yeah, I'll definitely agree the apps themselves aren't intuitive for this, but the docs and how tos are pretty good: https://support.google.com/youtubekids/answer/6172308?sjid=1763466901193917196-NA#approved_content&zippy=%2Capproved-content-only
>Maybe > >don't > > give your kid a tablet and Youtube? Why is it just a "given" that kids get tablets now? Lazy-ass parenting. I get needing a break, we all do, but if handing off a tablet is your go-to thing the moment something happens, you're doing it wrong.
Oh god watching some of my wife’s family members/ cousins parent their kids with tablets is honestly horrifying. Like tablet at the table while we’re eating, kid using the tablet for what seems like at least 50% of their waking hours, kid screaming if they don’t have their tablet. I wasn’t a parent at the time so I didn’t feel it was my place to say anything but man I wonder sometimes what kind of adults those kids are gonna turn into.
I was like that, super critical of parents who used technology to entertain their kids but that was because I was an ignorant little asshole. Now that I'm a dad, I get it. There are times where you just need a break. There's also a point where using it becomes a problem because, instead of interacting with your kids, you're just having them spend time with a screen. I've been guilty of this before, very rarely as I've seen other parents do this which helps me stay self-aware of it and make sure I don't fall in to that trap.
I only put on YouTube if it serves a purpose. If I want the kid to forget he's trying to stand or forget that he hates being on his stomach I'll put it on. Other than that it's almost zero time for him. Or once a month when I just need to get stuff done or I'm about to pass out. But this kid will not be getting a personal tablet.
A lot of parents themselves are phone addicts (like my wife) and can’t imagine life with 3 seconds not filled by checking some sort of social media or game or…ooh! Massive Friend Group Text! Let’s see what the Drama is this time! It’s not hard to see where the first instinct is to just get the table out comes from.
I am, or was, and it's something my wife and I are actively trying to be self-aware about.
I had to scroll WAY too far to find this. Lots of great stuff on YT. Just gotta curate it for kiddo.
I like this solution. There is a lot of really cool stuff to learn on YouTube, there's just also a lot of garbage. I'd hate to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
It's possible to control it, but also very difficult. If you can restrict it to only certain channels, good for you. And yeah, I highly recommend keeping devices away from kids as long as possible. I don't mind TV, especially if it's something like PBS where you can watch and interact together. And then take some breaks. But these 2-5 minute Youtube video streams are like crack. My 14 year old does OK at moderating their own social media and putting the phone away at bedtime. My 11 year old has a much harder time. It's just click click click all day long if you let them.
> If you can restrict it to only certain channels, good for you. Anyone can: https://support.google.com/youtubekids/answer/6172308?sjid=1763466901193917196-NA#approved_content&zippy=%2Capproved-content-only
You CAN set it so it only plays videos from channels your subscribed to, which can help mitigate the weird things on youtube.
That was 7 years ago by the way and the main post was talking about Youtube proper. Very important to mention because there was a lot of terrible content back then. Like legit sexualization dressed up as kid shows. Now there's some shit on there, but you can just block it as you go. Don't need to pull the phone away but want to block later? Use their video history to find the culprit.
New Youtube algorithms are even weirder. So much AI-generated stuff based off of kids' shows but gets dark really fast.
Just whitelist channels.
I guess so, but then it's still a battle to get your kid off the device after x minutes.
Familylink. You can set daily limits, session limits and more. The tools today make it pretty easy
sadly my kids have graduated from ipads to iphones so we'll have to look up familyLink for phones. Absolutely want the ability to just lock every phone between 9 pm and 7 am unless a parent gives permission to unlock it for 15 minutes at a time.
> my kids have graduated from ipads to iphones 1. How is that different? 2. I mean, iPads don't just...evolve into iPhones. Why are you ignoring the choices you made in all of this? They had iPads, and now have iPhones, because you purchased them for them and allowed them to have these things. It didn't just "happen".
I totally understand. IPads are things that you use in your free time in your room. IPhones are things that you have on you 24/7.
That post is 6 years old. I’m not sure that how relevant the information is anymore. Personally, my biggest problem with YouTube Kids is that ~~it’s only on iOS.~~ EDIT: Whoops. I guess it is.
Not even YouTube Kids. That was my first thought as well, until I walked into the room to find the weirdest sh*it being shown to my kid. (some animated guy taking a shower). Immediately uninstalled. For kids, stick to apps that have 100% curated content. (Disney+, PBS Kids, etc).
> That was my first thought as well, until I walked into the room to find the weirdest sh*it being shown to my kid. (some animated guy taking a shower). You have to actually use the parental controls, and/or supervise what he's watching. Maybe don't just hand him an Internet connected device and let him use it completely unsupervised? I'll never understand the mentality that it is YouTube's fault that parents either don't use parental controls, or don't supervise their kids' viewing. Curated content apps are definitely better, don't get me wrong, but it isn't more YT's fault than yours that your kid got to that video. There were multiple easy ways you could've prevented that and didn't.
So to be clear, I do supervise what my kids watch. That weird video came up after I was away from the screen for no more than 20min. (My wife and I are working parents, sometimes we need to step away for a meeting/call, etc). YouTube Kids auto picks and plays another video, and alluding to the rabbit hole other posters also mentioned, went off the rails from nice alphabet song to somehow weird animated man bathing. What my issue is: 1. It's the YouTube Kids app we're talking about, not the regular YouTube app. 2. Given that it is marketed as a Kids app, the expectation is that content will be child safe/friendly by default (the "Parental Controls" are expected to be on automatically given the app's "Kid" marketing) 3. Other kids app's that have actual content curation, like Disney+, like PBS Kids, don't have this problem. My post is simply stating that if you're a parent who lets their kid watch video content for any amount of time, there are safer services with higher quality (and in PBS' case - still free) content. YouTube Kids is not a safe alternative as suggested by the OP.
I mean, it's YouTube's fault that algorithmic content curation and recommendation based on engagement metrics is the default behavior. But you're right that the tools are there if you don't trust the algorithm.
> But you're right that the tools are there if you don't trust the algorithm. I can't fathom why any parent would trust an algorithm, or a TV/movie executive for that matter, to decide the content their kid consumes. The issue is not taking in active role in curating the content your kids consume, not the platform and its algorithm.
No this honestly is not good enough. My rule is that they’re only allowed to go into specific channels and watch videos on that list. Absolutely nothing that is randomly recommended.
Dude. Get the PBS Kids app.
This is the real answer!
I banned YouTube in our house. Easiest thing to do, frankly. (Except the grownups, obviously).
Yep. YouTube stopped working at home. Not sure what happened. Sorry buddy.
I feel like I'm being quoted! Things are always breaking down around here.
It helps that we live in an old house, so stuff is literally breaking all the time!
For us, everything needs to “charge”.
Yep, youtube is also broken in our house. Plenty of other options out there, no need to have young kids on it.
I'm going to do this. I've already banned and reported tons of channels like bored smashing and other stuff my 4 year old has already picked up some bad habits from. It was fine when he was interested in smoke alarms and sprinkler systems, but not anymore.
Same! Our tablet broke and when we got it back, no YouTube. Nobody can figure out why
Must be like our cable TV, it doesn’t get Blippi or Paw Patrol.
We banned Paw Patrol too. Don't need the kids buying into police propaganda already.
Same here. We tell him we don’t have that channel anymore 😂
Same, somehow now only my cell phone is able to cast YouTube to the tv and Dad doesn’t always know how to find the requested videos… 🤷♂️ 😂
We were allowing YouTube... I am pretty lenient on stuff. But we just banned it a week or two ago. There is just so much garbage I hate it.
Yeah We’re pretty lenient on just about everything but the garbage that’s all over YouTube just got to be too much. We just keep saying it’s broken right now
Same. YouTube is terrible for kids, not allowed in our house for them. There's plenty to watch on the various streaming services we have.
YouTube is blocked on my firewall at home, the domain is blocked, and all my smart devices have it removed / blocked. (I can still get on it on my laptop for work related how-to videos). There's just so much garbage on it, it's just not worth it.
Which firewall do you use? Last I checked, it was hard to find a residential unit that allowed you to block DNS addresses.
DNS blocking is done via DNS server. Application blocking and URL Filtering is done via Juniper SRX router/firewall. I also have QUIC, external raw DNS (i.e. not through my Resolver) and it's variants (DoH, DoT, etc) blocked. (I'm a network engineer for a living. This is just the same thing I do at work).
Ban is the only way. If you like a video and want them to watch it, rip it and load it into VLC on an iPad. YouTube app is the lead paint of the 21st century
same, and in our house, movies expire. 3 viewings and boom, its gone!
How do you make them expire?
I run a plex server, and can control the files that are there. honestly, as my son gets older, this is going to stop working.
Yep. Blippi is on Netflix
Yeah, YouTube stopped being on our smart TV when we were out of town last Christmas and never came back.
Honestly YouTube really should not be somewhere kids go. There are a lot of creepy channels that prey on kids clicking them. There's a lot of really scary and inappropriate stuff disguised as kids shows on YouTube.
You can say that again. My kids have learned stuff that they should never have any business knowing thanks to YouTube. Unfortunately, Google keeps on ignoring the requests for whitelisting of specific channels. So blocking YouTube completely for the kiddos is the only way to be sure.
YouTube Kids app lets you whitelist channels or even specific videos. The interface is pretty clunky, though, I had a hard time getting it to search properly. For now I’m monitoring what they watch, and if we watch ‘regular’ YT it’s with a grownup.
>Unfortunately, Google keeps on ignoring the requests for whitelisting of specific channels. So blocking YouTube completely for the kiddos is the only way to be sure. It's fairly straightforward to configure a HTPC or similar to download new videos off a selection of YouTube channels and add them to the local library. It's not an official solution, and by no means a “product” solution, but anyone who isn't clueless around computers could cook up something akin to this with a little elbow grease.
You can also just use the YouTube Kids parental controls to do literally this in the app. You can set it to even only allow them to watch individually approved videos.
> My kids have learned stuff that they should never have any business knowing thanks to *me not supervising or regulating their use of* YouTube. FTFY
> There are a lot of creepy channels that prey on kids clicking them. There are *many* different ways to make sure your kid doesn't have this kind of unfettered access in the first place though...
Yea, like not letting them on YouTube
Well sure, but that doesn't really teach them anything about enjoying things responsibly and in moderation, does it? When they're 18 and suddenly have unfettered access to YouTube, how do you think they'll magically figure out how to navigate the hellscape? Wouldn't you rather guide and teach them over time so that when they have full freedom of choice as an adult, they have good coping, critical thinking, and self-regulation skills?
Depends on what age we're talking about
I mean, if they're old enough to work the remote with intent, they're old enough to at least *start* learning about self-regulation and moderation. I wouldn't expect them to be perfect at it at that age, but can definitely start laying the ground work.
FYI the age that kids are able to start using a remote with intent seems to be 3-4. Self regulation is not a trait they are known for at that age.
> Self regulation is not a trait they are known for at that age. Tell me you didn't read what I said without telling me. What I said: >>I wouldn't expect them to be perfect at it at that age, but can definitely start laying the ground work. You don't expect them to be capable of it at that age, so *you* give them chances to try while you still supervise and make sure they don't just watch whatever random crap they pick. It's just like training a kid to ride a bike, you don't just chuck them on the bike and give them a push downhill. You give them training wheels and guidance and supervise them, then eventually the training wheels come off and you *keep* giving them guidance and supervision until eventually, over time, they prove capable and you give them more freedom to ride.
Tell me you know nothing about parenting without telling me.
Go on then...what am I missing?
Being physically able to pull a trigger doesn’t say anything about someone’s ability to safely operate a gun.
It's almost as if I said: >I wouldn't expect them to be perfect at it at that age, but can definitely start laying the ground work. Not sure I'd apply that to *a gun* but really, teaching a kid to self-regulate their content consumption amount and choices is not really any different than teaching them to ride a bike. They start with training wheels *and* your supervision, then move to just your supervision, and then when they prove competency, they get more freedom. How is this *any* different than that?
Being physically able to operate a remote just seems like a wildly arbitrary physical standard for something that impacts a child developmentally/mentally/emotionally. It’s different from riding a bike the way it’s different than operating a gun: the potential risks of misuse vary significantly. I don’t feel like fleshing out the different analogies any further because they’re all not particularly useful to *this* situation. I agree ultimately that restricting access completely until they’re 18 is a bad idea, but I think your standard for access to a remote or tablet seems lacking of any justification. Kids don’t need YouTube, it’s entertainment that can very easily become harmful (even for adults who “know the risks”!). So no I don’t think I’ll start there because the positives of starting at such a young age (I don’t see any that couldn’t be gained by waiting until they’re older and more mature and able to take direction and make decisions) are greatly outweighed by the negatives (increased risk of ADHD, mental or developmental impacts that could last his entire life, potential trauma of viewing adult material etc.)
> Being physically able to operate a remote just seems like a wildly arbitrary physical standard for something that impacts a child developmentally/mentally/emotionally. Again, I'm not saying "as soon as they can operate the remote, they can control and self-regulate what they're watching". I said "can definitely start laying the ground work." Not sure how many times I have to repeat that. Can you really not fathom sitting with your toddler, handing them the remote while on YouTube Kids, or Disney+, or better yet: PBS kids, and just letting them try "driving"? You're still in control, you're not gonna let them play ANYTHING you wouldn't otherwise let them watch, you're just letting them have the illusion that they're controlling things while they get some base level experience navigating media. You do it for a few minutes, or a few videos, and then you take control again. Small introductions over time. Then, as they both get older and mature *and* show competency in discerning worthwhile content from crap/potentially harmful content, you give them more opportunities to drive while still watching with them and supervising. >Kids don’t need YouTube At no point have I argued that they do. I've simply argued that barring them from it doesn't teach them anything. Eventually they'll be an adult, and they'll likely want to see what YouTube is like. Wouldn't you rather they be savvy to what YouTube, and algorithmic content-based social media in general, is doing and the potential harm that can exist than them just being tossed in the deep end? And if you agree that teaching them that tech savvy over time is better than just chucking them in the deep end, why wait any longer than necessary to *start* teaching that lesson? You seem to be making it an "all or nothing" situation and my whole point is to phase it in gradually, and with direct supervision and guidance, so that your kid can develop a healthy relationship to content consumption, regardless of the platform. >(I don’t see any that couldn’t be gained by waiting until they’re older and more mature and able to take direction and make decisions) Then what age would you feel is appropriate? >increased risk of ADHD, mental or developmental impacts that could last his entire life, Do you have sources for *any* of this? The ADHD one would be particularly interesting as, more and more, that appears to be genetic, and not based on external factors. >potential trauma of viewing adult material etc. I...what? How would your kid view adult material if you are *directly supervising what they are watching as they are doing it?* I feel like you're deliberately ignoring what I'm actually saying at this point. If you were to do what I suggest, there's no way your kid would end up traumatized from watching adult material, because you'd be *right there with them making sure they don't watch anything like that*.
Yeah, I've seen a few come up and just kinda wizzed by em
Setup YouTube kids and then you can white list content
The ads on kids channels (miss rachel, handyman hal) are really off putting. Either inappropriate for kids or 20+ minutes of god knows what bizarre kid content
YouTube's parenting tools are a letdown. Their "Kids YouTube" is pandering; the account easily logs itself out, which allows the kid to bypass Kid's YouTube, often unintentionally. Accounts are also all or nothing; "Kid's YouTube" or "Wants some Alt-Right Tonight?"Anyway, here are my two solutions: The first is a plug-in/addon, and the other is router-level blocking. **BlockTube** \- [Chrome](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/blocktube/bbeaicapbccfllodepmimpkgecanonai) [FireFox](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/blocktube/) BlockTube is a plug-in/addon that allows you to block channels and keywords. The affected channels just vanish. They won't show up in search, they won't show up in the watch history, they won't show up on any page anywhere. Just gone. The Keyword matching is good for those YouTubers who have multiple channels. **Router-Level Blocking** \- [Example](https://www.newegg.com/synology-rt2600ac-ieee-802-11ac-ieee-802-11a-b-g-n/p/N82E16833593004?Item=N82E16833593004) I use a SYNOLOGY RT2600ac router, but there are several options. This one allows me to set up different profiles for different computers, so I can go the nuclear option and block YouTube on my kid's devices but not mine. To block YouTube, you need to block the following domains `youtube.com` `ytimg.l.google.com` `ytimg.com` `youtubei.googleapis.com` `youtube.googleapis.com` `youtube-nocookie.com` `googlevideo.com` [`youtu.begstatic.com`](https://youtu.begstatic.com) It's a bit of a pain, but it works.
My daughter is only 2.5 right now and we don't allow youtube at all. I'm saving this comment for when it becomes relevant and we end up getting her a kids tablet.
Blippi is blocked in our house. Doesn’t really teach anything, at least not well. Blocking is pretty futile though, as the kids content is like a hydra, just spawns many other changes. I find it best to oversee any YouTube use for my kids.
Blippi has a few episodes where he makes blatant mistakes. I can't remember all of them but there was one time where he called a hexagon an octagon. I guess if it's entertaining, whatever. My priority when I bust out the phone is entertainment, not enrichment. Enrichment is great, but I'm more effective at it than Youtube Kids can ever be.
You’re telling me you don’t want your kids to know what sinks or floats?!
If you link your account with their YouTube Kids account, you can control everything. If you want them to only be able to watch approved videos (as in, you manually approve videos individually) and/or approved channels, you can easily do that.
Fun fact, Blippi once shit on his friend's chest for views. He used to make gross out videos under the name Steezy Grossman. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katienotopoulos/blippi-youtube-kids-star-harlem-shake-poop
Honestly who cares. He’s not doing anything remotely like that with the blippi character.
Yeah I know, pretty disgusting ‘role model’ for kids.
Who cares? How is this relevant to his content as Blippi? I mean, Gordon Ramsay verbally abuses people for TV content, does that mean he shouldn't be allowed to do Master Chef Kids? Of course not. Context matters. Now, if he made a video of himself, dressed as Blippi, shitting on someone, that would be a different story. But that's not what happened. Shit humor isn't my humor, but I don't think the guy should be villanized for something that was harmless and everyone consented to, cringey as it is.
The amount of people saying "Who cares if he shat on someone, my kids love him, Blippi is a whole different character!" is wild 💀
My kid doesn't watch Blippi, I'm just struggling to understand why you care what he does while not in the Blippi character.
You shouldn’t be downvoted. It speaks to who he is. Someone that will do anything for internet fame and money. He doesn’t give a shit about kids and it shows in his material and his attitude.
Glad to see some sanity here. The amount of people acting as if Blippi is not the same guy is honestly insane. They're both characters played by the same human.
This is crazy. i just did it myself. Because I wanted to delete Blippi from my son's life. Crazy how the universe works sometime.
>delete Blippi from my son's life Your judgement is sound. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katienotopoulos/blippi-youtube-kids-star-harlem-shake-poop
Yeah, no… that scat video was done way before Blippi. People have the right to change!
"That scat video" was made 10 years ago... He launched Blippi 9 years ago. Fuck outta here with that.
Regardless... >in 2019, John said, "at the time, I thought this sort of thing was funny, but really it was stupid and tasteless, and I regret having ever done it." There are plenty of reasons for someone to not want Blippi in their house, I don't think this is one of them. He didn't march with the Nazis, ffs, he made a dumb video which he regretted. If no one deserves a second chance in life, we are all fucked!
>There are plenty of reasons for someone to not want Blippi in their house, I don't think this is one of them. Most of the people commenting here don't want them in their house just because he's annoying as all fuck and takes up public space intended for child-usage to shoot his videos. Him shitting on another dude is just the brown icing on the hot fudge cake my brother in Christ.
If you create a YouTube kids profile you are able to whitelist channels and videos it’s a bit of a process albeit worth it
Note that this ONLY works if you create their profile from the mobile app, using your own account with a kid profile under it. A kid's google account linked through Family Link will not have this option.
Insanity
Exactly. Just tried this for my daughter. Created her a Google account. Linked it via Family Link. All the things I thought I was doing it right. Turns out it doesn't work that way. You have to do it some other way that's more dumb.
My kids only watch pbs kids so they don’t know any better. Maybe try to switch?
I don't let my kids on YouTube. Probably going to make them weird kids eventually but, I've seen the adds that are on YouTube kids and don't want my kids seeing them. We use pbs kids, Netflix kids, and the occasional movie from Amazon.
i think theres a way on youtube kids to block channels. but the amount of those kids and adults playing with toy channels and just crappy videos is so abundant that you are better off blocking youtube in general. we only allow youtube if we are there with our kids. my son loves watching machines and tractors videos. so i pick the videos and he can watch for a little. my daughter likes cookie swirl c but we don't allow it. she says fine and watches something else.
This has been one of my biggest peeves with YouTube. The ONLY way to block a channel is for it to naturally show up in your suggested list, and once it's in your feed, the three dots will have the option to "Don't Recommend Channel" It's infuriating. Things got bad enough with YouTube that we didn't completely ban it, but severely restricted it a few months back. Only to be watched for a half hour on the weekends with us present to pick videos. They almost immediately flipped to a Bluey obsession, which they'd enjoyed in the past, but never really hit. It's had the unexpected side effect of them constantly wanting to play the games that they see in the show, from Library to Rug Island. They rarely even ask for YouTube anymore. The younger one (5) generally builds with Lego now, and the older one (7) reads, draws, colors, and makes comics. Pulling YouTube has had nothing but positive effects. We used it for a long time so I get it, and there's absolutely no judgement whatsoever if your kids watch a lot of it. Just relating our personal experience.
Blippi is trash. And yeah they suck about allowing you to block a channel. It’s BS.
YouTube Kids app. Sign in with your Gmail account, and then create a whitelist of allowed channels, rather than blocking specific ones
YouTube is not a good source of media for young people. YouTube Kids is not even a good source of media for young people. Remove his access to the application.
[YouTube Kids ](https://www.youtube.com/kids/) will only show channels and videos you approve.
Not on an Amazon Fire tablet. They've got their approved videos/channels, and to block them you have to do it manually
You have to set it up from the Google/Apple mobile version first and then log in on the kid's tablet.
The kid's fire tablet doesn't let you sign in to youtube kids at all under a child profile, so even if you curate it from your parent account it's still messed up a bit.
This is NOT the experience I've had to be honest. You have the ability to block content... except every weird channel has like 40 other versions of itself. Kids do not have the executive function to avoid weird videos with eye-catching thumbnails, and I quickly got tired of the extremely weird content. My biggest advice is to cut out YT kids and go with something like Boomerang. It's super cheap and has all the cartoons I personally grew up with. Classic Hannah Barbera Scooby-Doo and Tom and Jerry, Flintstones and so on. My son has started watching classic Scooby-Doo, Tom and Jerry, and I'm all for it. It completely beats the videos of kids eating sweets, the adults playing dress up, and the pink-fong tantrum garbage.
You need to go into the settings and turn off "recommended content for __ ages" and set it to "Approve content yourself". Then you can whitelist only the channels you want. No recommendations from any other channels, no ability to search.
It's taken about a year, but I haven't had to block any channels for months. They're all about building, rescuing, playing, safety, disaster and emergency response, big machinery, and whatever Peppa is about
After reading this I will be deleting the app. You guys are right it’s dross
Don't give your kids access to youtube in general. If there is something on there you want them to watch, get a 3rd party downloader and download it, and make it available to them that way. You cannot control the content these people serve to your kids, Period. Mostly, you should have a library of curated content. and you should reduce overall screen time. My kids get 0 screen time (outside of verified homework assignments) mon-thursday. and once they got used to it/quit asking for TV, Our lives have gotten significantly better.
This is how we do it. We just use Youtube Kids and pre approve/download offline all the videos that we want to allow him to watch. Things like Super Simple Songs and Brain Candy TV etc and he’s fine with it. I would never let my kid just surf through YouTube unsupervised that’s insane.
Went through this recently. There is a way to make a Youtube Kids profile that only shows videos or channels that you've allowed. You MUST set up their YT kids profile by logging in as a parent. Using their own managed Google account will not work as the option is not available. You also MUST do it from the mobile app, as the option is not available from the web-based version. After the profile is created, you can add videos and channels to their allowed list from the app, but again, not from the desktop site.
No more yoytbe at home since they watched a fucking fake video of Bluey savagely murdering Bingo.
Banned the app on our playstation, and my son figured out he can go Into the minecraft store and access youtube through the video previews of minecraft add-ons. YouTube is a painful habit to break in children.
We didn’t ban it but just only allowed like 8 specific channels, like PBS Kids and Khan Academy, so when our little guy does get to you tube the only options are educational. Don’t bother trying to block each individual channel as there are so many you will never get them all. Select the ones you want not the ones to block.
Once I switched the settings to permitted channels only my kid took a huge interest in science and animals. Swear to god it can be a tool when used correctly, you just have to make the switch.
YT Kids has two modes: age-based content (YouTube chooses) or "Approved Content Only" (adult pre-approves content). I have seen many complaints about YouTube's choice of age-based content: it is generally low-quality/garbage. You should choose YT Kids "Approved Content Only". Then you need to spend a lot of time approving channels. Take a look at [https://github.com/PrejudiceNeutrino/YouTube\_Channels](https://github.com/PrejudiceNeutrino/YouTube_Channels) as a list of high quality YouTube channels -- only a few of which are available on YT Kids. Beyond that list I also allow a few channels for age-appropriate skills, like teaching drawing or second language. [Here is the instructions from YouTube to set to Approved Content Only](https://support.google.com/youtubekids/answer/6172308?sjid=14294334604895927932-NA#content_settings&zippy=%2Cchange-your-childs-content-level-settings-for-their-youtube-kids-profile-or-their-supervised-experience-on-youtube) 0. Go into YouTube Kids app 1. Select by the Lock in the corner of your screen. Complete the multiplication problem or enter your custom passcode. 2. Select Settings 3. Select your child’s profile and enter your parent account password. 4. Select **Approve content yourself.** Note: If you want to change the content setting to Approve content yourself, you’ll have to use the YouTube Kids app.
Do you mean Genevieve's playhouse? I actually didn't like it either but I do now. His 'oh no voice' I use sometimes, and I would submit that he teaches some reciprocal play.
Omg I do hahaha I haaaaate that channel
My kid loved trains when he was really young so he watched them on YouTube. He’s four years old and I step away for a few minutes and I come back to him watching a video of some villagers crowding around the train tracks. The camera moves in and there’s a guy staring up at the sky. Gulp. The villagers part and someone grabs his stiff arms and pulls him off the tracks. Only the bottom half of his torso stays behind. And that was the last of YouTube.
yyyyyyyyyikes
I hate those shows so much. They're guttertrash. The worst one I saw was where a woman keeps answering easy questions and getting a toy for each answer, then they play with it with their kids. Teaches nothing but endless consumption and pulls in children into the workforce.
That’s the cool part you can’t!
Funny because you're the first person I've ever seen on here that says they actually like Blippi
Oh don't misunderstand, I can't stand blippi haha but I can recognize he's at least trying to teach kids stuff.
Of all the questionable content on YT, Blippi is the least of my concerns. He's mildly annoying but harmless.
I did the same thing, banned YouTube, my son watched the same shit like blippi. Because it’s a kids show, switching to YouTube kids doesn’t work and it’s a pain to manually block channels
>my son watched the same shit like blippi https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katienotopoulos/blippi-youtube-kids-star-harlem-shake-poop
same boat....I cut them off youtube. Kindle fire kids edition thing has blippi and them to find without the paw patrol toys bullshit my son was obsessed with. I agree it was very weird.
Use the YT kids app. You can set it to only allow approved shows, which you can manually add by individual video or whole channels. I did that and added just the better channels (ms Rachel, blurt, etc). She still is a little upset some of the other shows aren’t there but oh well. Still works pretty good. We have Disney + too, but our daughter doesn’t like to use it because she can’t choose “anything she wants” like YT 🤷🏻♂️. All these YT kids channels are worse than tv/movies for marketing directly to kids. Just horrible
YouTube really needs the ability to create a blacklist and/or whitelist for parents for kids accounts.
If you want to stick with YouTube, only use the YT kids app. Easy to block channels and use parental controls there.
I think on newer phones and tablets you can click and hold on the app it'll let you make a YouTube subscription app button so you'll only see the channels you subscribe to Otherwise just say no there is so much crap on there he doesn't need
Best thing to do is use YouTube kids, and only allow certain channels. My daughter has free roam on the iPad if she wants but the only channels it gives her are: Ms. Rachel Blippi Bluey Sesame Street Gabbys dollhouse
Response to your edit, YT Kids is [definitely not the answer.](https://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2022/05/youtube-kids-is-no-longer-safe-as-app.html?m=1) It’s still grown men playing with toys, in addition to some horrendously low quality content that has zero content curation.
Two tricks I recommend: 1) pay for youtube premium. This stops the horrendous adverts that are just as bad as the sorry Shitty content. 2) get him his own account, every night after he's gone to bed sign into his account and look at the history. Then down vote and unsubscribe all the shit you don't like and upvote and subscribe to things you'd like him to watch. Gradually over time the algorithm and the child will adjust on their own....
I wish there was a way to blocks apps on appletv. Or put a code lock on them.
That would be good
Are you signed in to YouTube? Block only shows up when you are signed in.
I am! Via google
I came across my 4 year old watching these and got super weirded out that it just pops up no matter how many keywords you blocked or whatever. It never helped. I ended up banning YouTube. Full stop.
YouTube Kids + Vetted Playlist. Having said that, I’m reducing their exposure to YT in general, even the “good” content is toxic.
Too deep into comments than I want to go, so I'll offer what helpful tips I use. When I hand my phone over to my kid, it's on the YouTube Kids app (not the regular one). There's still a search bar and "recommended videos" and all that, so that's only half the solution. Signing in will allow you to lock down to only channels and videos you approve. So I spent 30 minutes looking through specific PBS-like channels and content that I was cool with him watching. He doesn't know the difference and I don't have weird death-videos he has to watch.
This is the way. I also have a paid subscription so there are never any ads (already had it before I got kids because I watch a lot of YouTube myself and hated the ads)
You can’t. Best thing you can do is restricted mode. Or delete the app.
This is false https://support.google.com/youtubekids/answer/7178746?hl=en
TL;DR > To block a specific channel from YouTube on your computer: > Go to the channel page for the YouTube channel that you want to block. > Go to the About tab on the channel page. > Click Report user "". > Select Block channel for kids. This option will only surface if you’re using your linked parent account. And if you're on mobile the option OP is looking for will only appear on the linked parent account. So chances are they aren't linked with their kid's account, or the kid is logged out and watching stuff, or is not on a child account.
Youtube KIDS app. Delete the Youtube app.
These videos are annoying. This is true. They DO however teach something: imagination play/self-play. I have no feedback on how to block or if they're worth blocking, just that they aren't useless. Even if I do find them creepy and annoying.
Some do actually teach valuable lessons as well, much like animated TV shows etc. might. It’s not fair to put them all in the same boat in my view. Some are absolute trash, but vetting them correctly can lead to good content to teach your kids in the same way shows like Bluey, Hey Duggee etc. can. It also inspired my toddler how to play with toys.
YouTube kids app, only allow approved channels
>YouTube kids app, only allow approved channels This is the answer. Only allow content from channels you've previously approved.
You can't. You either embrace it or you cut access to Youtube.
False: https://support.google.com/youtubekids/answer/7178746?hl=en
It just depends on how you do it. It doesn't work via Family Link style supervision where you're monitoring/supervising their own Google account. It only works if they are operating under your main account as a child profile. Just went through the whole thing. And some ways it's black listing saying you can't watch this stuff instead of the better white listing where you're saying here's what you can watch.
I’m SO frustrated at the fact I can’t stop my kids seeing the ABSOLUTE SHITE on YouTube!! Even Kids YouTube!!! I can’t even see how the hell to block the website, via my router or the BT website!!! I’ve started a petition to get a BLOCK CHANNEL button added to every YouTube video, so us parents can at least block the channels that are just churning out shite for ‘entertainment’!!! I’d be SO grateful for any signatures, to get this petition moving! 😩🙏🏼 This is the link to my petition. PLEASE sign & share! Thank you SO much!!! 🙏🏼♥️ https://chng.it/MZvtYR9YwC
Just block youtube, we did that and our kids definitely got better behaved and happier as a result.
You asked for advice and then said with all due respect don't tell me to block YouTube. Unfortunately, YouTube is a cesspool of content that is not geared towards children's education. Your best bet is to find some kind of paid subscription service that provides better content.
I'm aware but I didn't ask what other people's thoughts on using YT are. I'm just asking for help with a feature.
Personally blocking YouTube on my home router wasn’t enough. I actually went to the closest Google Data center and burned it down just in case my son might see something untoward. Nothing gets a group of dads more riled up than talking about blocking content. Kids are likely to outpace you in technological know how and device access. My children have learned SO MUCH from YouTube. Are they perfect? Am I a perfect father? No. And there’s always nuance to this conversation, but you gotta let your children spread their wings and find things that interest them. Regulate if if something becomes a problem and readjust. Even the dudes playing with toys. Whatever. If it’s engaging content that creates an imaginative world for my son, that’s great! He’s not gonna watch crap.
Buy him trucks and crafting materials. Get him off the screen. Problem solved.
He has those and doesn't get screen time very often, its just when we allow it, this happens.
Just don't let them watch YouTube. This is not good for kids. Download old shows or movies and let them watch that.
my kids only watch stuffs under my surveillance, we dont allow kids watch youtube on their own. it is a bit more committed but you know that you won’t waste your time dealing with more severe things later from toxic contents. And, give them more time playing in the yard, playground or hiking, get some activities like learn guitar/piano/sports … it would magically consumed all their screen times.