YouTube can be quite the cesspool at times; you start watching some innocent content, follow a link then another and before you know it you’re watching — quite hilarious — conspiracy theories. It’s that lack of control and oversight that has parents wary of what their kids are watching. Google has recognised this and delivered a step between YouTube Kids and uncensored, unsupervised access to the entire content library.
In the coming months, we’ll launch a new experience in beta for parents to allow their children to access YouTube through a supervised Google Account. This supervised experience will come with content settings and limited features.
The options won’t go to the level of filtering individual videos, but rather allow parents to set one of three levels of access for their kids.
Explore: For children ready to move on from YouTube Kids and explore content on YouTube and considered suitable for viewers ages 9+
Explore More: Includes content suitable for viewers ages 13+ such as larger set of videos and live streams on top of the “Explore” content
Most of YouTube: This setting will contain almost all videos on YouTube, except for age-restricted content. NB It includes sensitive topics that may only be appropriate for older teens.
It is worth noting out of all of this that no system is failsafe and there may be content that gets through the filters. So, like everything else electronic, it’s worth keeping an eye on your kids when they’re checking out some content. YouTube can be a world of wonder for kids, there’s a lot of educational content on there so let your kids explore, with a little more peace of mind now.
Does this mean kids can go back to being able to use a Google music service!? Since the demise of Google Play Music, there is no option for kids, as YouTube Music has an age restriction. I’ve gone from having our family of four (2+2) using Google services… now… two adults using Google to it’s fullest, and two kids using Spotify, YouTube (without logging in) etc… a mess!
This is a great idea.
I hope Google add a new set of Report violation codes for videos, to compliment this. Three new Report violation codes are needed, one for each age tier. So parents can more easily and accurately let Google know when an age inappropriate video has slipped through the system.