Fri · 31 Jul 2026
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App profile
YouTube icon

YouTube

Watch risk

Rated Watch · How we rate

The recommended videos are the problem — the algorithm will walk your child somewhere you didn't intend.

Ages 6–9Ages 10–12Ages 13–15Ages 16+
Minimum age13
Strangers can contactNo
Location sharingNo
Disappearing messages
Parental visibilityLimited
What it actually is

YouTube itself has enormous amounts of appropriate content. The issue is the recommendation algorithm, which optimizes for watch time and can lead kids from age-appropriate content to increasingly extreme, inappropriate, or disturbing material through autoplay. Comments on videos expose kids to strangers. For younger children, YouTube Kids is a meaningfully safer alternative with a curated content library.

Is YouTube safe for a specific age?

For under-13 — use YouTube Kids instead

  1. Download the YouTube Kids app (separate from YouTube)
  2. During setup, select your child's age range
  3. Choose "Approved content only" to manually approve every video
  4. Set a daily time limit in the app settings
  5. Create a passcode so your child can't change settings

For teens on regular YouTube

  1. Sign into their Google account on YouTube
  2. Settings (profile icon) → General → Restricted Mode → ON
  3. This filters most mature content from search and recommendations
  4. Settings → Autoplay → turn OFF (stops the algorithm rabbit hole)

Supervised Experience (new)

  1. On your Google Family Link account, enable YouTube Supervised Experience
  2. Lets you choose between Explore, Explore More, and Most of YouTube tiers
Set up controls · YouTube
→ Check your kid's other apps→ Look up app terms & teen slang

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Updated April 2026

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