Safety Features for Children on YouTube
There was a time when even adult didn’t know how to use a computer or how to access the internet and for some, this was not very long ago. In just twenty short years, everyone seems to be on the internet and even very young children are internet and computer literate and some even know more than their parents when it comes to web surfing. This brings up the oft asked question, is it safe to let your children watch videos on YouTube without any supervision? While there are some very brilliant videos that are geared to the youngsters in your house, they can come across some that are not appropriate for their age. The following are some ways that you can protect your child while they are watching videos on YouTube.
Make an Account for the Children Only
The first thing that you need to know about YouTube is that it is not only a website for sharing videos but it is also a place where companies advertise their products and services. The main goal for them is to get people to subscribe to their channels. They even pay other websites for subscribers in order to boost their numbers. So you don’t want your children on your account because you’ll have more advertisement type videos based on your searches. So get your kids their own set account so they don’t have to deal with the advertising that you deal with when surfing the site. This also allows them to create their own lists of favorite videos without clogging up your account.
Make Sure You Set Their Parental Controls
Once you have created your kid’s YouTube account you need to set up the parameters for the videos they can watch. Fortunately, there are parental controls built into the site just like the ones that you have on your television and computer search engine. This keeps your children from accidentally watching any video that is inappropriate. It also keeps the older children from purposely watching videos that they know you would not approve. The default settings are for the safe searches to be off so you need to into the setting section and set it up manually. It is not hard to do, does not take up much time and you can be assured that they are only watching the content that you want them to watch.
Do Not Let Them Have a Computer in Their Room
It may be more convenient for the children to have computers in their own rooms, set up an area for all of their computers where you can keep an eye on the children whenever they are online. Even with parental controls turned on they can get savvy and learn how to change those settings and the best way to monitor your kids’ online activities is to check on them periodically. Plus, if they are in the same place, one or more will tell on the others who are not using YouTube in an appropriate manner.
The best way to protect your children while they are on YouTube is to set them up with their own account, turn on parental controls and watch them while they are online.
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