At the time of this post, moms all over are terrified because of the Momo challenge, mainly from seemingly innocuous YouTube videos that start out innocent and then are interrupted by the creepy bird sculpture that looks like a human who needs to be exorcised.
Even before the viral Momo came to be, safety on YouTube and other platforms was an issue for kids. In this post I am going to touch on a few features that are unsafe as well as elaborate on the four things you need to do to make sure your kids don’t watch something they shouldn’t: supervise, subscribe, queue, and cast.
Unsafe features
In general, the search feature is risky simply because you don’t know what you’re going to get until you watch the video. I would advise that unless the video is from a trusted channel you view it first without the kids watching when searching for something. This can be cumbersome and time-consuming, so I suggest subscribing to channels that you trust for topics that frequently come up.
The other unsafe feature is auto play, and it’s a risk on other platforms as well. Once I was riding in my car with my kids and I searched for the Wiggles on Spotify. Spotify played one of their songs and then moved on to suggested content, which in this case was a man doing a stand-up routine who happened to mention the Wiggles, along with other adult content that my kids didn’t need to hear.
On YouTube you may start with an appropriate video and then another one may start playing that has the appearance and title of a trusted kid cartoon, but actually has adult content. How do you prevent that from happening?
Steps to keep your kids safe
1. Supervise
I’m a work-at-home mom, so I get that sometimes your kids need screen time. Right now the show that my son is into is on YouTube. My kids aren’t allowed to watch YouTube unless I can see and hear what they’re viewing. Apps like PBS Kids and Nick Jr. are much better because all the videos are safe. Unfortunately, supervision is not enough. Oftentimes by the time you realize it’s an inappropriate video, it’s too late.
2. Subscribe
Once you find a channel that you trust, rather than locating a video by the search feature, subscribe to the channel. Click the subscriptions tab to see all your subscriptions. It will show your feed, which is just all the latest videos from these channels, and also the channels themselves up at the top.
Choose videos for your kids to watch here rather than searching for them. I suppose it’s possible that a safe channel could be hacked, but these people are highly motivated to keep their channel pure. If you’re looking for some good ones, this article lists 20 kid-friendly YouTube channels.
3. Queue
My kid’s videos are about ten minutes long, but I need him to be occupied for about an hour and a half. So what I do after playing a video from his favorite show, Izzy’s Train Time, is I locate other videos in the channel that I want him to watch and then I add them to the queue. Always add more than you think you will need to ensure your kid stays in the channel.
This post contains affiliate links.
Even if you do all those things, what is to keep your kids from navigating away from the safe channel to a random video? It only takes one click. That is why I recommend Google Chromecast or the Amazon Firestick. The Firestick is not compatible with YouTube, and Chromecast doesn’t work with Amazon Prime, so get the one that works for you.
4. Cast
We use Google Chromecast. The way it works is you buy the device and then connect your phone or tablet through Google Assistant. Then you can cast the YouTube, Netflix (or Amazon Prime if you have the Firestick) to the TV and control it entirely from your phone. That way your child can’t navigate away from a safe channel on your tablet or phone.
These steps are not a guarantee that your child will never see anything inappropriate on YouTube, but they will certainly drastically reduce the chances. Click here for information on teaching your kids internet safety from Focus on the Family.