YouTube audit
YouTube: what's actually risky, and the 5 switches to flip
YouTube's risk isn't the videos they search for — it's autoplay finding the next one. Here's where to set the ceiling.
YouTube is the least exotic of these and still the most-used, which makes it the one worth doing properly. Under 13 means a supervised account you manage, and that's not a workaround — it's the design.
The reason supervision matters isn't search. It's autoplay. The next video is chosen by the same recommendation engine that runs the home page, so a child who watched something perfectly innocent can arrive somewhere you'd never have chosen without ever typing a search.
Set the content ceiling, turn autoplay off, and decide which of Google's two products you're actually using. That's most of the job.
Before you flip anything
What the platform does without you
Minimum age
Google requires a supervised, parent-managed account for children under 13 — or the relevant age in your country, which is higher in some places. Content level, available features and the ads shown all differ on a supervised account.
YouTube Help · Official help centre, currentBy default
Under-13s can't hold a standard account. They need a Family Link-managed, parent-supervised Google account, and content is limited to the content setting you choose.
YouTube Help · Official help centre, currentBy default
Restricted Mode is a separate, optional content filter available to any user. It is not supervision, and it can be turned off by whoever holds the device.
YouTube Help · Official help centre, currentMust-flip
The switches worth changing
0 of 5 done
Set up supervision
Do it through Family Link, or from inside the YouTube app via the profile icon. Supervision is what attaches the content ceiling and the controls to the account, so nothing else here works without it.
YouTube app>profile icon>Settings>Family Center
Choose the content level
Google offers three tiers for supervised accounts, roughly mapped to 9+, 13+ and 16+ viewing. Pick the one that matches your child rather than the highest one that seems reasonable — the ceiling is the point.
Family Link>Controls>Content restrictions>YouTube
Under 12: The lowest tier is the right default. You can raise it deliberately later.
Watch for this: Google states that these content-setting names were recently updated while the behaviour underneath stayed the same. Older guides will use older labels.
Turn autoplay off
Autoplay is the mechanism that carries a child from a video you'd be fine with to one you wouldn't, without them choosing anything. Switching it off puts the next decision back in their hands.
YouTube>profile icon>Settings>Autoplay
Watch for this: The exact position of this toggle moves between YouTube versions, and Google has not published a supervised-specific default for it. Confirm it in-app on the device in front of you.
Turn on Restricted Mode as a second layer
Restricted Mode screens for mature content and can run alongside supervision for teens on a supervised account. Treat it as a second net rather than the fence — it's imperfect and it can be switched off.
YouTube>profile icon>Settings>General>Restricted Mode
Watch for this: Google's own help page describes Restricted Mode without publishing a single current path for the toggle. Confirm the location in-app.
Decide between a supervised account and YouTube Kids
These are two different products. YouTube Kids is a separate app with its own content level, a search toggle you can turn off, and a list of videos you unblock by hand. A supervised standard account gets your child closer to the normal app with a ceiling on it. Choose one deliberately.
Family Link app>Controls>YouTube, or the YouTube Kids app>Settings
Watch for this
What to notice, not just what to block
Watch for this
Autoplay into Shorts
Shorts is a swipe-based feed inside the main app, and it behaves like the short-form apps rather than like long-form YouTube. It's the part of YouTube that eats an evening.
Watch for this
Challenge and 'unboxing' content
Much of it is fine; a meaningful share of it is built around escalation, because escalation gets watched. The content level helps, but watching the first minute with them is faster and better.
Watch for this
Someone else's account
A friend's unsupervised account has none of the controls you just set. This is the most common way a well-managed child ends up somewhere unmanaged.
Worth knowing
You don't have to approve everything
A content ceiling plus autoplay off is a reasonable place to stop. You're not meant to pre-screen ten thousand videos.
Honest limits
What these settings won't do
The tiers are a rough filter
Content levels are applied at scale and will miss things at the edge. They narrow the field; they don't empty it.
Restricted Mode can be switched off
It isn't supervision, and on a device your child controls it can be turned off in the same place it was turned on.
Supervision doesn't follow them to another screen
A console, a tablet, a mate's phone and a school laptop are outside all of this — which is exactly the moment you want your child to already have a plan.
Before the download
Three questions to agree out loud
These aren't a test. They're the conversation that makes a yes safe — and they work for an app that isn't on this list too.
- 1What do you watch when nobody's recommending anything and the autoplay has stopped?
- 2What do you do when something pops up that clearly isn't for you?
- 3Whose account are you using when you're at a friend's house?
Settings vs street smarts
Controls set the boundary. Judgement keeps them safe when you're not looking.
A content ceiling and an autoplay switch decide what YouTube offers next. They say nothing about what your child does when a comment section starts talking to them directly, or when a friend's unsupervised account is one tap away. NetWise Kids puts them in a realistic group chat, DM or trade request and lets them practise saying no — before the real one arrives.
Other audits
The other four apps
Evidence
Where every number on this page comes from
Nothing here is estimated. If a figure couldn't be sourced, it was cut.
YouTube Help
Official help centre, current
What is a supervised kid account on YouTube?
The platform's own documentation
The age floor is 'under 13 or the relevant age in your country', so it moves by region.
YouTube Help
Official help centre, current
Parental controls & settings for supervised experiences on YouTube
The platform's own documentation
YouTube Help
Official help centre, current
Set content settings for supervised experiences
The platform's own documentation
Google states the content-setting names were recently updated while the behaviour stayed the same — expect older guides to use older labels.
YouTube Help
Official help centre, current
FAQ about supervised child accounts
The platform's own documentation
Restricted Mode is a separate optional filter, not supervision.
Google for Families Help
Official help centre, current
Understand YouTube & YouTube Kids options for your child
The platform's own documentation