YouTube gives parents new controls over kids’ and teens’ viewing habits

A preview of YouTube’s new parental control that lets parents set time limits or completely disable Shorts scrolling for teen accounts. (Image: YouTube)

YouTube has announced a set of updates aimed at giving families more control over how children and teenagers use the platform, as part of its long-standing effort to make online viewing safer and more age-appropriate.

The video-sharing platform says teens come to YouTube for many reasons, from studying and following their favourite creators to listening to podcasts or catching up on sports highlights. Instead of keeping young users away from the digital world, YouTube says its goal is to protect them while allowing them to explore it responsibly.

YouTube has focused its strategy on three main areas based on recommendations from parents and child development specialists—assisting children in developing healthy viewing habits, guaranteeing stronger security and age-appropriate content, and streamlining account setup so families can select what experience they want for every child.

Parents will now be able to manage how much time their teenagers spend scrolling through YouTube Shorts. A new setting allows them to limit the Shorts feed, and soon parents will even be able to set that limit to zero. According to YouTube, this is an industry-first feature that gives parents direct control over short-form content consumption.

The flexibility is designed to fit real family routines. For instance, parents can block Shorts while a teen is using YouTube for homework, then loosen the limit during travel or downtime. In addition, parents managing supervised accounts will be able to customise Bedtime and Take a Break reminders, expanding on existing well-being features that are already turned on by default for teens.

Beyond controls, YouTube is also working to improve the quality of content that teens are encouraged to watch. The company has introduced a new set of principles and a creator guide that define what high-quality teen content looks like. These principles were developed with input from young people themselves, alongside researchers and child-development specialists, to help distinguish enriching and age-appropriate videos from lower-quality content.

YouTube says these guidelines will be shared with creators worldwide and will also influence how videos are recommended to teen users. Teen recommendations will therefore more frequently feature instructional and informative content, such as videos that emphasise learning, storytelling, and personal development. This builds on safeguards already in place for children under 13 and existing protections for teenage viewers.

To make things easier for families, YouTube is also simplifying how accounts are created and managed. While teens are already automatically placed into protected under-18 accounts, the platform will soon roll out an updated sign-up experience. Parents will be able to create child accounts more easily and switch between different family accounts in the mobile app with just a few taps, depending on who is watching.

YouTube says these changes are part of its broader commitment to grow alongside the families who use the platform, ensuring that children and teens can explore, learn, and be entertained in a space that is both safe and inspiring.