YouTube is a popular video sharing website that offers a wide variety of online videos. Since the launching in February 2005, old and young alike visit the video site, sharing original content with others across the globe. Whether serious or satirical, weird or wacky, YouTube offers an entertaining glimpse into a wide variety of videos. While many of the user-generated videos are entertaining, inspirational or thought-provoking for adults, some of the content on YouTube is inappropriate for children.
YouTube, purchased by Google Inc. in 2006, has numerous parental controls to help parents block or filter content that is inappropriate for children. For instance, content that includes hate speech, dangerous illegal acts, harassment, threats, cyberbullying, pornography or sexually explicit content, can be flagged by registered users.
To flag a video, simply click the “flag” button and select a reason for the flag from the drop-down menu. Flagged videos are then reviewed by staff 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Content that violates YouTube guidelines, are removed. Inappropriate messages and comments can also be blocked. That said, some videos as well as comments and messages, may still be inappropriate or offensive for children.
YouTube Safety Mode
In February, YouTube launched a new safety feature called Safety Mode. The feature can easily be turned on or off by selecting the option at the very bottom of the page. Because the Safety Mode feature is set to “off” by default, you’ll need to click the “on” option to turn the feature on. The safety feature can be enabled for the current session or registered users can save the “on” option for future sessions.
YouTube Safety Features
The YouTube Safety Center helps keep children safe while visiting the site. Guidelines, tips and suggestions are available for parents, families and educators.
- Children under 13 years of age are not permitted to access YouTube. And in order to create an account on YouTube, users must be at least 13.
- Impersonating another user is considered harassment and is a violation of YouTube’s guidelines.
- Spamming is not tolerated and any user that engages in spamming will be banned from the site.
- The “Hide Objectionable Words” feature is also available for parents. Profane language, racial slurs and sexually provocative language in the comments’ section can be hidden.
- Children’s accounts can be removed once proof of guardianship has been faxed.
- Privacy settings on YouTube are also available. Videos can also be kept private. By marking the video as “private”, users can limit the amount of exposure by inviting up to 25 people to watch and enjoy the video.
- The “Help & Safety Tool” helps users learn how to block users, remove content and report the information to the YouTube Team.
It is important to have open discussions with children regarding online safety. Remind children to keep personal information private and not to share passwords with friends. It is also important to remind children to tell a trusted adult if they see anything online that makes them feel uncomfortable, scared, worried or afraid.
Along with parental guidance and communication, YouTube’s safety features help give parents peace of mind while keeping children safer online. For more information on keeping your children safer online, please visit Top 10 Netiquette Guidelines and Keeping Children Safe Online.
Jace Shoemaker-Galloway - +JaceShoemaker-Galloway is more than passionate about online safety awareness. She has devoted and dedicated over five years to Internet ...
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