4 Practical Steps To Make YouTube Safer For Kids

If your kid can hold a remote, they can find YouTube. It’s loaded with great learning, but also plenty of harmful or addictive videos.

For example, one mom shared that her child was watching Caillou on YouTube Kids when suddenly she heard all kinds of foul language spliced into it.

Parents are frustrated that YouTube (including YouTube Kids!) is riddled with:

• Pornography
• Violence
• Dumb prank culture
• Addictive shorts
• Harmful algorithms that serve up extreme content
  

And unfortunately, YouTube is an “all or nothing” platform—unless you add filtering tools.

Why not just use YouTube Kids and Restricted Mode?

Many assume YouTube Kids or YouTube’s Restricted Mode are safe alternatives. They help a little, but they’re not a safety net.

YouTube Kids approved content only mode lets you hand-pick channels and videos and disable search—but disturbing videos can still slip through. Algorithm mistakes and malicious uploads (videos intentionally disguised to look child-friendly) have repeatedly pushed harmful, spliced, or inappropriate content into the app. 

One parent shared how she clicked on what looked like the full, legitimate version of It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown for her daughter—only to have the video suddenly cut to a bloody scene of Lucy dying. In fact, a 2025 WIRED investigation uncovered AI-generated cartoon gore and fetish content masquerading as kids’ videos with innocent thumbnails and titles.

Restricted Mode on regular YouTube isn’t much stronger. It must be enabled on every browser and device, can be turned off by savvy kids, and is easily bypassed by using Guest Mode or another account. It also allows plenty, including shorts, violence, and suggestive videos.

Bottom line: Neither YouTube Kids nor Restricted Mode provides full protection. If you want true whitelisting—or stronger filtering—you’ll need third-party tools.

How to filter YouTube

Step 1: Identify YouTube access points

First, do a device audit. Which devices do you own that access YouTube? Here are some common ones:

• Smart TVs: Samsung, LG, Vizio, Sony, etc. — YouTube app is usually preinstalled
• Streaming devices: Roku, Fire Stick/Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast with Google TV
• Tablets: iPads, Android tablets, Kindles
• Laptops and Desktops: Windows, Mac, Chromebooks — via browsers or app
• Gaming consoles: Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch all have YouTube apps and browser access
• Smartphones and smartwatches: Apple, Android, and even that old Windows smartphone in your junk drawer
• Smart displays: Amazon Echo Show, Google Nest Hub, etc 
• VR headsets: Oculus/Meta Quest, PlayStation VR — YouTube VR app is built-in
• Set-top boxes / DVRs: Some cable boxes like Xfinity Flex or Dish Hopper include YouTube apps
• Handheld gaming devices: Older devices like Nintendo DS
• Portable media players: Older iPods, some MP3 players with Wi-Fi and browsers
• Car infotainment systems: Certain Android Auto / Apple CarPlay setups, or Tesla screens, allow browser-based YouTube access
• Other obscure devices or appliances: Smart calendars like the Skylight, smart refrigerators, smartwatches, digital photo frames, learning toys etc.

Don’t overlook the oddballs! One mom thought she had YouTube locked down everywhere—until she walked into the kitchen one night and found her son watching racy bikini videos on their Echo Show. She didn’t realize it had the Amazon Silk Browser built in.

Step 2: Limit YouTube access points

Now that you know where your access points are, let’s look at how to filter them.

The best way to filter YouTube and make your life easier, is to limit the access points. Pick one (maybe two) devices you’ll allow for YouTube. Block the rest. Fewer doors = fewer surprises. 

Use your router or the Bark Home device to block it on all others. Add an extra layer of protection by disabling browsers on these devices. For example, if you have an Amazon Echo Show, disable the Silk browser on the device itself, then also use your router controls to block YouTube.com (and any other site). Do this on smart calendars, digital photo frames, gaming consoles, etc. 

Why do both? Because layers are your friend: if one control fails, another catches it.

We’ll focus our attention on PCs, mobile devices like tablets and smartphones, and Smart TVs since these are the most popular ways kids access YouTube. Block everything else.

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Step 3: Lock down YouTube by device

YouTube parental controls for Smart TVs

Smart TVs often come with YouTube preloaded—and kids will find every way to access it. Here are your main options:

• Use a PIN when possible: Many TVs let you PIN-lock apps. If YouTube is installed, add a PIN so your child can’t open it without you in the room.
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• Block it at the router: If you never want YouTube available, the most reliable method is router-level blocking. Routers like Netgear Orbi and Gryphon include this feature, or you can add a device like Bark Home for stronger parental controls.
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• Check every access point: TVs often have multiple ways to reach YouTube. For example, if you have a Samsung TV and a Roku streaming stick, you’ll need to secure both. Samsung’s app can be PIN-locked, but Roku doesn’t have app PINs—so you’ll need to block Roku at the router when you’re not supervising. Each YouTube door needs its own lock!
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• Fire Stick workaround: On Fire TV devices, you can PIN-protect the YouTube app—or remove it entirely and delete it from your Amazon account’s digital content so it can’t be re-downloaded. Safe Vision can be used on the Fire Stick. See more about Safe Vision below.
  Keep in mind this method doesn’t filter content, so supervision still matters.

YouTube parental controls for computers

Computers (Windows, Mac, and Chromebooks) are one of the easiest ways for kids to sneak onto YouTube—especially through web browsers. Fortunately, there are some tools that allow YouTube filtering on these devices. Whether you want to block it entirely, or allow some access, here are your main options:

• Use Safe Vision: If you do want your child to have limited YouTube access, Safe Vision can run on: 
  
  • Windows PCs via the Microsoft app store
  • Apple Mac computers via the App Store or an Android emulator like BlueStacks
  • Chromebooks via the Google Play Store

Parents whitelist safe channels, and kids can’t wander outside them. To make this work, you’ll need to block direct access to YouTube in all browsers, and leave Safe Vision as the only “front door” to YouTube. 

• Block YouTube in the browser: Use built-in parental controls like Microsoft Family Safety or Google Family Link to block YouTube.com. On Macs, you can use Screen Time to block the site in Safari.

• Disable or restrict browsers: Use the same parental controls listed above to block or limit all other browsers, so your child can’t simply switch to another one to access YouTube. 

Router-level blocking: The most foolproof way to block YouTube on PCs, Macs, or Chromebooks is at the router level. This completely removes access—so Safe Vision won’t work—but it’s the best option if you want zero YouTube. In fact, this may be the only way to block it on school-issued devices if your child’s school doesn’t allow parental control software.

Bottom line: On computers, you’ll either want to block YouTube entirely—or block it everywhere except within Safe Vision.

YouTube parental controls for mobile devices

Tablets and smartphones are the most common way kids access YouTube—and also the hardest to lock down if you’re not intentional. Here’s what you can do:

• Delete the YouTube app: On iOS, delete the app and block it from being re-downloaded using Screen Time. On Android, delete it and restrict downloads with Family Link.

• Block youtube.com in browsers: On iOS, use Screen Time to block adult websites and manually add YouTube to the “Never Allow” list. On Android, Family Link allows you to block specific sites.
  
  
• Safe Vision app: Available for iOS and Android, Safe Vision replaces the regular YouTube app with a whitelisted version. Parents choose safe channels; kids can’t search beyond them. As with computers, it only works if the regular YouTube app and browser access are blocked first.

• Bark: Bark monitors YouTube activity and alerts parents to harmful searches or videos your child views, videos your child posts, comments on their videos, and new videos from your child’s subscriptions. You can block YouTube entirely, or place time limits on it.

Bottom line: On mobile devices, your best strategy is to delete/block the regular YouTube app and browser access. If you want limited, safer access, use Safe Vision.

Safe Vision note: Safe Vision is a portal to YouTube with a parental filter sitting on top. That means If you block YouTube completely at the router Safe Vision can’t pull content because it’s still dependent on YouTube servers.

So the trick is to block every other path to YouTube except Safe Vision. You’ll need to block YouTube using your computer’s ‘hosts’ file. See instructions on Mobicip to learn how.

Step 4: Keep it simple

Feeling overwhelmed? We get it, YouTube is everywhere.Try this one-device-a-day plan:

• Day 1: Start with a device audit and pick which ones your child can use for YouTube.
• Day 2: Block it everywhere else.
• Day 3: Lock down the TV(s).
• Day 4: Tackle the computer(s).
• Day 5: Lock down phones/tablets.
• Day 6: Tidy up the weird screens (Echo show, Apple watch, car, fridge, etc).

In under a week you’ll have a layered system most kids can’t casually bypass.

Remember the talks

Even with perfect settings, exposure can still happen—an app update rolls back a PIN, or a friend shows a video on the bus. That’s why ongoing conversations matter just as much as controls.

Our bestselling read-aloud books, Good Pictures Bad Pictures, makes it easy and natural to talk to kids about the harms of pornography so your child will be prepared with a plan when they encounter it on YouTube—or anywhere else.

You handle the locks. We’ll help with the talks.