Found my 12yo watching stuff he shouldn't be on YouTube

Apr 261 min read

Had a chat with my oldest yesterday about what he's been watching. Turns out he's been clicking on some pretty mature content when he thinks we're not around. Not crazy bad but definitely not age appropriate. We talked about it and he seemed embarrassed but also like he didn't think it was a big deal. Installing parental controls on everything tonight. Any recommendations for what actually works?

7 comments216 views

Comments(7)

CChris F.RegularApr 26

Had this same talk with my oldest last year. The fact that you caught it and had a calm chat about it puts you ahead of the game. We ended up setting up some parental controls and he's been way more open about what he's curious about now.

LLance K.RegularApr 26

This is real. Both my kids have tried pushing boundaries online when they think nobody's watching. The good news is that conversation you had matters way more than you probably think it does right now.

AAnthonyNew DadApr 26

Man, that's a tough one. With three kids I'm basically playing defense all the time on this stuff. Sounds like you handled it the right way by talking it out instead of just shutting him down completely.

JJosh M.RegularApr 26

This is tough but also kind of the moment where you have to be real with him. At 12 he's old enough to understand that some content just isn't appropriate. What kind of stuff was he watching? Because there's a big difference between random aggressive videos and actual harmful content.

KKevinRegularApr 27

Man this is my nightmare. My oldest is 8 and I'm already worried about when he gets old enough to start exploring YouTube on his own. Did you have to set actual restrictions or was just talking about it enough?

DDaniel R.RegularApr 27

The parental controls on YouTube need to be a lot better. I've heard this story from like five different dads now. Your kid's just trying to find entertaining stuff and the algorithm takes them somewhere weird. How did he react when you brought it up?

JJordan M.New DadApr 27

Yeah, YouTube's algorithm is wild. It starts innocent and then suddenly you're 10 videos deep in stuff that makes zero sense and isn't age appropriate. Did you restrict his access or just have a conversation about it?