My 6yo has been asking for YouTube access and I'm trying to figure out the best approach. We've been using YouTube Kids but honestly the algorithm still feels sketchy sometimes. Does anyone actually use the regular YouTube with strict parental controls instead? My buddy swears by it but I'm paranoid about her accidentally clicking on something weird. What do you all do?
The sketchy algorithm thing is real - YouTube Kids pushes the same 3 creators over and over. Switched to regular YouTube with restricted mode + we just... watch with him? Takes effort but beats the alternative.
YouTube Kids still sucks honestly. Algorithm is 'safer' but still weird. We use regular YouTube with strict parental controls instead - at least the content isn't algorithmically skewed toward 6yo brain rot.
Our rule is: if he wants YouTube, I'm in the room. Started that when he was 5 and honestly it's fine. Yeah it sucks sometimes but I actually know what he's watching instead of hoping the algorithm is being good.
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What kind of content is she into? That matters way more than the platform. If she's watching educational stuff, YouTube Kids is fine. If it's trending dance vids or whatever, that's when the algorithm gets creepy.