YouTube has unveiled a new feature designed to enhance parental involvement in teenagers’ digital activities by allowing parents to link their accounts with their teens. This update, launched on September 5, aims to create a more supervised yet flexible environment for teens to explore the platform.
As part of YouTube’s Family Centre hub, the new feature provides parents with tools to monitor their teens’ activities, including tracking the number of videos uploaded, subscribed channels, and comments made. Additionally, parents will receive email alerts whenever their teens upload a new video or start a livestream, offering opportunities for discussions about responsible content creation.
This initiative builds upon YouTube’s existing supervised experiences for younger children, seeking to balance parental oversight with the independence teens need for personal growth. The platform collaborated with child development experts, emphasizing the importance of open communication between parents and teens about online activity.
Ellen Selkie, a pediatric expert, praised the approach, noting the importance of allowing teens the space to grow while ensuring parental support is available when needed.
This new feature aligns with YouTube’s broader commitment to safeguarding younger users, including recent efforts to limit harmful video recommendations. The launch reflects YouTube’s ongoing dedication to fostering a safe and engaging online environment for its younger audience.
