YouTube launches supervised accounts for tweens and teens

YouTube has realized that YouTube Kids is too limiting for older kids while at the same time full-blown YouTube access is too much for young teenagers to handle, so it's introducing a third option for parents. Supervised accounts are launching for tweens (ages 10-14) and teens.

As James Beser, Director of Product Management, Kids and Family at YouTube, explains, "We’ve heard from parents and older children that tweens and teens have different needs, which weren’t being fully met by our products. As children grow up, they have insatiable curiosity and need to gain independence and find new ways to learn, create, and belong."

Working with parents and experts, YouTube developed the supervised account concept, which will offer three-tier content settings: Explore, Explore More, and Most of YouTube. The general guidance is that Explore is for the 9+ age group, Explore More is for 13+, and Most of YouTube offers access to everything except age-restricted content and sensitive topics deemed only appropriate for older teens.

This new, progressive approach will allow parents to step up from YouTube Kids and through the three levels of a supervised account as they see fit before removing the restrictions completely as their children become young adults. For now, the supervised account is being offered in an early beta for families under the age of consent. Feedback will help refine the features before expanding it to a wider audience.