How to block YouTube from children?

YouTube is one of the most visited pages on the web. This is a hosting where children will find interesting and educational video content, cartoons, useful resources for education and much more. But YouTube also has a lot of 18+ material that is not intended to be viewed by minors. Children do not emphasize these limitations, and ignoring them can harm the unformed psyche of the child. In such cases, the question arises of how to block YouTube for children. Still, this is sometimes practiced for self-control, so as not to be distracted by entertainment during work.

CONTENT

• Can YouTube be blocked?
• How to block YouTube from children?
  • Solution 1: via the hosts file on Windows
  • Solution 2: using parental controls
  • Solution 3: using smartphone apps
  • Solution 4: through the BlockSite extension
  • Solution 5: from the admin panel of the router
• How to block a YouTube channel?
• Can I watch a blocked YouTube video?

Can YouTube be blocked?

The problem with watching YouTube is not only wasted time, often video channels distribute unwanted content, and the health of unformed children’s organisms worsens from being constantly at the screen. Few manage to protect their child from negative information through prohibitions and moralizing. 90% of schoolchildren deceive their parents and re-visit prohibited resources. The only radical solution to the problem is to block unwanted content.

How to block YouTube from children?

Since blocking YouTube viewing in the usual way you do in everyday life will not work, it is wise to seek help. Of course, when a child is technically “savvy”, it will be extremely difficult and sometimes impossible to do this. However, if you want to close access for a preschooler, this can be done without much difficulty.

The easiest way:

1. Log in on all installed browsers to YouTube.
2. Then scroll down the page and find the section “Safe Mode off.”

Safe Mode is now enabled, so children will not be able to view video content marked 18+.

Solution 1: via the hosts file on Windows

On every PC running Windows there is a text file called hosts. In it, you can change the IP address for any site, including an invalid one or some kind of stub.

To edit the mentioned file, initially you need:

1. Open the “Notepad” program: click on the shortcut with the right mouse button and select “Run as administrator”.
2. In the program window, click “File”, then “Open”.
3. Switch the display mode from text documents to all files and select hosts, which is located at C: \ Windows \ System32 \ drivers \ etc.
4. When the file you are looking for is open, you should go down the text and add one or more addresses of the pages that you want to block in the format: 127.0.0.1 site address. A space is mandatory after the numbers, after them the page address is entered without https: //. When multiple entries are added, each is entered on a new line. In our case, this is “127.0.0.1 https://www.youtube.com”, without quotes.

Important! When it is necessary to unblock the pages, hosts are reopened and the entries made are deleted.

Solution 2: using parental controls

This method is ideal for parents who want to keep their children safe from pornography and other inappropriate adult content. With the help of parental control options in Windows, it is easy to create a list of pages and start auto-blocking of any adult sites. Any restrictions apply only to the child’s profile and do not affect the parent’s account.

Consider blocking YouTube for a child account using Windows 10 as an example. In earlier versions of the operating system, the procedure is different, but the general sequence of actions is similar:

1. You need to go to the “Start” section, then open the “Settings”, go to “Accounts”, then “Your data” and make sure that the login was carried out through a Microsoft account: an email will be displayed on the monitor. If not, then you need to register your own account.
2. Select “Family and other people” in the sidebar and click “Add family member”. In the pop-up window, the child’s account is added using the tips of the system. In the process, you will need to connect any mail, open it and confirm the registration of the profile.
3. Next, you need to return to the “Family and other people” menu and click “Manage family settings via the Internet”.
4. Unlike previous versions of the operating system, where each account parameter is in one section, the subsequent configuration of Windows 10 takes place on the official Microsoft page. When the site is open, you should log in through your username and open the “Family” tab. Having noticed the child’s account, you need to click next to it on “Content restrictions”.
5. Next, the page scrolls down to the Web Browsing tab. Here you can start autoblocking YouTube content using the “Block inappropriate websites” switch and add your own specified site to the “Always block” list.

These restrictions apply only to Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer. Other browsers in the child’s profile will be completely blocked. You can also use third-party apps with parental controls.

Solution 3: using smartphone apps

An extremely popular option on mobile phones is considered to be “Parental Control”, however, it is quite difficult to make it properly, since there are a large number of methods for circumventing restrictions that are built into Android, YouTube, Play Market, etc.

Let’s take a look at the most useful applications:

• Screen Time parental controls. The application in question makes it possible to monitor the child’s use of programs and sites. Thanks to him, it will be possible to block the program for the period of sleep and school, restrict access to specific pages on the Internet, including YouTube, and control the time children spend on their smartphones.
• Kaspersky Safe Kids. A similar program with a different interface. The main advantage will be that the application is free, and Screen Time can be used for free only for 14 days, and then you need to pay for a monthly subscription. In addition, there are paid additional functions in the application. These include viewing social media activity, SMS messages and numbers to which calls were made, as well as the child’s location.

Solution 4: through the BlockSite extension

Using such an extension will make it possible to block any resources or pages, including YouTube. It is recommended to set it for each browser used on the computer, but the program works best on Google Chrome.

To block YouTube, you need to do the following:

1. Download the program and enter its name in the Chrome browser.
2. Then you need to right-click on the image of the extension and select the line with the parameters.
3. Enter the YouTube address in the line and add it to the filters.
4. When such simple actions are carried out, a window will appear in the process of switching to YouTube, where it is indicated that the site is blocked.

Important! Such an add-on effectively copes with its tasks, but it has a significant drawback – the extension can be easily disabled. Probably because of this, the program is not very popular among domestic users.

Solution 5: from the admin panel of the router

Access control settings on routers of different models are different, but their algorithm is mostly similar. Let’s look at how to block access to inappropriate content on YouTube using TP-Link as an example. TP-Link Access Control operates in black and white sheet mode. In the first situation, access is allowed to any web resource other than those specified. In the second, it is forbidden to everyone other than those indicated.

Let’s try to create a blacklist in the router settings:

1. You should go to the admin panel of the router (login data on the sticker of the router at the bottom), open the “Access Control” tab and click “Setup Wizard”.
2. In the window that appears, select the “IP address”, indicate the name of the node in which the rule is created, and write down the IP or the range of addresses.
3. Then the “Domain name” is selected, any target name is registered (for which a rule will be created) and the forbidden pages are listed.
4. In the next stage, a blocking schedule is created.
5. The name of the rule is set, all settings are checked, and the changes are saved.
6. The last step will be to select the filtering mode (in this situation, you should prohibit packets from the specified domain to pass through the router) and save the changes. In addition, you must select “Enable Internet Access Control Management”.

As a result, the entrance to YouTube will be blocked, thanks to which it will be possible to protect your children from watching unwanted videos.

Important! Using this blocking method, the user does not receive a pop-up window with a notification about the resource exclusion.

How to block a YouTube channel?

This video hosting has a large number of channels that do not violate any rules or laws. However, it is not uncommon for parents to view the content on them as objectionable. If you need to stop using not all hosting, but only some channels, you can block them.

How to block a user on YouTube:

• It is necessary to mark the channel selected for blocking.
• Open the section “About the channel”, then next to the line about the number of subscribers find the symbol in the form of a flag and, by clicking on it, select the required item. In our situation, “Block user”, then save the changes made.

Important! It should be remembered that this rule applies only to the account that is turned on at a particular moment.

To block YouTube on Android, you need to install the official YouTube Kids app with integrated kids mode. This can be done on your own smartphone with the Android operating system or a tablet.

To do this, go to the Play Store, use the search and install the required application. Then it opens and after the splash screen you need to click “Start”. Then the work is set up:

• the year of birth is entered;
• the login and password from it are indicated for the extended functionality of parental control;
• data, date of birth of the child is entered;
• Enables or disables the search option for maximum security.

Then the program will be ready to use. On the main page, you can see videos that will be appropriate for the child’s age. To change the settings, you should click on the lock on the right in the corner.

Important! To make sure that it is the parents who want to change the settings, the application will suggest solving an example. Then you can set the timer to be in the program and change the settings by clicking on the gear icon.

Can I watch a blocked YouTube video?

Through auxiliary applications, it is possible to block access to YouTube, but such a block is easy to bypass. Despite the low efficiency of various methods, they can be used. The most common blocking of content unnecessary for a child will be the method using the hosts file, but the most effective one is through parental control. Of course, today’s children, if they wish, can cope with virtually any blocking of YouTube. However, the use of applications and other methods will make it possible to at least minimally restrict children from inappropriate content.

It is recommended to try to explain to the child that a video 18+ or something similar will not give the child useful knowledge. When this can be done, no special applications are required. According to feedback from parents, children regularly find ways to bypass the blocking of the most common video hosting on the network.

The article has analyzed the most popular and effective methods of blocking YouTube from children, but none of them provides full protection. They can be used until about 8 years of age, then such measures will only cause a desire to find a method to bypass the blockage. Therefore, you should apply the methods that are described in the article as long as it gives positive results, but you should not hope that they will help get rid of all the problems.