YouTube is one of the most popular social media platforms for children. According to Statista, 80% of surveyed parents with children under 11 years of age stated their children watch YouTube, with 53% of them watching YouTube videos every day. The YouTube “Made for Kids” section also gets 11 million weekly users. If your kid(s) obsess over YouTube videos, then it’s no surprise that they’ll eventually want a channel of their own.
Having their own YouTube channel allows them to express their creativity, learn how to responsibly navigate a social media platform, and even allows them to tap into their entrepreneurial spirit. With that in mind, here’s how you can help them get started:
Know the Ground Rules
Technically, children under the age of 13 are not allowed to have their own account, and those between 13-17 need parental permission. However, if your kids are under the age of 13, you’re allowed to create an account for them, which is exactly what Ryan’s parents did for Ryan’s Toy Reviews. Set a Gmail account for their YouTube channel if they’re under 13 and then begin building out the channel with its channel name and details. If you’re still on the fence about whether they should be creating their own content, try starting out with private videos, which restricts viewing capabilities to only those who have the link.
Teach Them the Basics
Although the goal is to let your child lead the channel, the fact is, they’ll need a co-creator. Setting up a camera and talking into it is one thing, but story planning, editing, and the creative process is entirely another. How involved you’ll be in the process will of course depend on your child’s age, but your involvement is important. Explain how storyboarding works so that they can play out each video and help them maintain a content calendar. Learn basic video editing when necessary and show them how to do it. Always remember to ensure they retain creative control, even when you’re still manning the operation.
Create Bonding Moments
In an interview with TubeFilter, Ryan’s dad stated that one of the main reasons they set up the toy review account on behalf of their son was so they could create more bond moments and remain connected with family overseas. “Ryan has a lot of extended family outside of the U.S., so YouTube was a great way to share childhood memories with them,” he said. “It’s also a great way for us to spend more time together as a family and to bond with him.”
Understand Monetary Potential
With so many children on YouTube, it’s no wonder that many children want to create a channel of their own and learn how to make money on YouTube. They may have even been inspired by one of many child YouTube stars who make thousands—or even millions—with their YouTube presence, like Ryan’s Toy Reviews (the kid earned $24 million in 2019 alone).
Although YouTube has changed the way it allows content creators to monetize videos created for children, it’s still very much possible, so long as your child is passionate about launching a channel they (or the parents) aren’t in for the money. If your child isn’t having fun with the content they’re creating, not only will their lack of passion show in their videos, but it could hurt their overall happiness and self-esteem.
Monitor Their Channel
Lastly, the most important part of helping your child run a YouTube channel is monitoring it. Keep your child safe by paying attention to every piece of content they’re creating, the comments and messages they’re receiving, and the content they’re consuming. First and foremost, talk with them about what’s off limits for the content they publish. For example, remind them not to disclose personal information, such as the name of your street, or details about their personal lives, such as where their parents work. You should also ask to review each piece of content before it gets published.
Monitoring content consumption is easier than ever, particularly if you’re concerned about the “free-for-all” brevity of the massive YouTube platform. Now, you can assure your kids can only access parent-approved content or content geared towards older children. Parents can create profiles for their kids using a master profile and then select the channels available for viewing across each profile. You can also select whether each profile is geared towards “older” or “younger” children and YouTube will deliver age-appropriate content. Alternatively, you can make it a habit to regularly sort through your children’s search history.
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