What Age Should a Child Have a YouTube Channel

It seems like nowadays, all the big stars on YouTube are kids! School-age kids, tweens, teens, even toddlers are getting in on the action! If your kids watch other kids on YouTube, there’s a good chance they want to start their own channel. But as parents, we obviously have some concerns! What age should a child have a YouTube channel? And what steps can we take to make sure they’re safe on the platform?

YouTube’s terms and conditions stipulate that users must be at least 13 years old to create a channel, or even use the platform. So what age should a child have a YouTube channel?

Even though users are supposed to be at least 13, it’s clear from just a quick search that plenty of kids have their own channels. Only you as their parent will be able to determine if your child is ready and mature enough to have their own channel, especially if you won’t be running it. If your child has asked to start their own child, do a little digging. Why do they want their own channel? What kind of content so they plan on posting? What do they hope to get out of it? Their answers to those questions will offer a lot of insight into their motivations.

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Personally, we would urge you to wait until your child meets the age requirement for YouTube before allowing them to start their own channel. That being said, some kids will definitely be ready before they’re 13! If your younger child has demonstrated that they’re ready and you feel comfortable, you can set up a channel on your own account that they can start with. This will mean that you’ll have to do all the uploading, but your kid will still have creative control. It also means that you’ll have total oversight, and can adjust settings to make it as safe as possible.

There are a few more steps you can take to make your child’s channel safe.

First off, make the videos private. They won’t be included in the YouTube aggregate feed and can’t be found in the search function. Regularly review any new followers, as well. Additionally, turn off commenting on the videos. In general, the type of feedback they’ll get in YouTube comments is not at all constructive or helpful.

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Preview all content before it gets uploaded, and if there’s something that concerns you, talk it over with your child. Make sure they understand what is and is not acceptable in terms of what they can put on their channel. And make it a point to review all the videos in a regular basis.

Having a YouTube channel can be a great creative outlet for kids. But what age should a child have a YouTube channel? That will really depend on the child! It can certainly be a fun and engaging activity for you to do together.

(Image: YouTube / Ryan ToysReview)