YouTube and other social media platforms are ramping up their parental controls as the online safety of minors<\/a> continues to be a hot topic internationally.<\/p>\n The Google-owned platform announced<\/a> on Wednesday that it\u2019s implementing additional parental controls, particularly around the amount of time their children and teens spend watching YouTube Shorts.<\/p>\n Parents will now be able to set a timer for how much time children\u2019s connected accounts can spend watching Shorts \u2014 YouTube\u2019s equivalent of TikToks or Instagram Reels \u2014 helping to limit the potential to waste time with mindless scrolling.<\/p>\n Parents can even block accounts from watching Shorts altogether \u2014 either permanently, or temporarily, like if a kid is supposed to be using YouTube to study for a test by watching educational content.<\/p>\n YouTube will also allow parents to set custom Bedtime and Take a Break reminders, which encourage users to stop watching videos. These features are also available for adults, who can opt to set their own limits and reminders.<\/p>\n For parents who also use YouTube, it can be challenging to move back and forth between an adult\u2019s account and kid\u2019s account \u2014 unless if you want your algorithm to be forever usurped by Bluey. In the coming weeks, YouTube says it will update the sign-up experience within the app to make it easier for parents and kids to toggle between their accounts with just a few taps\u2026 of course, that requires the parent or child to actually remember to make the switch.<\/p>\n These features build upon YouTube\u2019s existing parental controls for teens, which include the ability to supervise a teen\u2019s channel activity if they\u2019re making content. This has become industry standard, as TikTok<\/a>, Snapchat<\/a>, Instagram, and Facebook<\/a> have similar controls.<\/p>\n Last year, YouTube also unveiled age-estimation technology<\/a> to predict if an account belongs to a teen so that it can provide a more age-appropriate experience. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Shorts_Control_UX_with_Logo_1.width-1000.format-webp.webp?w=680\"){kind=logo}