YouTube gives parents new tools to block Shorts for kids

YouTube is expanding its parental controls, giving parents new ways to limit—or completely block—their children’s access to Shorts as concerns about kids’ screen time continue to grow.

The platform announced on Wednesday that parents can now set daily time limits for Shorts on supervised accounts. The feature is designed to curb endless scrolling on YouTube’s short-form video feed, which closely mirrors TikTok and Instagram Reels.

Image Credits: YouTube

Parents can also block Shorts entirely. The restriction can be permanent or temporary, such as during homework time or exam preparation, when kids may need YouTube for educational videos rather than entertainment.

In addition to Shorts controls, YouTube is rolling out customizable Bedtime and Take a Break reminders for children’s accounts. These prompts encourage users to step away from videos after a set period — a feature already available to adults who want to manage their viewing habits.

Managing multiple accounts has long been a pain point for families, especially when parents share devices with children. To address this, YouTube says it will soon make it easier to switch between adult and child accounts within the app, reducing the chance of recommendations being overtaken by kids’ content.

The new tools build on YouTube’s existing teen supervision features, which allow parents to monitor activity for teens who upload videos or run channels. Similar controls have become standard across major social platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook.

Last year, YouTube also introduced age-estimation technology designed to identify teen users and automatically adjust their experience, even if an account hasn’t been explicitly marked as a child’s profile.

The updates arrive as governments and regulators worldwide continue to scrutinize how social platforms impact minors, particularly around addictive design patterns and short-form video consumption.