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YouTube introduces industry-first Shorts time limits, custom reminders, and simplified account management to enhance safety for teens and families, promoting mindful viewing habits.
YouTube has rolled out new parental controls and protections designed to enhance safety for teens and families, announced on January 14, 2026. These updates focus on mindful viewing habits, higher-quality content recommendations, and easier account management. Parents gain unprecedented flexibility to tailor experiences for young users.​​
Parents can now set daily time limits for YouTube Shorts on teen accounts, ranging from 15 minutes to two hours, or soon block it entirely by setting the timer to zero—an industry-first tool to curb endless scrolling. Customizable Bedtime and Take a Break reminders expand on default teen wellbeing features, allowing adjustments for homework or travel.​​YouTube introduced principles, developed with experts from UCLA, the American Psychological Association, and youth advisors, to prioritize enriching teen content like educational videos from Khan Academy over low-quality material. These guidelines educate creators and refine recommendation algorithms for age-appropriate, high-value videos.​​
An updated mobile app sign-up lets parents create supervised child accounts easily and switch profiles with a few taps, ensuring tailored content for each family member. Teens remain in protected under-18 accounts automatically.
