Parents bewildered as children find Guest Mode an easy escape from YouTube Kids

Some parents are wary of the ‘Guest Mode’ on YouTube as it has inadvertently granted children the freedom to bypass parental controls, thus giving rise to a number of concerns.

Even though the purpose of this function is to make it easier for users to access YouTube, it has somehow exposed children to inappropriate content.

We all know that the YouTube Kids app is made exclusively for children. It aims at making it simpler for both kids and parents to access videos that are more suitable.

So, the launch of YouTube Kids was viewed as a blessing for parents all around the world. Especially in this day and age when unrestricted internet access poses serious dangers to developing minds.

However, there are some parents who find themselves unable to download the YouTube Kids app. And this prompts them to set up a separate profile for their kids on the main platform.

Guest mode concerns parents as children find it an escape from YouTube Kids

Curiosity and the need to bypass parental control in children at this point prompts them to select the Guest Mode (1,2,3). Thus, giving rise to a situation as described by a parent below:

Exactly! There should be a way to eliminate Guest option just like one can delete the other profiles that are plainly on the screen. The best option to protect my children from the potential filth that their curiosity can yield is to delete the app altogether from their tv at this point.
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What’s more alarming is that it doesn’t save watch history. Therefore, there is no way for parents to ever learn what sort of content their kids are consuming.

Furthermore, the absence of watch history could encourage children to explore content that is not suitable for their age group.

The problem is that there is a “default” Guest account right next to his. He can easily go into that account and despite any controls on that Guest account, he can still stumble upon inappropriate content.
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Parental control is thus rendered pointless as kids can easily transition from a supervised account to a guest account owing to this issue.

Product expert is asking users to submit feedback

Acknowledging the severity of the issue, a Product Expert within the YouTube community described this situation as a “loophole”.

This expert is even urging all affected parents to send feedback to YouTube. This will surely signal a call for action and a plea for a more comprehensive solution.

While the call for feedback is a positive step, more immediate measures like ‘Enhanced Parental Controls’ and ‘Watch History Preservation’ can also be considered by the team.

But for now, more parents are rather inclined to have a feature that can help them disable the Guest Mode:

They should have been made a disable guest account feature not sure why they never have…sorry not a helpful answer but far as i know thats just what it is.
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Till this suggestion materializes, parents must remain vigilant navigating the complexities of technology in the best interests of their children.

We will keep tabs on the latest developments and update this article as we get new information.

NOTE: There are more such stories in our dedicated YouTube sections so be sure to go through them.

Featured image source: Google

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