How to turn parental controls off and on for YouTube, Netflix, iPlayer and Prime

WE’VE never needed more guidance on internet safety than now as devices and streaming platforms continue to become part of our everyday lives.

But children particularly need more protection than anyone and that’s where parental controls come in.

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Online platforms including YouTube, Netflix, iPlayer and Prime each have some level of parental control to allow adults to monitor what’s being accessed and viewed.

Richard Evans, education expert at The Profs says: “Turning on parental controls for your children’s accounts is important to protect their safety on the internet.

“Parental controls aren’t just important for social media, but all platforms your children use, including streaming services like Netflix.”

Here, we reveal exactly how to turn on parental controls for YouTube, Netflix, iPlayer and Prime.

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YouTube 

When it comes to controlling how your child uses YouTube, a YouTube Kids account can be a great option.

YouTube Kids allows signed-in parents to create a separate profile for each child in their household.

To set up an account:

1. Open the YouTube Kids app and follow the on-screen instructions
2. When you’re asked to, enter the year your child was born
3. You can also select a content experience for your child based on the age categories.

The age categories are:

• Preschool (ages 4 and under)
• Younger (ages 5–8)
• Older (ages 9–12)

Richard says: “Each category allows children to watch different styles of videos.

“You can also choose to approve content yourself, which means your child can only watch videos, channels or collections that you’ve approved.”

Switching to a regular YouTube account:

If your child is ready to make the switch from YouTube Kids to a regular account, then you can create a supervised account that allows you to have parental controls set up. 

“You can do this by linking your account to their account via Family Link,” Richard says.

What do to:

1. Sign into your account
2. Head to Settings > Parent Settings and select your child’s account
3. Under YouTube Settings, click on Edit and choose a content setting for your child.

With a supervised account, you can also review your child’s watch history.

Netflix 

There are lots of films and television series that simply aren’t suitable for children on Netflix, so enabling parental controls can ensure they are only able to watch age-appropriate content on the platform.

To enable parental controls:

1. Log in from the main account holder’s profile
2. Click on ‘Account’ and scroll down to ‘Profile & Parental  Controls’
3. Tap the arrow next to the account you want to update and click ‘Change’ next to Profile Lock
4. Enter your account password and then create a pin that can be used on your Netflix account
5. You should now see a lock icon next to the profile. 

You can also set a maturity level to a specific profile.

1. Scroll down to ‘Profile & Parental Controls’
2. Click on the arrow on whichever profile you want to update and tap  ‘Change’
3. Click ‘Change’ next to Viewing Restrictions

To remove the restrictions, simply follow the steps again.

iPlayer 

To enable parental controls on BBC iPlayer:

1. Head to iPlayer’s Parental Guidance page
2. Click on the ‘Set up the parental Guidance Lock now’ button
3. Click the ‘Turn On’  button

You will now have to create a 4-digit pin code which will be required whenever an age-restricted show is trying to be accessed. 

Prime 

To enable parental controls on Amazon Prime:

1. Sign into your Prime account
2. Select ‘Settings’
3. Scroll down to the ‘Parental Controls’ section
4. Enter a 4-digit PIN and save it

This PIN can then be used to restrict certain features of Prime.

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To enable Purchasing Restrictions so that a PIN is required to make a purchase on the platform, select ‘On’  under ‘Purchase Restrictions’.

To enable restrictions on the content that can be viewed on Prime, slide the slider under ‘Viewing Restrictions’ to highlight in green the age categories that will not require a PIN to view.  

Alamy