My 11-y/o wants his own YouTube channel

[CokeAndPepsi]

He wants to post Minecraft videos. He will never show his face, he will change his voice and of course never use his real name. We will monitor closely and he’s a responsible kid who knows better than tO interact with anyone and I can’t imagine many people will watch.

Something feels weird about it to me but considering the above it’s hard to argue. Does anyone have any sage advice?

I thought even youtube (hardly known for being responsible) said they had to be 13?

You have to be 13 to run a channel on YouTube, people get around that by the parents technically having the accou t, I wouldn't recommend it but if you're going to, turn all comments, likes/dislikes off. I think 11 is too young to deal with hate comments/dislike ratios.

You have to be 13 if you need a reason to say no

That’s really helpful thank you. I do want to say no so this helps.

Hypothetically if I wanted to say yes what would the risks be? (Other than condoning lying about your age to do something you would not otherwise be allowed to do)

I'm not sure re risks

Would he have comments switched on?

My question would be more, what does he hope to gain from it?

Well, a compromise would be that he produces a video fit for publication that you will watch and then IF it meets the qualifications he has already identified re being incognito then you will make an account linked to an email address that you control and will publish his video. If he doesn't get a video finished in a suitable format then you can just keep saying that you are happy to set it up once the video appears. He might just keep filming bits and having ideas for a year or two or he might turn out to be a productive Youtuber.

My oldest has just asked, he turned 13 a week ago. Still considering it but we wouldn't be letting my nearly-11 year old do it - too young and you have to be 13 anyway.

A big risk is he becomes obsessed with people's responses rather than doing the activity for himself. 11 is young to be bothered in that way.

Mine code their own websites but they are not online for others to find - why can't he make the videos but not post them?

I also think lying about age is really not sensible, as it just encourages them to do the same later!

Why don't you get him set up practising with filming and editing until he's 13? It's a great skill.

The risks with kids are mental health, privacy and more sinister things like grooming.

This is some good guidance:
www.commonsensemedia.org/learning-with-technology/is-it-ok-for-my-kid-to-start-her-own-youtube-channel

”Something feels weird about it to me but considering the above it’s hard to argue”
If you don’t want him to have a YouTube channel op then just say no. Tell him you think he is too young and you’ll reassess it in a year or so.

My 11yo has a YouTube channel. It's set up in my name, there is no webcam, all comments are disabled and I watch each video before he uploads to check content.

He recently reached the monetization threshold so is making a bit of pocket money from it.

I think if you're fully involved and make sure it's closely monitored there's no problem