My son Ian was browsing YouTube the other day. I was casually watching over his shoulder. But he was wearing earphones. So I couldn’t tell what he was watching. Well, as you’ve probably guessed, he saw something inappropriate in a video about an xBox game no less!

We had a conversation and laid down new rules for using YouTube. But this got me thinking. As a parent, you don’t want to cut your children off. There are some great videos for kids on the Web. But how do you protect them from adult material?

YouTube has some rudimentary protections for kids. Some videos require you to log in to view them. You have to enter your age to get a YouTube account. But there is no age verification. So, kids can easily lie.

Plus, there is plenty of inappropriate content that doesn’t have this restriction. There is no way to judge video content automatically. An actual person has to view and restrict it. YouTube gets way too many videos to keep up.

A better solution is video sites for kids. I’ve found three. Many of the videos are made for kids by kids. But some of the better YouTube videos are there, as well.

KidsTube.com

This site has hundreds of videos, mostly made by kids. All the content is original. There are no YouTube videos. Your kids can sign up and upload their own videos. They can also participate in contests. All videos are monitored. So, only kid-friendly content appears.