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Personal tablet, YouTube and short video

Whether your child has their own tablet and what they watch, from none to a shared locked-down tablet to their own device.

Should our child have their own tablet, YouTube or short video apps?

In short: Parents choose between 4 main approaches: No personal device; Shared tablet with a locked profile; Own tablet with controls; Unrestricted. Evidence: your call. No outcome evidence picks a winner. Preference, culture, money and logistics decide. Best settled: toddler.

Evidence
Your call
Best settled
Toddler
Part of
Learning & the wider world

Personal tablet, YouTube and short video: what are the options?

Parents usually land on one of these 4 approaches.

  1. 1. No personal device

    The child has no device of their own.

  2. 2. Shared tablet with a locked profile

    The child uses a family tablet with a restricted children's profile.

  3. 3. Own tablet with controls

    The child has a tablet with parental controls switched on.

  4. 4. Unrestricted

    The child has a device with no restrictions.

Personal tablet, YouTube and short video: what does the evidence say?

Your call. No outcome evidence picks a winner. Preference, culture, money and logistics decide.

85% of children 12 and under watch YouTube, 51% daily

Sources

What else is worth knowing?

A device of the child's own is harder to supervise than a shared one. Video apps recommend one clip after another, so it is hard to control what comes next. Children's profiles and controls help and are not complete.

Questions to ask each other

  • When would our child get their own device?
  • How do we feel about YouTube and short videos?
  • What controls would we set?

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First published 2026-10-03. Last updated 2026-10-05. General information, not medical advice.