How YouTube is working to support teens’ mental health, wellbeing and safety online

A purple backpack with a tree in the background.

Product updates, principles and new and expanded partnerships are the latest in a long-term mission to support teens as they navigate the online world.

For teens today, a lot of life happens online. Teens are increasingly using online content to discover their passions, cultivate their identities and find supportive communities, according to Pew and the American Psychological Association. But as teens spend more time on their devices, it’s important for families and digital platforms to help them find balance and develop healthy online habits.

Adolescence is a crucial time in building self-esteem and strong mental health later in life, according to the NIH, and teens should have the freedom to explore and discover themselves online. But they should also have appropriate safeguards for what they consume, as well as resources that support their unique mental health needs. YouTube, which sits at the nexus of youth and online culture, has a crucial role to play.

“In recent years, my team at YouTube has led efforts to work with independent experts in child development, digital learning, children’s media, and more to provide kids with safer, age-appropriate experiences that allow them to learn, grow, explore and create at any age.”

– James Beser, Senior Director, Product Management, YouTube Youth

“In recent years, my team at YouTube has led efforts to work with independent experts in child development, digital learning, children’s media and more to provide kids with safer, age-appropriate experiences that allow them to learn, grow, explore and create at any age,” said James Beser, Senior Director, Product Management, YouTube Youth.

As part of those efforts, YouTube recently announced a set of Youth Principles, which guide YouTube’s work to provide young people with safer, high-quality experiences online. Among these core principles is the need to provide age-appropriate policies and features that evolve as children grow and mature.

“Building upon these efforts, I’m proud to announce that we are introducing added safeguards as well as new partnerships to better meet the unique needs of teens using YouTube,” Beser said.

The product updates and expanded partnerships with youth, parenting and mental health experts were announced in a recent YouTube blog post and are designed to help teens navigate their growing individual interests, while putting their safety, privacy and wellbeing first:

Additional safeguards for content recommendations

YouTube is updating its content recommendation systems to develop additional safeguards to support the mental health and wellbeing of viewers between 13 and 18 years old.

Teens are more likely to form negative beliefs about themselves when seeing repeated messages about idealized standards in content they consume, and applying guardrails can be a meaningful safety measure. This is why YouTube worked with its Youth and Families Advisory Committee to identify content that may be problematic for some teens if viewed in repetition, including content that displays situations of real-world social aggression or encourages altering physical features. This system of guardrails to limit recommendations of problematic content is currently in place for teens in the United States, with more countries to be added over the next year.

Enhanced Take a Break and Bedtime reminders

YouTube is revamping its Take a Break and Bedtime reminders to be more visually prominent and appear more frequently, particularly for viewers under 18.

Consuming too much digital content in a single sitting can be an issue for teens, especially near bedtime. That is why YouTube first launched embedded reminders to take a break in 2018. These reminders to manage screen time are on by default for users under 18, and are being redesigned to be even more interruptive as a full-screen takeover platform-wide — including on Shorts and long-form videos – and appear more frequently.

More accessible crisis resources

YouTube is updating crisis resource panels to help viewers pause and get help when they search for terms related to suicide, self-harm and eating disorders.

Teens who are in distress should be redirected to resources where they can get help. Building on its existing crisis resource tools, YouTube worked with experts in suicide, self-harm and eating disorder prevention as well as crisis response to create a new full-page crisis response experience to help viewers pause in moments of acute distress and lead them towards resources and helpful content categories.

An expert coalition of people and partners for healthy online experiences

In a constantly changing digital, social and scientific landscape, it’s essential for platforms like YouTube to work closely with experts to develop safeguards and standards for young people.

Since 2018, YouTube has worked with a Youth and Families Advisory Committee comprised of experts in children’s media, child development, digital learning and citizenship from a range of academic, non-profit and clinical backgrounds. YouTube regularly updates its products and policies in consultation with the committee, including the launch of supervised experiences and the introduction of Youth Quality Principles to support creators in making enriching, engaging and inspiring videos for kids and families.

As young people live more of their lives online, YouTube is expanding its pool of experts and partners to provide new resources and develop consistent industry-wide standards for teen and online wellbeing. These new partnerships include:

Developing new teen mental health safety guardrails

YouTube is supporting the World Health Organization and the British Medical Journal to develop guidance for developmentally-appropriate mental health content and experiences for teens.

YouTube is supporting the WHO and the British Medical Journal in convening experts with the goal of defining developmentally appropriate mental health content for teens and examining strategies for communicating mental health resources and information to teens online.

As a part of the partnership, BMJ will publish a full report that will encapsulate the guiding principles “that will empower platforms to scale mental health features specifically for young people. By doing so, the aim is that the content displayed will be more developmentally appropriate and safe for this demographic,” according to BMJ.

“It is everyone’s responsibility to make significant changes in the way young people consume content on social and digital media to protect their physical and mental health,” said Andy Pattison, leader of the Digital Channels team at the WHO. “WHO’s role is to explain the problems that young people are exposed to, and it is the responsibility of social and digital media companies to find solutions to these problems by making robust health content policies or building products that protect their users.”

Empowering teens and families

YouTube and Common Sense Networks are partnering to develop resources specifically designed to help families with teens.

From television to digital experiences, parents have a vested interest in understanding what kinds of content are appropriate for their kids. Common Sense Media has been a trusted source of research and recommendations about entertainment and technology for two decades. Together, YouTube and Common Sense Networks, the for-profit affiliate of Common Sense Media, recently announced new educational resources to help families empower their teens to create and engage with online content responsibly.

“One of the most important things parents can do is to help their teens take agency over their online use,” said Eric Berger, CEO and Co-founder of Common Sense Networks. “While it’s natural to want to be the driving force that protects your child, as teens mature and become more independent it’s crucial that they have the tools themselves to help them make responsible, informed choices in their online interactions.”

Facilitating meaningful conversations

YouTube and the National Parent Teacher Association are collaborating to bring schools and families resources and workshops that help facilitate meaningful conversations with children.

Families looking for information about the digital safety and wellbeing of their children don’t always know where to turn for resources and guidance. One possible solution is for local school communities to have access to these resources.

YouTube has partnered with the National Parent Teacher Association as a founding sponsor of PTA Connected, a national initiative that connects families with tools, research and support to help them navigate the digital world and build good digital habits. PTA Connected workshops help families connect over responsible online exploration, and help teens develop awareness and digital literacy as well as kindness and curiosity.

“The National PTA believes in a positive, hands-on approach to parenting in the digital age,” said National PTA President Yvonne Johnson. We’ve worked with YouTube to meet families where they are, to help spur proactive, open and ongoing conversation between parents and their children and teens about how to be safe, responsible and respectful online.”

Opportunity to support teens

As a place where millions of young people spend time, YouTube has a responsibility — and a unique opportunity — to support teen wellbeing online and ensure YouTube remains a positive influence in their lives.

“Many of us at YouTube working on these initiatives are parents ourselves, and we’re uniquely aware of the choices families face when it comes to ensuring the wellbeing of loved ones and setting digital ground rules,” Beser said. “We recognize the important role that YouTube can play in the life of teens and are deeply committed to ensuring time on YouTube is time well spent.”

As the online landscape and teen behavior continue to evolve, so will YouTube’s products, policies and partnerships to support teen health and wellbeing. YouTube’s commitment to safe experiences online means that teens today — and tomorrow — can access high quality content, explore their interests and see the world from different perspectives.