How to keep screen time safe for kids

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Screen time is part of everyday family life now, and when it’s done well, it can be a positive and educational experience for kids. The key is being intentional about what children watch and how they watch it to help keep them safe.

Choosing age-appropriate, child-approved content, setting clear time limits, and watching together when you can all helps to make screen time feel safer and more connected. Platforms like YouTube Kids or curated channels designed specifically for children create a more controlled environment and reduce the risk of kids stumbling across content that isn’t right for them.

Parental controls are your best friend when it comes to online safety. Features such as supervised accounts, restricted search settings and turning off autoplay can give parents peace of mind while still allowing kids some independence. It also helps to talk openly with children about what they’re watching, encourage them to come to you if something feels confusing or scary, and balance screens with plenty of offline play. With the right boundaries in place, screen time can be safe, fun and even enriching for the whole whānau.

Safety first with KIDOGO and KIDOGO Junior

Safety is a big focus for NZ On Air, and all of the KIDOGO and KIDOGO Junior content has been carefully curated and approved as child-appropriate. Everything has previously been broadcast on local platforms, meaning it meets New Zealand broadcasting standards.

Because the content is clearly tagged on YouTube and YouTube Kids, children won’t accidentally be served inappropriate ads or recommendations while watching. That said, NZ On Air reminds us that ultimate responsibility still sits with parents and caregivers.

For younger children, setting up a YouTube Kids account is recommended, as it creates a safe, walled environment. For older kids, parents can explore YouTube’s parental controls, including “supervised experience”, to choose what works best for their whānau.

A handy tip: subscribing to KIDOGO or KIDOGO Junior makes it easy to guide kids straight to trusted content and the bright frames around each video help children quickly recognise they’re watching something made just for them.

Subscribe and follow

Subscribe to KIDOGO or KIDOGO Junior on YouTube or YouTube Kids and it makes it super easy for you or your tamariki to find the content again. If you also follow KIDOGO and KIDOGO Junior on social media, you’ll be alerted to new releases and hear from content creators.