OK the common sense people are wrong. I know for a fact that youtube should be for age 10+. And it can't be iffy for 13 to ages 15. It should be inappropriate for ages 6 and under, iffy for 7 to 9, then age appropriate for ages 10+ OK so I cleared it up. Now I hope they take my advice and do what I say. They are very wrong.

Youtube has been one of my favorite sites to visit and submit things to since I found out about it in '07. Just like the site's motto, Youtube is a place where you can 'Broadcast Yourself'. You can find educational, entertaining, and even inspirational videos on this site. However, like any site that has user-submitted material, there are some inappropriate things. Language in some videos and the comments of videos isn't always the cleanest. The content of certain videos may be violent or sexual. One of the good things is is the fact that you can use the Safety Mode feature to turn off anything that you don't want to be shown. And even if you don't use the Safety Mode, many videos that are overtly violent or sexual aren't available to users under 18. (Of course, people can lie about their age on their account, but if you set up the account with your child, you can ensure that this doesn't happen.)You can also flag or report videos that you may find offensive or inappropriate, and Youtube actually takes this into consideration and has actually suspended or shut down people on the site for posting the bad material. But all in all, Youtube is a great site to connect with other people who share your interests, entertaining yourself, and 'Broadcasting Yourself'.

It all depends on the the parent!! Some times people post videos that are "iffy" but other times, its just fine. When you search you can find both good AND bad videos The thing is, if you have a youtube channel and post videos about anything, be ready to have haters (aka people who leave bad comments on page) especially about certain beliefs. In the end, it depends on the parent because, they have to trust they taught their children right from wrong. Some of my friends love watching innappropriate vids, but I leave the room when they start to. I also live in constant fear that if I click something on accident, my parents may see it. Another thing I advise, staying up-to-date with the history of the computer. That way, your kid knows and will watch what he or she clicks on.

The safety mode isn't very accurate. I once had SAFETY MODE on and I accidentally watched a video with the f-bomb in it. Way to go for making dad ground me for a week, Youtube.

kids shouldnt be perverted to look bad stuff up

Youtube has practically everything. If you're going to let your child use youtube without supervision, think about whether you trust them doing a google search. Would they look up something innocent about a favorite book, favorite store, or favorite movie? Or would they go look at things that aren't appropriate for kids their age, such as porn. Youtube's the same way, with the exception of even innocent videos can have iffy comments. Some of the videos are horrible and tasteless and others are rather enjoyable. I would monitor my child to see what they like for a few days before giving them free reign if it were me.

Obviously everyone knows what YouTube is by now. It's without a doubt one of the most popular sites for teens. But what about younger kids? If they're dead set on going on here, it would be best to watch them. Even if they are just going to watch an upload of a Dora episode they missed, some of the videos that come up on the front page are inappropriate. I can just imagine a curious kid clicking on one. The comments from other users can be seen on all videos. Some video uploaders don't allow comments, and there's also a button to hide them. But if you have an older kid who's planning to join YouTube and comment as well, be warned - there's A LOT of heartless users on there who use intense swearing and are just genreally rude. Lots of stupid "cat fights" occur in the comments also, with tons of cursing. Not only are the comments a problem, but so are the videos. Like I said, you can watch your kid or give them restrictions on what they can watch...but I have had a personal experiance that made me realize how unpredictable this site can be. Now, I did use to think that YouTube was a perfectly fine site as long as your kid didn't look up porn videos or something wacked like that. But one day, at my aunt's house I saw my twin 9 year old cousins were on YouTube. I came over to see what they were watching, and I was shocked. Apparently they had looked up videos about "Elmo kills Barney" or something like that. The video they were watching had Elmo trying to shoot Barney. I just thought, at the time, that this was just harmless. A little weird, but still harmless. Then I heard Elmo yell, "Shut the f*** up!" to Barney and then he started cursing up a storm. My cousins laughed and didn't seem bothered by it. I thought about just switching off the computer, but then they did anyway when my aunt called them for a snack. Then I realized that people can so easily stick a curse word or other inappropriate stuff into a video where you'd least expect it. I'll admit I kind of did see it coming in the Elmo video, but once my friend and I were watching an Animal Crossing video and the guy playing the game started cursing and having a fit. Oh, and guess what I heard one of my cousins say the other day? The F word. Hey, Elmo said it, right? *rolls eyes* I once even read a comment on some other forum (months ago; I have no idea what forum it was now) that once this one person discovered YouTube, their innocence was shattered and they learned about the "birds and the bees" shall we say. So, while Youtube had a lot of good videos, some educational even, it'd be your best bet to supervise a kid under 12.

Well it is 13+ to get an account...

Here's the thing: this is a site where 100% of the content is user-generated. These videos can have extremely positive messages and no inappropriate content, or they can be very negative with a lot of just about everything you wouldn't want your children to see. Any mature teen who isn't interested in junk like that should be able to use discretion to filter the "bad stuff" out without much trouble. Also, CSM claims that the site has "porn videos" in an 18+ section. This is not true. YouTube users can mark videos that they feel to be pornographic. Enough reports cause these videos to be restricted to only users aged 18 and up. YouTube staff examines the videos and takes appropriate action; if the content is fine, they remove the restrictions. If it is inappropriate, but not pornographic, they leave the restrictions. Finally, if it is deemed to be pornographic, the video is removed.