If you are like most parents, you are probably quite concerned about the new YouTube application that Google has developed. It seems to be rather spontaneous and although the first attempts to make this application available to the masses were quite successful, it really is a very dangerous precedent to set for future applications. Parents have a right to restrict what their children can view on YouTube. The question is, should they do this with parental control for YouTube or just allow the children to use the site?

I would suggest staying away from the parental control for YouTube application at all costs. Although there may be legitimate uses for it in some isolated circumstances, the more generalized forms of parental control for YouTube are a real threat to the overall safety of our children. As the name implies, the whole idea behind this application is to prevent YouTube from allowing inappropriate material to be viewed by children. Well, there are a number of problems with that particular approach.

First, not all children will be mature enough to recognize that what they are seeing on YouTube is inappropriate. Many younger children may view videos with themes they are not prepared for. What is even more frightening is that the more easily accessible pornography can come from within YouTube itself! This is the crux of the issue. If Google can be trusted with the enormous amount of information that is available on their servers, how can parents be certain that their children are not getting into harmful hands?

Obviously, we cannot put a complete blanket on parental control for YouTube because there are always going to be situations where it would be appropriate to enforce parental control for YouTube. However, the more generalized parental control for YouTube approach does not address the potential dangers. What if a parent wanted to block someone from viewing YouTube based solely on their political views? That is obviously a hard situation to pull off. What if a parent wanted to ban any type of media from being viewed on YouTube?

Such a move could prove counterproductive. In fact, it could lead to a dangerous situation. A parent inadvertently allows their children to gain access to the internet at an acceptable outlet without ever knowing. How could such an oversight occur? It is simple really; parents do not monitor what their children are accessing when they are online.

This means that Google, which has the incredible resources necessary to ensure that YouTube remains a safe environment for all consumers, leaves the responsibility entirely up to the individual user as to whether or not they feel it is safe to allow their children to have unsupervised access to the internet. It would seem that Google has not learned its own lesson from their recent experience with the MySpace music website. The company was blasted by a Federal Trade Commission attorney for censoring MySpace music. This move was viewed by many as an attempt to stifle free speech. The FTC lawyer who handled the case was widely criticized for singling out YouTube and asking the company to police its site rather than the other way around.

If you use a parental control for YouTube application, then you know how easy it is to block inappropriate content. You simply log into your account and select the appropriate tab before selecting the relevant category. Within minutes, you will find a list of YouTube videos that you do not want your children to see. When you are finished, all you have to do is save the selected video as it will be available to all users to watch. You can set a time period and a category that will restrict viewing of inappropriate material.

When you use this application in conjunction with parental control for Facebook, you will also find a number of added features. With additional blocking options, you can limit the time that you want to spend on the internet, block inappropriate chat rooms, and even log specific chat conversations. The parental control for YouTube is a powerful tool that can save you significant time and energy when you have a duty to supervise your children or when you simply want to keep an eye on what they are doing on the internet. No parental control for Facebook is complete without this valuable addition.