So, Your Kids Wants to Be a YouTuber. Should You Let Them?

For generations, kids have rattled off career aspirations that change as often as the weather—candymaker, dentist, professional sports player, veterinarian…the list goes on. As they grow, their career aspirations often change a bit. It’s a normal part of childhood to have varied interests before choosing a career path. With the explosion and monetization of online content creation, though, some of today’s digital natives have just one career goal: to be famous on the internet.

Parents might want to dispel this dream, which can feel as unlikely as a pee wee football player declaring they’ll win the Super Bowl one day. But other parents wonder what internet fame would look like for their family, or if there’s a way to dip a toe in the water safely. After all, kids are already streaming shows with self-made childhood stars like Everleigh Rose(Opens in a new window) and Ryan’s World(Opens in a new window). With the help of entrepreneurial parents, these kids have created online empires that began with a few simple, clunky videos.

There can be benefits to letting kids try their hand at internet fame, as long as parents approach it in a suitable way. We spoke with a few experts and the parents of one online-famous to get their advice.

Should Parents Let Kids Create Public Content? 

Should parents let their kids create public video content at all? The answer to this question is different for every family, according to Devorah Heitner(Opens in a new window), author of the forthcoming book Growing Up in Public: Coming of Age in a Digital World(Opens in a new window). Heitner has dedicated her career to helping adults navigate raising the most tech-savvy generation in history. While she urges parents to be cautious about how they let their kids be present on the internet, she does see some value in the desire to create content.

“There are parents who get the creative side of things. When they see their kid making cool crafts, they get excited and support it,” she said. Plus, most kids’ idea of putting up videos online isn’t about money but rather the hobby. “I don’t think that there are young kids who are looking for a job. Most parents are not either. Maybe we will see a bunch of millennial parents do it,” Heitner said, “but there are more kids who just want to share stuff, create something, and make awesome content.” 

The content kids create doesn’t necessarily need to be public either, Heitner added. In the same way that a parent might nurture a child’s desire to be on The Great British Bake Off by helping them learn to cook at home, there are ways you can let kids explore audio and visual editing in a more private manner. 

Heitner’s advice is to “approach it like any interest. ‘Oh, you want to learn to edit? Let’s make a video that’s just for us.'”

How Kids Benefit From Learning Content Creation Skills

While the chance of kids paying for college with their YouTube earnings is slim, many career fields are increasingly incorporating audio and visual content in their marketing and customer relations, according to Michele Hermann, head of education solutions at Logitech. Hermann and her team are constantly evaluating the role tech plays in learning.

“I love the idea of podcasts and creative corners in the classroom,” Hermann said. “It really allows the kids to be collaborative, allows them to be creative.”

Hermann sees value in letting kids become familiar with the technology they will use every day, like video tools, audio equipment, and lighting. “All the things that we adults are now learning as we live in the Zoom world are actually really critical for kids,” she said. As many parents witnessed during virtual schooling, kids are not inherently good at staying centered in the camera frame or modulating their voice volume while on a video call.

Audio and visual content creation also expands the way teachers can evaluate progress. “Show your work” used to mean writing down the steps to a math or science problem. With the integration of A/V skills into the classroom, showing your work could also mean the student making a video or audio recording explaining how they arrived at the answer. According to Hermann, A/V makes education more flexible.

Eventually, today’s kids will settle into adult careers. Famous or not, having experience with a variety of video and audio technology can only serve them well. All kinds of workers, from public officials to librarians and even restaurant owners, connect with their audiences via multimedia. About half of all jobs now require technology skills, and that number is expected to rise to 75%(Opens in a new window) by 2030—the year today’s fifth graders will graduate high school. 

(Credit: Diana Bolbat)

Vania Mania Kids: One Family Who Went Public 

Creating content is a valid creative outlet for kids’ ideas as well as a critical real-world skill. Some families might also decide to make a go at building a platform and monetizing what they post on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, or Twitch. 

One Ukrainian family did just that in 2015. When parents Diana and Evgeny Bolbat made their first videos, it was just a hobby. At the time, they had two kids who loved watching toy videos on YouTube and wanted to emulate the channels they followed. Vania Mania Kids(Opens in a new window), named after their two children, was born. One year later when the family’s earnings from the videos surpassed her salary, Diana was able to quit her job, and Evgeny followed a year after that. 

Now living in Dubai with their five kids and a following of more than 20 million subscribers, Diana and Evgeny shared some advice.

For families considering creating public content, they say it’s important to always keep your kids’ needs first. Their number one focus is the safety and well-being of their kids.

“We pay special attention to ensuring the personal safety and privacy of our kids,” the Bolbats said. “We teach them not to share any sensitive information while they’re filmed, and we also never show any personal data like our address or license plate number.” Sometimes their followers send messages saying they’ll be traveling to Dubai and asking to meet up, and the family always ignores these requests. They aren’t trying to be rude, just careful. 

Since launching their channel, the Bolbat family has gone from editing simple videos on their phones in iMovie to hiring a producer and partnering with AIR Media-Tech(Opens in a new window), a company that helps creators grow their audience and tap into current trends, as well as offering some protection from hackers and other nefarious entities. 

Diana and Evgeny have had to talk with their kids about negative comments, teaching them to ignore them. In 2019, YouTube disabled comments on nearly all videos starring kids, though negativity still leaks through on other platforms or through email. 

Comments are the hardest thing to control, said Heitner. A child creator might be in a video “sharing about the tooth fairy, and someone wants to comment on their body, ethnicity, race, or gender identity.” For younger kids, simply turning comments wherever possible off is best. Older kids may think they want feedback, she added, but they may not realize what they’re in for. “Every kid needs an editor-in-chief,” Heitner said. In the Bolbats’ case, the parents stand between their kids and all public commentary.

(Credit: Diana Bolbat)

What do the kids think about being famous and all the work they put in? “Our kids don’t realize they’re famous yet,” Diana said. “The younger kids still believe that all children have their own YouTube channels that only differ in the number of subscribers.” The older children have realized they have more subscribers than other channels they follow. However, since their primary audience is young children, Diana isn’t worried about it affecting their social lives.

Evgeny isn’t worried about fame yet either. He wants his kids to focus on being kind to the tiny fans they meet. “We explained to them how to take pictures and behave, that they have to be positive and friendly with the small viewers that love them and expect them to be sincere,” he said.

How have the kids coped, and what have they learned from this experience so far? According to Diana, her 11-year-old child Ivan loves to work on props and sets for their colorful videos. “Many interesting stories and adventures happen within the team all the time, and Ivan has made good friends with the cameraman.” Maria, who is 9, loves when the family makes water-themed videos, as she’s an avid swimmer. Stephania at 5 years old enjoys travel and fun locations like her older siblings. It can also be tiring, though. Sometimes a shoot takes longer than expected and young attention spans wane. 

While the parents are careful to not push their kids too hard, Diana said she does encourage them and gives examples from her and Evgeny’s own lives, explaining why it’s important to be disciplined to achieve success.

The Best Tech for Young Content Creators

Creating high-quality content with very few tools isn’t hard given the technology available today, though Hermann warns that “not everyone understands the difference between products designed for kids versus products designed for adults.” For example, an adult headset is going to fall off most seven-year-olds, so you should stick to kid-sized headphones. Meanwhile, the best podcasting equipment for adult amateurs and professionals doesn’t come cheap. There are functionality issues, too. The simpler the button layout and indicator lights, the easier it is for kids to navigate a device or software. While buying kid-friendly tech isn’t a necessity, it can increase the appeal for young creators to have fun, colorful, kid-appropriate tools.

Then again, you may already have what you need on hand. For video content, the iPhone 14 Pro Max is one of the top-rated video devices by content creators, with GoPro devices also being popular. Most kids can get started on any cell phone camera, though. If your goal is experimentation and not monetization, the quality of most modern smartphones is adequate.

For audio content, including podcasts and the audio in videos, the mic on a phone is often not sensitive enough to produce decent results. Thankfully, there are a ton of kid-friendly mics on the market. The Blue Yeti Aurora Mic(Opens in a new window) not only comes in fun colors and has included voice filters through its paired software, it’s also sturdy so young children won’t knock it over easily.

The Blue Yeti Aurora comes in white or pink
(Credit: Blue)

For a budget option with a similar look and feel, Target sells a basic desktop mic called Heyday Desktop Mic(Opens in a new window) for less than $30. It can meet the needs of most curious kids, but as their skills advance, they will notice a difference in sound quality from an inexpensive mic versus the pricier options.

And for something a bit different, the Blast Mic(Opens in a new window) is a neat option for kids interested in radio. The handheld mic live streams radio shows through the Blast Radio network, which can also be downloaded and manipulated in other software. The bright LED screen on the side of the mic indicates when kids are recording. The mic’s Lite-Brite aesthetic may also appeal to kids. It’s a great choice for kids who want to record on the go, creating content out in nature where a heavier mic would be awkward for example. One heads up for parents: Blast Radio has a wide variety of show themes, so keep an eye and ear on what your kids tune in to. 

Other accessories make content creation a bit easier and higher quality, like tripods and lighting. The STM Goods MagPod(Opens in a new window) tripod is a portable fold-up tripod that attaches via magnet to the back of a phone so kids do not need to struggle with tightening clips as you do with a traditional tripod. Some tripods, like those in the Joby GripTight GorillaPod(Opens in a new window) line, also have bendable legs that are perfect for wrapping around a tree or piece of playground equipment for creative filming.

There are a ton of lighting solutions on the market, ranging from $5 pocket lights that clip to a phone to setups with multiple lights. The Litra Beam is a portable little light with a monitor clip for video recorded via webcam. It can also be screwed onto any tripod mount easily. Heyday makes an affordable option(Opens in a new window) that holds a phone in the center, a popular setup for unboxing, beauty, and craft videos. The Bower(Opens in a new window) ring light is a tiny but powerful option for clipping on a phone or laptop. 

As far as software for creating and editing videos or audio content goes, the options can feel overwhelming, though a few that have proven useful for famous families. Canva is popular among creators for making video and podcast covers as well as other promotional images. For editing raw audio, Audacity and GarageBand (Mac only) are both very straightforward for kids to use. With these simpler tools, kids can drag audio clips into the window and rearrange them like LEGO blocks to build a broadcast. For video content, Apple’s iMovie is a simpler and less expensive option, as long as your family has an Apple device, than professional software such as Adobe Premiere Pro, though there’s no shortage of excellent video editing software.

Caution and Optimism

If your child is itching to start their path to online stardom, consider the skills they can develop and what they may learn from the experience. You can always begin with some test videos and audio content that you don’t put online to see if their desire lasts long enough to complete a few projects. If they get that far, you can go forward with a healthy blend of caution, encouragement, and optimism.

For more advice about kids and tech, see our list of everything a parent with connected children needs to know.

Contributor Meg St-Esprit interviewed Diana and Evengy Bolbat via a translator.