Date: February 10, 2026
Duration: 6:39
On this episode of the Mason Vera Paine Show, Dr. Garth Graham, Global Head of YouTube Health, joins Mason to discuss Safer Internet Day and how parents can support their children’s digital wellbeing. Dr. Graham shares practical tips for setting healthy online boundaries, highlights YouTube’s new suite of parental control tools, and explains how features like screen time limits and bedtime reminders can make digital parenting easier. From modeling good online habits to involving kids in the conversation, Dr. Graham offers expert advice to help families navigate the challenges of today’s connected world.
Episode Highlights: How YouTube’s New Tools Empower Parents for Safer Internet Day
0:51 – Dr. Garth Graham emphasizes the importance of parents modeling good digital habits for their children, explaining that kids tend to mirror the online behaviors they observe at home.
1:15 – The episode introduces YouTube’s suite of parental control tools, allowing families to set up age-appropriate content filters, manage short-form video limits, and utilize bedtime or break reminders to support children’s digital wellbeing.
2:57 – Dr. Garth Graham recommends co-viewing, encouraging parents to watch videos with their kids so they understand their children’s online experiences and can tailor boundaries more effectively.
4:21 – The discussion covers features like prominent bedtime reminders on YouTube Kids, describing how these full-screen takeovers act as strong cues for kids to stop viewing content and rest.
06:02 – The conversation wraps up with actionable advice for parents to involve their children in the discussion about online boundaries and to use YouTube’s blog at blog.youtube.com for more resources and updates on digital safety features.
Safer Internet Day Transcript
Announcer – 0:00: Mason Vera Paine.
Mason Paine – 0:02: Today is Safer Internet Day. With young people spending more time online than ever, digital safety has become a priority for families trying to set healthy boundaries. YouTube released a newly launched suite of industry-first tools designed to give parents more flexibility and control over their children’s digital wellbeing. Joining me to speak about these features and how to implement them is the global head of YouTube Health, Dr. Garth Graham. Thanks for joining me, Dr. Graham.
Dr. Garth Graham – 0:28: Thank you for having me.
Mason Paine – 0:29: You know, when it comes to setting boundaries for the internet, I think that’s something that’s going to be very difficult, not just for children, but for parents as well, because you have to spend time working, entertainment, all this other stuff. So how are you going to be able to convince your kid to set a reduction of their own screen time when it’s kind of hard to do it yourself?
Dr. Garth Graham – 0:51: And I will tell you, you know, I, we all face struggles as parents. I will say this as myself as well. So there are a couple of things. One is you do have to be a role model to your children because they you will, know, look at your behavior and then follow that. And so it is important to to try, try as best as we can to model the behavior that we want for our children. Second part is it is important to set those boundaries. On YouTube, we have a number of tools to kind of, for parents to go in and log on and set boundaries, you know, make sure that your kids have the right age-appropriate experience in the right categories. You know, you can set the boundaries for the amount of short-form video they’re going to watch, bedtime or sleep time reminders, all of those things.
Dr. Garth Graham – 1:31: So it is important to set boundaries for your kids. And so the last part to get at another part of your question is that’s why I always recommend families have a family plan. So, you know, what are things that apply to both them as parents and their children altogether.
Mason Paine – 1:47: You know, kids are crafty though. If they want to go online, they’re going to, they’re going to end up doing it. How, how can you get around that? Right. How, how can you stop this from happening?
Dr. Garth Graham – 1:57: So, you know, one of the good things about some of the parental tools I was just saying today we have on YouTube is it directly links into the kids’ account and then drives, you know, the information that the kids are engaged in based on those settings. So, you know, once you set those settings, the kids are kind of locked into that in general. So. It’s always good to utilize these parental features because it really helps guide the content that the kids view and limit their exposure to content that is not age-appropriate. Setting up these parental accounts, I think, are particularly important.
Mason Paine – 2:32: One of the things I remember growing up is my mother specifically would always sit and watch any show that I was watching. And this is going to date me, but Ren Stimpy, she would watch that with me.
Dr. Garth Graham – 2:45: I remember that show.
Mason Paine – 2:46: Right? And Beavis and Butt-Head, she would wouldn’t let me watch it at all. And so I’m thinking to myself, like, our parents, should they be doing that too? Like sitting down, actually watching what you’re doing?
Dr. Garth Graham – 2:57: Definitely, definitely. By the way, you took me back with those examples. Another thing we encourage is co-viewing so that you understand what their experience is like. And so even as you set these boundaries, you can set them in a context for what you know is your child’s digital engagement and their overall ecosystem, you know, in general. So that part is, is is a, a big part of, of all of this. So I think understanding your kid’s behaviors, modeling by understanding your own behaviors, and then setting up a plan really is, is how I would think about it.
Mason Paine – 3:29: What about for the parent that isn’t able to be consistent? Are there ways, like a built-in feature that can help them keep them consistent?
Dr. Garth Graham – 3:37: You set in these features or these guardrails in your kid’s account, it just continues to work. You don’t have to, reset it until their age has changed or until you want to make a change. So it’s just a, it’s the kind of thing that you can try to take some time setting up initially in terms of these parental safeguards and then have them just continue to work. That part is important. But, you know, again, you know, parenting is challenging. And so for us, we’ll try to make setting up these things, these accounts, a lot simpler to help parents, you know, engage.
Mason Paine – 4:09: Now, one of the things I think I’ve either read about or looked at is the bedtime settings. In practice, it sounds pretty good, but Is it like a nudge? Does it restrict it immediately at a certain time? How does that work?
Dr. Garth Graham – 4:21: It’s a full-page kind of takeover of the kids’ screen. So it comes up, you know, real prominently to show them you that, know, now is time to stop and take a break or go to bed, as you mentioned, bedtime, because they’re both bedtime and take-a-break reminders. So these reminders feature prominently as opposed to just a slight nudge to really try to influence and remind the kids about, you know, basically what time it is or whether it’s now time to take a break.
Mason Paine – 4:50: As a doctor, I’m sure you’ve seen everything going from low screen time to the amount that we have now, which is a little exorbitant. Do you think parents aren’t taking this as serious as they should?
Dr. Garth Graham – 5:01: It’s challenging as a parent because we have so many things going on. So it’s important for us as companies to make it easier for parents to enact these features, and that’s some of the things that we’ve done. And so I think parents are trying. I say this as a parent myself. And it’s just important of us to make it easier for them to enact some of these features and for parents to, to just pay attention to what kind of digital experience their kids are having as much as they can.
Mason Paine – 5:27: I like that, trying to make sure their digital experience, like what are they doing on there? I know for some kids they’ve been like a free-roaming chicken just doing anything they want. How are you, how are parents going to introduce these tools without getting pushback?
Dr. Garth Graham – 5:41: You know, I always started off with a And, conversation. you know, letting your child know what you are doing. These are just opportunities for engagement in general. And so, you know, as you set these tools, know, you it is a reminder to your kids about what is important to and what, you, you know, what you are doing for them, and why, in general. So I you think, know, setting any kind of boundary, whether it is a digital or even real-world boundary with kids is always a challenge starting from when they are probably just born. And, you know, it’s just important for them to be engaged in the process as you explain it to them.
Mason Paine – 6:18: Well, thank you, Dr. Graham, for joining me. I really appreciate you being here. For those listening, where can they find all these features at?
Dr. Garth Graham – 6:24: Yeah, so we, we put out a blog today on YouTube explaining some of these tips for parents at blog.youtube.com.
Announcer – 6:35: This has been the Mason Vera Paine Show. Thanks for listening.
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