An idea by Oscar · 9 November 2026
Working concept for discussion
Where the idea came from
Take a ten-year-old who loves hockey.
They enjoy playing, watching matches, learning techniques and finding out how professional players train.
There's plenty of material online. YouTube has coaching videos, TikTok and Instagram have short demonstrations and coaches regularly share training exercises and match analysis.
The problem is what happens after a child watches one of those videos.
They might start with a five-minute hockey tutorial and end up watching something completely unrelated. Each platform suggests more videos, and it's easy to keep watching without really thinking about it.
This led to the idea for vouch.
Could children have access to useful videos without having to use the feeds and recommendations that come with them?
What is vouch?
vouch would be an app where parents choose the videos their children can watch.
For example, a parent finds a hockey tutorial on YouTube, watches it and decides it's suitable for their child.
They approve it and add it to the child's library.
The same could potentially work with videos from TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and other platforms, depending on their rules.
Over time, the parent builds a collection of videos around the child's interests.
The child only has access to approved videos.
There would be no recommended feed, autoplay into unrelated videos or endless scrolling.
Children could also organise their videos into folders. A hockey library might include:
- Passing and ball control
- Dribbling
- Shooting
- Penalty corners
- Match analysis
- Favourite players and teams
Parents decide which videos are available. Children decide what to watch from their library.
Learning and practising
Another part of the idea is helping children keep track of what they've learned.
For example, a child watches a video about reverse-stick passing, then goes outside to practise.
Once they can do it, they tick the skill off a checklist.
A hockey checklist might include:
- Push pass
- Dribbling with control
- Reverse-stick passing
- Shooting
- Penalty corners
There could also be an option for a parent to confirm that a skill has been completed.
The child demonstrates what they've learned and the parent marks it as done.
This would give children a record of their progress and encourage them to practise rather than just watch videos.
It also gives parents a way to take part.
Why might this be useful?
Video platforms can be useful for learning, but they're also designed to keep people watching.
When one video finishes, another is suggested. Short videos, recommendations and notifications make it easy to spend more time online than intended.
Adults experience this too.
For children, managing screen time and deciding when to stop can be harder.
vouch would take a different approach.
Instead of trying to limit how long children watch videos, it would limit the content available to them.
A child could open the app, watch a few hockey tutorials and close it when finished.
There wouldn't be a feed suggesting what to watch next.
The library would contain only videos approved by a parent.
What does the research say?
There has been growing concern about children's use of social media, particularly the amount of time spent online and the influence of recommendation systems.
Research from Pew Research Center and Common Sense Media has examined how children and teenagers use digital media.
Jonathan Haidt's book The Anxious Generation discusses possible links between smartphones, social media and children's mental health. Some of its conclusions are still debated by researchers.
In the UK, the death of 14-year-old Molly Russell brought attention to the risks of harmful online content. The coroner concluded that online material had contributed to her death.
Campaigns such as Smartphone Free Childhood have encouraged parents to consider when children should begin using smartphones and social media.
The UK's Online Safety Act has also introduced requirements for platforms to protect children from harmful content.
This doesn't mean children should be prevented from watching videos online.
The question is whether they can use those videos for learning without being exposed to the wider feed.
That's what vouch would try to address.
How would it work?
For parents
Parents would have an area of the app where they could find, review and approve videos.
They could save videos to a review list and watch them when they have time.
For example, a parent might find several hockey tutorials during the week and review them at the weekend.
Once approved, the videos would appear in the child's library.
Nothing would be added without parental approval.
This would take some time, but that's part of the idea. Parents would be involved in choosing what their children watch rather than leaving that decision to a platform.
For children
Children would have their own library of approved videos.
They could create folders, save favourites, watch tutorials again and keep track of skills they've learned.
There would be no recommended feed or notifications encouraging them to keep watching.
They would open the app, choose a video and watch it.
For families
Parents could also confirm skills their children have learned.
For example, a child watches a tutorial, practises the technique and shows a parent what they can do.
The parent can then mark that skill as completed.
The app could keep a record of approved videos, watched tutorials and completed skills.
This would give families a way to see what the child has been learning.
Doesn't something like this already exist?
Yes.
YouTube Kids has an approved-content setting that allows parents to choose which videos and channels their children can access.
There are also smaller apps, including WatchSafe, WhitelistVideo and SafeStream, that offer different ways to manage children's access to videos.
So the idea of parents approving videos isn't new.
The possible difference with vouch is its focus on children's interests and learning.
For example, a ten-year-old who enjoys hockey might want to watch professional coaching videos, match analysis and training demonstrations.
Those videos aren't necessarily made for children, but a parent may still consider them suitable.
vouch would allow parents to choose content from the wider internet rather than relying only on material made specifically for children.
There are still questions about how videos from different platforms could be used, what permissions would be required and how children's information would be protected.
These would need to be resolved before building the app.
What could make vouch different?
A library instead of a feed
Children would only see approved videos. There would be no automatic recommendations or endless scrolling.
Organised around interests
Hockey is the starting example, but the same approach could work for football, music, art, science and other subjects.
Tracking skills
Children could keep a record of what they've learned and practised.
Parental involvement
Parents would choose videos and could help children track their progress.
Videos from different platforms
If platform rules allow it, videos from several sources could be brought together in one library.
Offline viewing
If permitted, approved videos could be downloaded for journeys, holidays or places without an internet connection.
Not all of these features would need to be included in the first version.
The main question is which ones parents and children would actually use.
Questions for parents
Before taking the idea further, it would be useful to hear what parents think.
1. Is this a problem you've noticed?
Does your child start watching something useful and then move on to unrelated videos?
2. Would you choose videos for your child?
Would you be happy to review and approve a few videos each week, or would it feel like another job?
3. Would your child use their own video library?
Would they organise videos into folders and return to tutorials they've watched before?
4. Would a skills checklist be useful?
Would tracking what they've learned encourage them to practise?
5. Would you need separate libraries for different children?
For example, if siblings have different interests or are at different levels.
6. Would offline viewing matter?
Would your child use the app during long journeys, holidays or trips to matches?
7. Have you used YouTube Kids' approved-content setting?
If so, did it work for your family? Was anything missing?
8. Would you pay for vouch?
If so, what would it need to offer, and what would you consider a reasonable monthly price?
9. Would you recommend it to another parent?
Is there someone you know whose child might use it?
Feedback doesn't have to be positive. Knowing why parents wouldn't use the app is just as useful as knowing why they would.
Where the idea stands
vouch is at the idea stage.
The name is a working title. There is no finished app and no decision has been made about developing it.
The next step is to speak to parents and find out whether they would use something like this.
There are already ways for parents to approve videos, so vouch would need to offer something useful beyond what is available for free.
That might be the ability to bring videos together from different platforms, organise them around a child's interests or track what they've learned.
The first version, if developed, would probably focus on one interest, such as hockey, and a small number of families.
The aim would be to see whether parents find the approval process manageable and whether children actually use the library.
The idea behind vouch is simple:
Parents choose the videos. Children organise and watch them. There is no feed deciding what comes next.
Whether that is enough to make a useful product is what needs to be tested.
vouch
An idea by Oscar
Working title · Exploration brief v0.1 · 9 November 2026
Shared for discussion and feedback. Not a product announcement.