Kids

“Ma, I Want To Be A YouTuber”: How To Guide Kids Through Digital Dreams

by Kevyn Gohu
July 22, 2025

When our kids want to be the next vlogger, gamer, or content creator—and that’s not a bad thing. Here’s how to navigate their digital ambitions with guidance, safety, and love.

Gone are the days when kids wanted to be astronauts, pilots, lawyers, and doctors. Kids of today have a new career path: becoming a YouTuber, vlogger, or TikTok star.

If you’re a parent who’s heard your kid say, “Ma, I want to be a YouTuber,” don’t worry, you’re not alone. There’s also no need to panic; our kids dreaming of becoming YouTubers doesn’t mean they won’t continue school. All the more they’ll have to — it’s a career that demands good communication skills!

So, does your kid want to be a YouTuber? Here’s how we can help them understand and navigate the modern-day digital realm.

When our kids want to be the next vlogger, gamer, or content creator—and that’s not a bad thing. Here’s how to navigate their digital ambitions with guidance, safety, and love.

Kids & YouTube: Why would they want to be a YouTuber?

While the kids of the past grew up reading about people who have changed history, today’s kids are growing up with YouTube stars and content creators as their role models. From Niana Guerrero’s dance covers to Alodia Gosiengfiao’s coverage on the gamer lifestyle, Filipino creators are front and center. The most important part — kids are watching.

And if it’s not them, they have international stars like Markiplier and PewDiePie who have blazed the trail.

Plus, to them, it looks entertaining. It looks nothing like the workbooks they’re required to answer in school. They’re not graded either. And if there’s anything that motivates a kid to do something, it’s the potential amount of fun they imagine having from becoming a YouTuber.

Is It Just a Phase or a Passion? Here’s How to Tell

Kids love copying the things they see on TV (or on the computer screen). Sometimes, they’ll re-enact the video. Others will sit down and learn the hard work behind it. Writing the script, understanding the internet trends, coming up with their content, and even making the most out of their phones or tablets — they’ll study the nitty-gritty details.

But kids are usually conscious about what they do in front of us. So usually, we’ll just see the setup in their room with makeshift items like a blank side of the room, a spotlight built out of books, a flashlight, and the like.

So how do we know if this is something to nurture?

We can also ask them these questions:

“What kind of videos do you want to make?”
“Why do you want to start a channel?”
“What do you enjoy watching—and why?”

You can also encourage them to try safe, age-appropriate apps like Canva to test the waters creatively, without going public.

And if they’re consistent and start learning new skills on their own, that means the kids are dedicated and committed to pursuing being a YouTuber.

Different Kinds of YouTubers

While most YouTubers are defined by their content, others group them based on their execution. Today, being a YouTuber is far more specific.

Here are some of the kinds of YouTubers we’ve seen:

Streamers – These are the kind of YouTubers who show their face and what they’re doing. Usually, their content involves cooking, fashion design, and gaming. Some of the more famous ones include Pewdiepie and Markiplier, but Filipino streamers have been making waves due to their “hilarious” reactions.
Reviewers – This is usually when they get paid to use a product and air their opinions online.
VTubers – A new community, these YouTubers commission a 3D artist to create a model or face they would present to the community.
Cover Artists – These are for the musicians on YouTube who make their renditions of popular songs.
Digital Artists – Most digital artists graduate with a college degree in multimedia arts, giving them a solid foundation for video editing. So, what they do is they draw and create what they call “time-lapse videos” to showcase the process. Voice-overs are usually optional.
Teachers – There are a lot of these, actually. They teach both academic subjects and life skills like plumbing, unclogging a toilet, and even how to make the perfect Windsor knot for a necktie. Some colleges even post the lectures online to make education more accessible.

How To Safeguard Your Child Online

Any netizen will tell you, “You’re crazy to believe that people on the internet are nice.”

There are pockets here and there of the nice ones, but trolls or the toxic ones are more prone to leaving their thoughts on the thread. And trust us, it can be pretty heartbreaking to read nothing but a long list of negative comments about the content they’ve created.

It’s why some YouTube channels prevent users from commenting. Japan often does this with their videos and so does big media giants like Cartoon Network when they would post snippets of certain episodes. Not only is it practical in keeping their inboxes free from junk mail, it also keeps the negative comments to a minimum.

Besides restricting and turning off comments, here are other things we can do to safeguard our children as they become YouTubers:

Use a private account first
Don’t boost. Let them build their views organically.
Avoid sharing any real-life private information.
Talk about red flags. If the person just messages them with a “Hello,” tell them not to engage. Those who usually do that have an ulterior motive.
Teach them how to analyze profiles: studying their commenters’ content or last viewed content can tell them a lot about who they are.

Support, but don’t take over

It can be tempting to shut it down, especially when their school grades start to slip. But there’s a sweet spot to all of that: support.

Help them come up with ideas.
If they need a cameraman or camerawoman, be that one! If there’s anyone who knows their kids’ best angles, it’s their moms and dads.
Watch their videos and ask about the process.
Praise them for the effort. Forget the metrics (e.g., likes, views). They’re not working for anyone but themselves anyway! And if the career doesn’t take off, it can be like a video diary or something.

Letting our kids try out being YouTubers does encourage creativity and storytelling skills in a more fun way.

And while some of us are unsure of how financially stable the career is, shutting it down immediately isn’t the way to go. They’ll just push harder to become one. Instead of saying no, try these lines instead:

“Let’s research how this works first.”
“How can we make sure this is safe and fun?”
“What’s something you want people to learn or feel when they watch you?”

Also, make a posting schedule. What makes YouTubers burn out usually is because they feel like they have to post every day because of the algorithm. However, the most important parts are consistency and also the authenticity of the content.

It’s A New Kind of Career

It may feel weird for us who were pushed to become bankers, business people, writers, doctors, or lawyers. But when the pandemic happened, it was YouTubers and artists who kept the world alive. So it’s no surprise that our kids have been inspired by that story.

While we fear that they’ll crash and burn, that’s what they have us: to make sure that if they do, someone will catch them. So if they’re truly ready to pursue the YouTuber life, go ahead and grab the ring light. Let them shine on their terms. We’ll be right there at the corner, cheering them on while protecting the peace they need for the occassional digital detox.