My students can’t access YouTube, Google Maps, or Google Earth
We believe responsible use of technology requires all parties to understand what is being used and for what purpose.
Why can't my students access YouTube, Google Maps, or Google Earth?
The Google account given to each student (and staff member) is provided via Google Workspace for Education — a service provided by Google for free. The core services, such as Google Docs, Google Drive, Gmail, Google Classroom, and Google Sites are just that — Core Services. They’re ad-free and collect zero personal information as students and staff use them.
In addition to the Core Services, these Google accounts might also access Additional Services, such as YouTube, Google Maps, and Google Earth. These services contain ads and collect personal information to display those ads. This is the key distinction between Core Services and Additional Services, and it’s why Google has strict requirements for Additional Services. To access Additional Services, you must be 18 years of age or older or have been given parental consent. For schools where the student population is under 18 years of age, Google requires the school to collect that parental consent before granting access to an Additional Service (such as YouTube).
Enabling YouTube, Google Maps, and/or Google Earth
To give schools the flexibility to do what they believe is best for their community, we’ve created instructions for Principals to enable Additional Services for their students. This process isn’t complicated and can be done at any time. Our team is also happy to walk a principal through the process, so long as they’re the ones agreeing to Google’s requirements.
Parental Consent Form
Should a school want to collect parental consent, we’ve also prepared a consent form template for schools. That can be found within the FAQ section of How to enable Google Additional Services.
Workaround for YouTube
For YouTube, specifically, Google notes that Students with YouTube turned off:
...can still view embedded YouTube videos assigned in Google Workspace for Education products, such as Google Classroom. All users can continue to link and preview videos in Docs.
This means a teacher could find an appropriate video on YouTube and share it within Google Classroom or Google Slides. Even if students cannot access YouTube, they can still watch a video posted by their teacher.