HOW YOU CAN KEEP YOUR KIDS SAFER WHEN SEARCHING ONLINE
While being able to search for anything online is a great thing, it can also bring worries to parents who want to ensure their child's online experience is a positive one.
Digital Wellness - Learning for Families
Looking up things online is something we all do. While the vast majority of the world uses Google to look up things online, you may want a safer and more age-appropriate search engine for your children to use when they are surfing the web.
So with that in mind, here are some tips and resources to provide your child a more positive and safe online searching experience:
01
google safesearch
SafeSearch is a feature in Google Search and Google Images. When it is turned on, it helps filter out explicit content in Google's search results for all your queries across images, videos, and websites. While SafeSearch isn’t 100% accurate, it is designed to help block explicit results, like pornography, from your Google search results.
*How to turn on SafeSearch: Computer / iPhone & iPad / Android*
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*How to lock SafeSearch settings: Overview Video*
02
youtube restricted mode
Like SafeSearch on Google, Restricted Mode on YouTube is an optional setting you can use to help screen out potentially mature content you or others using your devices may prefer not to view. Like SafeSearch it isn’t 100% accurate, but it does block out the vast majority of inappropriate videos.
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*How to turn on Restricted Mode on YouTube: Overview Video*
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*More information: Manage Your Privacy Settings / Create a Supervised YouTube Experience*
03
kid-friendly search engines
While SafeSearch restricts the vast majority of inappropriate content, there are several kid-friendly search engines that have increased filtering for added safety. Below are our top 3 recommendations (KidzSearch, Kiddle, and KidRex).
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*Learn more about these 3 search engines: Overview Video*
While all these strategies and resources can be quite helpful in providing your child a safer, more age-appropriate online searching experience, nothing can truly replace the guidance of a parent. Checking in with your child often to see what they are seeing and viewing, and ensuring your child knows to approach you if they come across anything inappropriate online, are both critical to supporting your child in surfing the world wide web.
