The Internet, for all intents and purposes, is ultimately a good thing, and it allows access to an unlimited amount of knowledge. The vast resources of information, however, are its strength and weakness at the same time. On one hand, the Internet gives your children every chance to learn about what he wishes to know, but it also gives them the chance to gain access to the wrong type of information at the same time.
Kid-Friendly Resources for Your Kids
Use of Kid-Friendly Search Engines Sometimes, kids end up accidentally gaining access to websites that display information they shouldn't be exposed to. Unfortunately, although the intention wasn't there initially, exposure to such websites may be more than enough to catch their interest.
You can, however, reduce or prevent accidental exposure to such sites from happening by teaching your kids to use only kid-friendly search engines. With such search engines, they can type whatever they want and they'll still end up at a website that's designed for their age. An example of such search engines is as follows:
Yahooligans (http://kids.yahoo.com) - created by Internet giant Yahoo for kid users, Yahooligans does not only offer a search engine database for them to use but access to games, music, movies, sports, jokes, and other educational and recreational activities as well.
KidsClick! (www kidsclick org) - This search engine is managed by the University of California and is based in Berkeley. It is also described as a web search created by librarians for kids.
Kids Net (http://kids.net.au) - This search engine is based in Australia.
AOL NetFind - A search engine by American Online for kid users.
Searchopolis - Another kid-friendly search engine.
You can also learn about more kid-friendly search engines in websites like Kids' Search Tools, Safe Kids, and Searching with Kids.
Filtering Search Options Another way for you to reduce or prevent accidental exposure to adult content for your children is by monitoring each and every Internet session they have and making sure that you filter the search engine options before allowing them to use it. You can do these with search engines by Lycos, Ask Jeeves, and Go Network.
Other Educational Online Resources for Kids Homework Central - This website provides categorized information regarding a broad number of topics. It's divided into three sub-categories: Homework Central Junior - which is meant for kids in primary school, Homework Central - which is designed for people in middle and high school, and lastly Encyclopedia Central, which is dedicated for college and adult users. Cybersmart - This is an US based online portal that teaches kids, teachers, and other school officials various ways for children to properly explore the Internet. Free tools and resources are provided to aid teachers in teaching Internet surfing safety.
Lycos - Another well-rounded website created for parents, teachers, and kids, The Kid Zone of Lycos can be divided into four zones: the Fun and Game Zones which provides recreational outlets, the New and Cool Zone (which is self-explanatory for kids), the Homework Zone - which provides "safe" websites containing information about a wide array of topics, and lastly is a zone that provides pertinent information for teachers, parents, and guardians alike.
Purple Moon - This is a website that's primarily designed for young girls; it has a search engine and provides links to games, online discussions and projects, and informative resources.
Families Connect - If you wish to explore the Internet together with your children, you'll achieve your goal more easily and in a more fun-filled way through this website. The activities and options offered here are designed to allow families to become closer and learn about the Internet together at the same time.
Black Hole Gang - This place provides people an exciting, fun, and safe way for kids to learn about science. Among others, it gives kids the opportunity to play detective and uncover the mysteries of science.
Other Surfing Safety Tips for Kids As much as possible, don't allow your child to surf the Internet alone. Kids are still kids, after all, and accidents do happen. You can't blame them entirely if they do end up gaining access to a website that contains adult content.
Make the filtered options for search engine results permanent.
And lastly, clearly explain to your kids the dangers of breaking "surfing rules" you've put down and its possible consequences.
Since there are dangers that lurk online, such as the potential for meeting an online predator and the potential of being harassed online, you may be curious as to how you can protect your child. Of course, you will want to discuss internet safety with your child and you will also want to set rules for your child to follow, but did you also know that you have other options? One of those options is internet safety tools.
What is nice about internet safety tools that are designed for parents is that you have so many options. Typically, you will find that most of these tools fall under the heading of parental controls. For information on ways that you can protect your child with the use of internet safety tools, please continue reading on.
The ability to rate websites and set levels for what you want your child to view online is an option that you have. This often is featured in the safety tools that are provided by Internet Explorer, as well as other similar internet browsers. What you do is decide what type of content your want your child to view. Would you like to keep your child away from internet websites that use crude or violent language? If you do, set your website level ratings to say so and the websites should automatically be blocked.
In addition to blocking websites through the use of website rating tools, you also have the ability to outright block websites. This is another option that Internet Explorer gives you. For example, if you would like to block social networking websites, like MySpace and Facebook, all you need to do is enter in the website address and hit the block option. Internet Explorer also gives you the option to let a list of approved websites.
Keyword trackers can also be used; however, there are some individuals, including other parents, who consider them to be an invasion of privacy. That is why it is important for you to use your best judgment and make the decision as a parent. Keyword trackers work by recording each word that is typed by your child. Many parents find keyword tracker programs a great way to catch their child if they think that they are communicating with someone older or a sexual predator online. Keyword tracker programs are a nice option to have, but they do need to be purchased, as they aren't free like many other parental controls.
There are also internet safety tool programs out there that work to keep your personal information safe. This is a great way to make sure that your child doesn't share personal information about themselves with strangers online. Although these programs do vary, you can usually enter in information that you want to prevent your child from sharing online, like your phone number, email address, or home address. The program, if it works properly, should catch the information before it is sent.
As you can see, you have a number of different options when looking to use parental controls to keep your child safe when they use the internet. Additional online safety tools can easily be found with a standard internet search.
Both Jonathan Sin & Tommy Lee are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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