Web Browser and Search Engine Safety

     Children use the Internet to help with homework assignments, play games, listen to music, and just look around.  Information on the Internet is readily available for all ages but the viewer must know how to locate that Information. 

     Web browsers, like Firefox, Internet Explorer (IE), and Safari provide access to the Internet.  Entering the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of a web site in the address bar at the top of the browser window will open the web site and display the requested page in the content area of the browser.  Search engines, like Yahoo and Google, help locate information based on keywords.  Any word or phrase can be entered as a keyword in the search window and the search engine will provide a list of pages that match the index for that keyword.

     Entering URLs or searching for results based on keywords will produce the results that are referenced or indexed.  For instance, entering the URL "http://www.google.com" in a browser window will display the Google home page in the browser content area.  and entering "Google" in a search engine will display a listing of pages related to Google.  There is no regulating authority for content on the Internet and this is a danger to children.

     The information super-highway now contains over two-trillion unique URLs and many of them are totally inappropriate for children to view and differentiating between good and bad content may be difficult.  For example, the URL "http://www.whitehouse.gov" points to the official website of the President of the United States but if dot gov is replaced by dot com the produced results are graphically explicit and totally inappropriate for children.

     How do you protect your children from inappropriate content?  Teach your children safe web surfing practices; establish and agree on what is and is not healthy activity; activate parental controls and consider installing child safe browser, such as SurfKnight and a child-safe search engine, such as KidsKlick.

     Taking steps to protect your children is a necessary activity.  However, there is really nothing you can do to totally guarantee that your children will not access inappropriate material.  If you establish browser and search guidelines that your children agree with, then you should have much less concern.  However, if you dictate policy that your children do not agree with then they may circumvent the steps you take in order to bypass your policy.  There are proxy servers online that provide access for just such purposes.  Once again, communication is the key.