Child Safe Internet Searching

Internet hazards:

The Internet is without doubt the largest collection of free information period. However, the Internet can become a treacherous place to your children. Searching the Internet or world wide web could possible take your child to a site you wouldn't want them to see. For example:

• Porn, violent, drug or hate-related sites
• Chat sites which may lead to dangerous meetings
• Sites with spyware or virus 

Preventing your children from these nasty website isn't all that easy.  Not allowing your children to use the Internet is preventing them from gaining access to some very useful resources and excellent educational information. So what can you do about it? 

Keeping a Constant vigil may not be an option for some working families and depriving Junior from educating him or her self from the vast amount of good information out there is sacrilege.

One major issue concerning childrens welfare on the internet is the ability for them to enter (intensionally or by mistake) words into the search bar of search engines of a sexual, vulgar, defamatory or expletive nature with the resulting request showing some nasty results. Using a child safe internet searching engine which remove this kind of input at source can go a long way in preventing your child from gaining access to any such sites in the first place (see our Search Engines page Here!)

To prevent your Children from gaining access to material you would rather them not see can be done in many ways. Of course there is no substitute for constantly watching over their shoulder every time they are at the computer but sometimes this is just not feasible and could leave junior thinking you do not trust them or that they are incapable of doing anything by themselves. There are lots of programs, tools and search engines to help you. See our left panel menu for more information on these.

When Surfing the web:

• Watch them.
  This is the best tool available without doubt but not always practical. Set times when you can browse together with your children.
• Passwords.
  Protect the machine with Passwords to prevent them gaining access to the Internet while you are not there.
  
• Make Rules.
  Let your children know about the dangers of the Internet. Guide them and inform them what is good and what is bad. Make a game or quiz of it until they know it off by heart. Make a list of questions your child can read and ask themselves should anyone contact them and keep it near the computer.
  
• Giving and Receiving.
  Make sure your children are fully aware that before they give any information OUT or receive any information from the internet, that they must inform you first and fundamentally to never give out their name, address or phone number. Let them know that people may not be who they seem and to treat everyone with caution. Just as you would with a stranger on the street. Make a list and pin it near the computer for easy reference.
  
  
• Beware of Strangers.
  Just like when you were young and your parents probably told you never to talk to strangers. What may seem like a harmless conversation on the Internet could be something completely different. Use of Chat rooms should only be done with parental supervision and with extreme caution. Just because someone comes across as a nice person doesn't mean they are. They may have other intentions to influence your child into a future meeting with them, only to find out that 12yr old Jane was in fact 42yr old Dave (no disrespect to the nice 42yr old Dave's out there) but you get what we are saying here! If your children must use these chat rooms it is paramount that they know this (see our safe chat page Here! or use left menu).
  
• Internet Fraud
  Internet fraud is now very common, although this should not be a problem for younger children, on occasions older children have been known to use parents payment cards for offers on unscrupulous sites. This of course is another issue not covered in depth on this site but nevertheless something to be aware of.