Search engines safe for children

Cristian Level X³

December 1, 2017, 10:20 am

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Search engines safe for children

Ever since my son was born, I was wondering how I was going to handle he's introducing with technology and of course, the Internet.
Although that is probably a few years down the road, I began to research a little how other parents are dealing with a safe browsing experience for their kids.

Of course, a separated PC account should be in order as well as some browser function designed to block unsafe websites. But the main problem is still going to be Google or Bing. Both search engines are highly used but don't have a kid safe switch; you still can find a lot of messy and unsafe results even if you don't type nasty queries!

This is why I composed a list of the top search engines for kids! They'll be safe from dubious content and will only get results appropriate to their age.

1. kiddle.co

Similar to Google on every level. Kiddle has images, news and even a Wikipedia version for kids name Kpedia. In fact, as far as I can figure out it is powered by Google with a Custom Google Search thingy.

2. wackysafe.com

If Kiddle was powered by Google, Wackysafe is powered by Microsoft. Claims to block pretty much everything that is unsuitable for children's eyes. Seems to be popular among parents and teachers.

3. kidrex.org

This one just looks cool. But it loads like forever. At first, I thought it was down, in essence sure, it looks cool, but the user experience seems to lack in most places, and it is pretty much updated, I've tried searching for something, and I got a "This site canâ€™t be reached" error.

4.safesearchkids.com

Claims to be safe and everything WHILE showing you Adsense based ads about whatever product you search for the last time you searched for something. That sucks a lot because many parents don't really want their kids exposed to ads when using a search engine to find more information about a school project or something. safesearchkids.com is again, powered by Google, but the ads turned me right off, and I don't think I'm going to use it or recommend it.

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DenisP

DenisP

I'm not a parent myself (yet) but I'd imagine that this is immensely helpful for anyone with children. The internet can be both an amazing yet wicked place, so it is definitely important to protect your kids when they're online. This is especially true given that these days, whether one may approve of this or not, so many children are given gadgets like tablets and phones at an extremely young age.

It's still important to be up to date with everything though. At this very moment there is a lot of controversy surrounded the YouTube Kids application, because some questionable folks managed to abuse the algorithm to make money while exposing kids to some awfully lewd content. And yet, so many parents trusted their kids with that app.

7 years ago

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Barida

Barida

It's sad to read that the kids are not safe even on those sections that they were meant to be guided on. I wish there will be rules set in place to guide against such.

7 years ago

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DenisP

DenisP

Sadly there are just certain things that cannot be expected. A company might think that they have accounted for most possibilities of rule breaking and such, but people will always find certain loopholes to abuse.

This instance with YouTube Kids was Google/YouTube's fault for relying too heavily on algorithms which decide what content is visible, popular, and suggested.

I understand that with the massive amount of content being uploaded to YouTube, the company requires automated processes to work through all the material. But it is a huge mistake to rely upon artificial intelligence alone, because for now people are still far smarter than any algorithm.

7 years ago

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momjenny21

momjenny21

The list is good, but you left out what many would say is the most popular search engine for kids - KidzSearch.com. My kids use it at school and love it. It is similar to Kiddle, but if you try doing searches on Kiddle and look closely at the actual results and not just the cute design, the content is really very limited. My kids said it was not helpful enough for schoolwork. KidzSearch provides good content while still being safe. They also have a ton of other great free features, like handpicked safe videos for kids (KidzTube), safe version of wikipedia, homework help forums, and lots more. In addition, there is the KidzSearch App for tablets.

7 years ago

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Corzhens

Corzhens

The main problem of parents with the internet is the freedom to search that children could search anything. In the olden days, the library has a method of censorship that children couldn’t borrow adult books. I think that rule still applies today for the safety of the children. But with the internet there is no censorship for children that even if you tell them to use a search engine for their safety, I’m sure they will use Google.

6 years ago

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DenisP

DenisP

There actually are certain options that you can use to censor your children’s internet connection. Sure, Google will take you to all sorts of websites since it’s an unrestricted search engine (although there are options to filter explicit content) but there are certain programs and extensions you can install which will block adult websites if someone happens to click on them.

Most of these programs are also password protected and require administrative privileges to uninstall, so unless the child is some sort of computer hacker prodigy, they won’t be getting around your security measures. We actually had these programs installed in my elementary school computer classes.

The internet can be a dangerous place for kids, and there are people who have cashed in on parents’ concerns for their children and created programs to address that danger.

6 years ago

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DarthHazard

DarthHazard

I'm not a parent but I really like the look of Kiddle. I love the logo, the robot and the homepage/search engine design is just perfect for kids. I tried a few searches and it is totally different to Google isn't it. I'm sure that a lot of parents will actually love this site because they don't have to worry about the things kids are viewing.

7 years ago

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Barida

Barida

Kiddle is quite good for the kids and it's nice to understand that they've not got any issues as of recent which is quite good as well.

7 years ago

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wiseagent

wiseagent

Among the options you mentioned, I think the one that offers the best results is Kiddle (although the other options are very interesting) because it can filter out all types of searches. It's an option that offers a lot of security and tranquility combined with a great performance.

7 years ago

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Barida

Barida

Others, the ones that I've researched on offered better initiatives for the kids as well. Kiddle is the most popular for me too.

7 years ago

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wiseagent

wiseagent

In my opinion, Kiddle is the most complete in every possible way that can be compared (without demeaning the other good options). I'm impressed by the great performance it has and offers to users.

7 years ago

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Baburra

Baburra

Thanks for providing these links as they are very helpful for people who have kids in the household. I have nephews and nieces and just from my experience alone, they really don't tend to seek out much from Google at a very young age and they mostly just rely on Youtube. By the time they can spell they probably would figure out Google already eventually so I try not to fuss too much over this although like I said, the links provided are still very useful so thanks. I pretty much just install a kids friendly Youtube app for the most part though.

7 years ago

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AmieBotella

AmieBotella

These are all super useful tools. Especially for the young ones, five six or seven year olds. But I must say, I am a little too late for this. My son (10 yrs old) knows google and hates youtube kids. I don't know why. But I always check him when he's using his gadget most of the time. I check his search history and his youtube history too. I limit his usage time too. I suppose things get out of hand when they have unlimited time in front of the internet. What I find more disturbing is the online games he does. Most players like in Minecraft and Roblox are also adults who uses the game to prey on the innocents wherein they chat kids with everything from cyber bullying to pornography to asking your home address, who's he with at the moment, etc. This is true and it is a growing problem too. So instead of shielding your kids from the dangers of the internet world, I think it is much better to educate them depending on their age so that they know how to deal with or at least have some idea to it when something odd happens in their experience in the internet. At least this is from a pre-teen parent.

7 years ago

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augusta

augusta

I share in your fears too as a mother, I was wondering how we could exert control as a parent over what they can be exposed to online especially from search engine at least with paid television content we can switch to their content alone but not really on the internet.Thanks for sharing those links will be looking at that when I'm done commenting.

7 years ago

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Barida

Barida

Teaching the kids how to go about this can yield some positive fruits as well. It's not all about how we try to protect them, but on the need to teach the better ways to use the internet.

7 years ago

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Barida

Barida

It's a good sites you've listed above for the kids as regards their development in life. One sure way that we can help is to ensure we go through the things that they download on a daily basis to ensure that they're going the right way.

7 years ago

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Tronia

Tronia

Well, I am not a parent just yet but I definitely want a little fellow or two in the near future so this article is more than useful! This might sound stupid but I honestly never realized that such engines existed. Entire search engines that are kids friendly? That's so amazing for every parent out there that wants to make sure that their children are safe while still allowing them to have a contact with the technology. Really, a great list.

7 years ago

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vinaya

vinaya

My son is six months old. When he is ready to use a computer and internet, I believe popular search engines will come up with kids safe version. However, if they don't these kid-safe search engines will surely come handy. I did not know the existence of these search engines.

7 years ago

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Baburra

Baburra

I agree. I think the big search engines should probably do more other than just provide the safe search options now that I know these other search engines do exist, although I guess generally they do serve a similar function already. I also am glad that at least these other options are available so you could just use these other ones when necessary.

7 years ago

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vinaya

vinaya

On Youtube we have safe search option. By enabling this option we can stop "nasty" videos appearing on youtube. Youtube is owned by Google, and I think Google must also enable this option so that we only see safe sites. This is a must because children as young as 3 years are beginning to use the internet.

7 years ago

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MendasDigital

MendasDigital

Fragfinn.de and Blinde-kuh.de are German search engines for children. Both are listed on Kapersky's list of kid's websites.

7 years ago

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mildredtabitha

mildredtabitha

I have always known search engines not to be safe for children. I am glad to know about the four search engines you mentioned for children. I will make sure to use them when raising my future kids.

What we have done in our home is to allow children to access the internet when they get to around 14 years old. For example by getting them phones at around this age or when they are in high school.

7 years ago

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DarthHazard

DarthHazard

So your kids won't have access to any technology or the internet before the age of 14? I guess that is up to you but I feel that it will just hold them back really especially when other kids start off using technology and the internet from such a young age.

7 years ago

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mildredtabitha

mildredtabitha

I don't have kids yet. That is how my siblings and I have been raised. How I will raise mine will depend on future circumstances.

7 years ago

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TimothyAlex

TimothyAlex

I'm a father of 6, with children ages 27 to 6. Ultimately, I am not too concerned with what my kids find on the internet. My youngest sends hours on youtube. Sometimes she is watching someone playing a kids game and then I hear language that I would rather she not hear or repeat. Yet, at the end of the day, children will always reset to their default settings. So, I believe it is better not to be so protective and be more informative.

7 years ago

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peachpurple

peachpurple

thanks very much for sharing those kids safe browser sites. My boy who is 10 years old, use Google chrome to search Angry birds games and movies. Yes he noticed those "ads" the adults type but he ignores them because we told him those are crazy people putting up the ads for stupid people to click on them and get the virus, shuts down the computer and say goodbye to games.

So, he never touch those ads.

7 years ago

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kgord

kgord

Thanks for posting this. Those who have children would certainly benefit from this. It is just one of the options that we might need should we let little ones use our computer. The world is not very safe these days for sure, and kids need to be safe online.

7 years ago

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DarthHazard

DarthHazard

Its a huge problem in the world and the internet is not exactly the greatest place for little kids especially ones that might not know what they are doing. And because of that, these types of search engines are perfect and like you said, any parent will definitely benefit from using one of these search engines.

7 years ago

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Everett

Everett

Totally agree with you. With a lot of crimes happening because of the internet, whether it be murders or just plain creepy stalkings. A lot of the times you can not do anything about it because the authorities or police don't know how to do anything. This is especially harder if the person is behind say a proxy or a VPN, or even TOR. How can you find someone that doesn't want to be found?

7 years ago

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Everett

Everett

I have never thought about child-safe or child-friendly search engines. This thought totally slipped my mind, well because i do not have children -- yet. I can see the need for a child-safe or child-friendly search engine if you have a child, but what if you don't have a child but yet still use those search engines because you don't want to see any content that is targeted to adults? Kinda like a very strict search engine that filters out a lot of stuff.. perhaps a bit odd, but i am pretty sure there are a few people out there who are weird like that..

7 years ago

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potentialwriter

potentialwriter

Search engines are quite safe for children. Children too can leverage the internet through search engines like Google, Bing/Yahoo, Ask.com, MSN, and so on. Despite all these, children still need to leverage the counsel from adults so that they won't fall victims of the internet scams. Parents are in the best positions to help children out of situations like this, guiding those children and letting them know what they are doing right and what they are doing wrong.

7 years ago

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overcast

overcast

I think there are some of the internet monitoring software that one can use. And it seems like lot of search engines are going to catch up on that. You can see that search engines are going to give preference based on the safe search. I remember some of the folks who made the search options better with their settings. I guess in case of the safe search a lot of filtering can happen for sure. That is something we have to look at as well.

7 years ago

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Corzhens

Corzhens

That’s a pretty good way of giving you peace of mind with your children in their internet browsing. However, when you say kids to use those browsers, what I have in mind are young children of maybe 7 years old and below. And as they mature, we wouldn’t be able to curtail their desire for knowledge. Their association with other children will give them a clearer idea of the real world, i.e. they will learn how to use the ordinary browser. But then again, those kiddie browsers are still effective for pre-school children.

7 years ago

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rhombus

rhombus

Had a giggle at the "boob" search. I agree, even if you type in something innocent you may be flooded with lots of offensive pages. Fortunately my kids are all grown and this will be their problem in a few years. I do not see any reason why kids should have access to google or any search function at all, a full set of encyclopedias is all that is needed. We are raising a "copy and paste" society, I can only imagine what a nightmare being a schoolteacher has become.

7 years ago

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Rumu

Rumu

Search engines to the likes of google, yahoo, bing, safary and others are definitely not safe for kids. In saying so, am going to completely agree with your post. But still, itcan be stopped or rather controlled as you pointed in the post.

Asides the points and tips I'll also like to add that completely cutting off kids from the above mentioned search engines is probably not the best idea since they are the most popular and be used which easily translates to the sites with the best and more contents. In saying so, I'll suggest some form of control measures put instead of complete shut down. Put that aside, i think you did a great job with the post.

7 years ago

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Rumu

Rumu

Search engines to the likes of google, yahoo, bing, safary and others are definitely not safe for kids. In saying so, am going to completely agree with your post. But still, itcan be stopped or rather controlled as you pointed in the post.

Asides the points and tips I'll also like to add that completely cutting off kids from the above mentioned search engines is probably not the best idea since they are the most popular and be used which easily translates to the sites with the best and more contents. In saying so, I'll suggest some form of control measures put instead of complete shut down. Put that aside, i think you did a great job with the post.

7 years ago

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Adesuwa08

Adesuwa08

No search engines are not safe for children, why you may ask me, the society we are in now has more of adult contents than children world, the web at large is not children friendly as the exposure is too much for kids. so I will even prefer that you don't leave kids alone with the systems and the gadgets so you can monitor them.

Kids like to play around all the time and they have high capacities for exposure and wanting to learn more, this is because their braina are being wired to do so, children naturally are smart they easily learn things and pick up even things we don't teach them. Search engines are not safe for kids because there is no restrictions and orders placed on it to keep kids safe, the search engines sometimes pops up things we don't want to know as options in this kids can get easy access due to their curious nature, search engines also have histories of sites you visited and it shows option of others when you don't ask and with this kids can easily get exposed especially when you don't clear the search engines.

7 years ago

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Pixie06

Pixie06

That's a very interesting discussion. As parents, we are always worried about our children's safety while they are online. We need to constantly supervise them. I have to be honest here. I never bothered to search if there were any kinds of search engines for kids. I will definitely check those sites you mentioned above and share it with others.

7 years ago

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cmoneyspinner

cmoneyspinner

How wonderful! I had no idea there were special search engines for kids. I've learned this too late for my grandkids now. But if I have grandkids in the future at least I know about them.

7 years ago

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centurion

centurion

Thanks for giving me all safe web search engines. In case of children I shall try to use.
Its nice step to give the right place.

Thanks
Centurion

7 years ago

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mitan143

mitan143

Giving the kids an access to the internet and search engines isn't bad at all. That is why there are some search engines designed for kids, for them to be able to get an idea on internet and the technology today which makes a part of our everyday life. But it doesn't mean that parents just let them use the device and the internet by themselves without proper guidance. Kids' minds are so energetic, wild, and thirsty for information and different things, so there must be a proper guidance on introducing them the technologies nowadays. I know it is very dangerous for a kid to suddenly dive on internet, but it is also their right to know these things. They will encounter it no matter what anyway, so why not just teach them on the proper usage of internet and other technology. Thanks for introducing those search engines for kids, by the way. It might help me a lot one day when I become a parent already.

7 years ago

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edencaga

edencaga

Its a good idea that they have a search engine in their own as sometimes there are things and there times that children are very curious from the things they see from us adult. Its better for them to be safer than knowing all those adult stuffs. There must be parents on their side if they will search or use the normal search engines like we usually used. It is good that they should still focus on the things they should learn so, that search engine I think is very useful to the children.

7 years ago

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