Contents |
What is Google?
Google is the largest and most popular search engine on the Internet today. A part of the vast American corporation Google, Inc.. Google Search was launched in 1997.
Google allows you to search websites by entering keywords, topics, or phrases as search queries. Google also lets you search the web for images, video, scholarly journals, maps, news, and more.
Parental Concerns
- Like any search engine, Google makes finding information easy. This is great for most web searches, but the flipside of the coin is that Google makes it easy to find inappropriate information or websites as well.
- It's easy to accidentally visit inappropriate search hits. Some search queries may have double meanings or connotations that would prompt Google to bring up irrelevant or even offensive search results.
How Can I Keep My Child Safe?
- Google has three search settings: unfiltered, moderately filtered, and strictly filtered. Be sure that your child is using the strict or moderate setting in all searches. You can set SafeSearch by clicking on the Preferences link next to the Search field on Google's home page.
- Searching for videos and images can be particularly risky. You may not want to allow your children to use these searches. However, both Google Video and Image searches have SafeSearch options as well.
Where Can I Learn More?
Here is Google's description of the three SafeSearch settings.
