Wired for Better or Worse

by the editorial team and Sophia Ruan Gushée

Building values for healthy living have long been on a parent’s radar, and most parents agree that safeguards are necessary to keep the internet a safe, secure learning environment for children and teens.

Google has provided parents with a SafeSearch filter to prevent kids from using the search engine to find unsafe or inappropriate sites for a long time. Adults wanting to avoid unsafe or inappropriate websites can use SafeSearch for filtering too!

What Are The Risks of Searching Google for Children?

Today’s child is hardwired to technology, and most children under 20 have never known a world without digital devices. Your kids can just as quickly click on an inappropriate website as a less desirable TV channel, except the internet is problematically interactive and much more dangerous. Online content is wildly variable, and your kids could stumble upon or deliberately search for unhealthy content.

• Pornography

• Violence

• Drug Culture

• Adult Themes

The internet in many ways mirrors real-life navigation. Most parents wouldn’t let their children wander around anywhere, and the same holds true for the web. There could be real trouble there if kids end up in the wrong places. There is good news though, and that is parental controls are readily available to keep adult content out of search results. Google offers a SafeSearch feature which helps kids avoid inappropriate material online.

3 Steps to Successful Google SafeSearch Set-up

Parents modify their computer’s search settings by installing Google SafeSearch with the following three steps.

1. Click on search settings on www.google.com found on the upper right-hand corner of the homepage.

2. Choose the filter level most appropriate for your family’s needs which is either moderate or strict filtering.

3. Persons with a Google account can lock SafeSearch on their home computer so that “strict filtering” is the default option.

Kids today practically live online and are always chatting, texting, sharing pictures and watching movies. Keeping their kids safe is most parents’ number one priority, but they often overlook the potential portal for trouble lurking in the room next door.

Children and teens may place themselves at risk by providing too much personal information, or viewing harmful or inappropriate content or cyberbullying online. Keeping our children safe online is everyone’s job, but the parents have a lot of power using Google SafeSearch. In fact, it can help adults avoid unsafe or inappropriate websites too!