PROTECTING LITTLE WEB SURFERS
BY DAN MILLER
November 30, 2006
Cyberspace can be a scary place.... especially if your child, like mine, is discovering how to explore the internet.
There are no rules about what can and cannot be put on the internet, and I live in fear that my young daughter might happen across sites unsuitable for anybody, young or old.
So today, I'm offering a quick tip on an easy, free way to filter much of the bad stuff.
My daughter likes to go to websites that offer games and activities for young girls.
One day -- as I sat next to her watching -- she went to Google and typed in something like "girl games".... but she misspelled one of the words.
Most of the sites that popped up were legitimate places where youngsters can find fun activities.... but there were also a few sites listed that I definitely wouldn't want any child to "happen" across.
So that night I did a little exploring to find ways to filter the content of the internet.
There are several filters you can buy to control access to unsuitable websites.
Net Nanny can be purchased online and apparently is popular with many parents.
But there's a free and easy step you can take right now that will filter quite a bit of the rough stuff, and give you some peace of mind.
Here's what you do:
Simply go to Google (like the page pictured above).
Just to the right of the subject box you'll see -- in small print -- three underlined options...
Advanced Settings
Preferences
Language Tools
Click on "Preferences"....
Scroll to the category "SafeSearch Filtering"....
You'll be offered three choices of filtering.
Click on "Use Strict Filtering (Filter both explicit text and explicit images)"
Then, be sure to click the button labeled "Save Preferences" at either the upper or lower right side of the screen.
There.... now you've taken a big step toward filtering most adult-only text and images from innocent eyes using Google.
I'm sure other search engines offer similar filtering, but Google is the one I use most often.
My wife uses a search engine called "GoodSearch" Which offers -- in addition to filtering options -- a cash contribution to your favorite charity, school or worthy cause every time you use it.
That makes a lot of sense.
Check it out.
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