Well if you have been reading my blog for any length of time you know that I am a massive fanboy of Andy Stanley, Hillsong, Any flavor cool-aid Steve Jobs happens to be serving, the 27 time world champion New York Yankees, here is one you may not know I love all things Google, well….. most things google, I am not a fan of servers located on barges in internal waters but that’s a post for another day.
Google Voice and Google wave have been getting a Tsunami of press as of late but I wanted to to inform you about a little tidbit that should make every parent rejoice. One of the primary ways kids are accidentally introduced to porn is through search engines. To address this issue Google yesterday added functionality to their search site where you can block and lock. You can set your search settings to strict and add a password. Also they have added a google ball graphic that is displayed at the top of the search engine so you know it is still is safe mode.
As a kids pastor and parent I say Kudos! The more you can make what you do safe for kids the bigger fan you will have in me. To many kids are introduce to porn by doing simple searches for things and getting more from their search than any parent would ever want kids to see.
Here is what Google had to say about it on their blog:
When you’re searching on Google, we think you should have the choice to keep adult content out of your search results. That’s why we developed SafeSearch, a feature that lets you filter sexually explicit web sites and images from your search results. While no filter is 100% accurate, SafeSearch helps you avoid content you may prefer not to see or would rather your children did not stumble across. We think it works pretty well, but we’re always looking for ways to improve the feature.
That’s awesome. It’s about time someone implemented this kind of tech into a search engine. If you couple this with enacting parental permissions on the computer itself (so another browser can’t be used) this can significantly cut down on the chances of any accidental exposure.
Spoon, Thanks for the comment. Yea this was a long time coming should have been done YEARS ago. Another reason why I love Mac’s is the Parent controls are fantastic.
The sad truth is that this does not negate your responsibility to be vigilant when it comes to internet and kids. But it is a great tool to help keep our kids safe from online garbage.
Sam Luce – Thanks for sharing. As a mom of a 4th grader, I am so glad to have this new feature available. Just today, she said “just google that mom!”
As a kid min persona, I can also vouch for Google. Our church staff uses most things Google these days (calendars, reader, gmail and now wave!) for a variety of reasons. Just one more reason to be a fan of Google!
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FINALLY! Safe search is a viable option for protecting your kids. Not being able to lock it made it almost pointless to implement on a regular basis. One thing that people need to be aware of (another post idea for you) is that many homes use more than one browser. I believe the feature needs to be set and locked on each browser individually. ie: explorer, google chrome, firefox.