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Parenting

29th Feb 2016

The Incredible New Google Search Engine Designed To Keep Kids Safe Online

Trine Jensen-Burke

In this digital age us parents must accept that our kids will use computers a lot earlier than we ever did.

Many children today will be familiar with the use of tablets and smart phones long before they even start school, and when they do start, they will need the internet both to do research and and communicate with their peers and teachers.

The things is, as we all know, there are a lot of things out there on the vast world wide web that we don’t want our children to stumble upon.

And as much as we want to trust them once they start browsing on their own, there are certain things it’s best not to leave to chance. The reality is that even the best parental controls won’t stop kids from happening upon things they shouldn’t see.

Thankfully, technology is continuing to evolve and this new search engine may have just made child appropriate online browsing a tad easier.

A newly launched search engine – Kiddle – aims to be like a Google Search for children, with results filtered to bring up ‘safe’ sites and sites written in simple language. And while Kiddle is not an official Google product, the company uses a customised Google search to deliver child-friendly results. Meaning, like Google, Kiddle will work like a search engine, but the results will be heavily filtered.

Screen Shot 2016-02-29 at 11.21.28

Kiddle even looks a lot like it’s big sister Google, with the same search interface we’re all familiar with, but includes some cute child-like tweaks. Instead of the familiar, white background there’s a fun outer space theme with a robot alien near the search bar.

According to Tech Times, Kiddle offers search results hand-picked by editors to ensure their kid-friendliness. The first one to three results will always be curated by the editors — safe sites written specifically for children. The next few results will feature sites in simple language that will be easy for kids to understand. The rest will be sites tailored to adults that may be harder for kids to digest, but are still filtered by Google safe search to avoid them stumbling on anything inappropriate.

In its “about” section, Kiddle promises your child will be safe in their searching. The logs are cleared every 24 hours and Kiddle collects no personal information.

We for one think this is a pretty genius tool in trying to protect young children for everything the internet has to offer. And sure, there will come a day when all parents realize you can only shield your children from so much, but Kiddle might just have pushed that date forward a little. And for that we salute them.

What do YOU think, parents? Will you be trying out Kiddle with your kids soon? Let us know in the comments or tweet us at @Herfamilydotie