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| A search engine is a tool that helps you locate all types of information on the Web. By typing in a keyword or a phrase, you can find a list of sites, articles and other references to get what you want on the Web. There are many search engines on the Web, with the largest being engines such as like Lycos, Alta Vista, Yahoo! and MSN's Go! |
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| Recently a friend of mine who teaches middle-school art did a computer search in front of her kids on a seemingly innocent topic. Topping the list were porn sites. This is not unusual as such sites often put misleading text in their titles to direct as much traffic as possible to their sites. Anxious to find some useful and kid-friendly information, she began to use "safe" or "kid-friendly" search engines. |
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| Such search engines were created with kids in mind. By combing the Internet, and filtering out material that is clearly not relevant or suited to children, a safe search engine yields links to sites that are free from the likes of porn, gambling, drugs and hate-sites. |
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| Like unfiltered or standard search engines, there are a handful of great, safe search engines. Using a safe search engines is no different than performing a standard Internet search—for best results, try using several search engines for the maximum amount of results. |
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| If you are new to the search engine game yourself, ask your kids how they find things on the Internet. Do they rely on hyperlinks or use search engines? If so, which one do they prefer—and why? Have them show you how they perform a search, and while you're at it, take a peek at the results. If they are anything but kid-friendly, it's time for you to do a bit of independent research and find a safer site. |
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| Your ISP is your Internet Service Provider. They are the folks you give money to every few months for having the privilege of hooking up to the Internet. If you have young users in the house, hook up with a "clean ISP," that is, an ISP that is able to filter objectionable material at the server level. Do this in tandem with safe search engines for an extra layer of safety. |
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| If your children are traveling the Web freely, make sure that they are not leaving any personal information behind. One way you can help them avoid doing this is to check out your online profile. An online profile identifies an Internet user to the online world. Keeping your kid from filling out an online profile will keep them out of online directories and this way, they will be less likely to be approached in kids' chatrooms, where pedophiles may be lurking. |
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