Google for Kids – Might it Bode Well With Them Today?

The internet has influenced our lives so much today that kids would even start accessing it the moment they laid their hands on a device.

As useful as this may be for work or education, we have no idea on what the internet can do on children and this, is a concern to many.

When my 8 year-old nephew asked me the “Uncle, what is sex?”, that gave the worst worrying I have ever had since I watched Ju On 5 years ago.

Because of that, I decided to do some digging on important things we need to do in order to protect the children’s innocence so do continue reading if you’re interested to know more.

 

Should Children be Allowed to Use the Internet?

Yes, they should.

Just like sex, however much effort we put in to hide its existence from our kids, they will find out sooner or later.

Maybe not from us, but from the environment outside be it friends, advertisements, or even on television.

The best way for them to learn is for us teach them first so that they will be prepared when it comes for them to use it.

Maybe we won’t know it yet but children need internet for various reasons…

• Learn better – There are great internet sites which gives you free tuition which many children worldwide rely on.
• Communicate with friends and tutors – You can’t expect to drive your kids all the way just for simple questions which can be solved online. Besides, they can simply chat and there is no harm in that.
• Social pressure – Trust me when I say you don’t want you kids to be the odd one out when every other children uses internet. Sure they’ll be safe at home but when they’re at school, the peer pressure would be worse as people would call them names for being so outdated.

 

Google Safe Search – Learn How to Control What Your Children are Seeing.

You might wonder if there’s such thing as Google for kids.

As Google is the biggest search engine that people rely on, they have to take measures in order to lessen the risk of putting our kids in danger when accessing it.

Lucky for us, Google does have a method to help you out with this and that is called Google Safe Search.

Here’s a video on how to set up Safe Search…

 

Prepare your kids – Tell Them What they should avoid

When your children comes of age, they will of course be curious enough to learn more about other websites that you might not want them to go to.

Even with Safe Search, they will still find a way to go the sites that they find interesting which is why we need to educate them by letting them know which sites to avoid and why.

Always remember that telling them ‘NO’ is not enough because curiosity will get the better of them which is why you need to explain to them why.

Here are some examples to help you get started on your parental explanation on your kids…

1. Don’t talk to strangers unless you know them – There are many bad people on the internet who wants to take advantage of you.
2. Don’t respond to bullies online – The more you talk to them, the bolder they get but if you were to ignore them, they will eventually get tired and stop bothering you.
3. Don’t fill in your address or personal details on Facebook – This is because evil men will start to stalk you using the information that you have shared.
4. Don’t buy anything online – There are a lot of scams out there so let your parents handle it. Besides, you’ll save more money.
5. Don’t believe websites that ask for your money – These are mostly scams which target on innocent people. When you come across these websites, close them as fast as you can! You could email me too so that I can do a thorough investigation to help other people avoid them. (I have a list of scams here)

 

Conclusion

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Kids are precious and we need to protect their innocence.

Although they might not understand our choices, it is our role to help them understand by educating them, guiding them and nurturing them so that when they grow up, they know enough on what to avoid and what to look for while making full use of the internet.

Thanks for reading and if you have any questions at all, don’t be afraid to drop them down below as I’ll be more than happy to reply.