Search Engines and Filters

What are Search Engines?

Children and teenagers often use the Internet to find out more information - it can help them learn more or just get their homework done on time. Search engines are a great way of finding facts fast. But there are dangers with using search engines. Most search engines find websites by using software programmes to 'crawl' through the web. Websites are not always viewed by real people. This means that it's possible for offensive material to appear in search results.

What are Search Engine filters?

To counter this, most major search engines offer a filtering service. Filters try and block offensive material, such as porn. But filters are not perfect - offensive material can get past them, while some safe material can get filtered out.

Children can use Web Directories

As an alternative to search engines, children and younger teenagers can use web directories. These list websites that have been hand-picked by experts. Here are some of the most popular web directories:

Switching on Search Engine Filters

But not all the information your child might want can be found in these web directories and teenagers will probably need to use a search engine. It's a good idea to switch on the filters on the search engine your family uses. We'll show you how to do that for each of these major search engines:

But what if a family member deliberately chooses an unsuitable website?

In the real world, members of your family might not accidentally come across unsuitable material. Curious teenagers may want to access unsuitable sites. Using a search engine filter in this instance will not prevent a teenager from accessing a pornographic or violent website. To deny access to sites like this, you can buy commercial filters that monitor all the Internet activity on your PC.

How do Commercial Filters work?

A basic commercial filter programme may simply have an ‘allowed’ list of sites. Your children can then only visit sites approved by the programme. Access to all other sites is denied. With some programmes, you can create individual usernames and passwords for each family member, so you can set their individual access levels. In this way, you can protect your four-year old from websites that your teenager might need to view.

A good commercial filter should allow you to:

  • prevent the display of most sexually explicit material.
  • prevent the display of most graphically violent material.

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