KidZui | Making The World Wide Web Kid-Safe

Your kids are online; make it safe

As any parent with a computer and an Internet connection knows, children love to surf the World Wide Web. As said parents should also know, there’s a tremendous amount of material readily available for view that is inappropriate for young children. You want them to be able to learn and discover in a way that works for them without stifling, but at the same time, you feel it is a must to protect your children from harmful influences.

My daughter loves to play games and find fun cartoons and videos online. She’s very young, but is already an old hand at YouTube (with parental supervision, mind you). I watch everything she does when she’s online, but I know that isn’t practical for many parents. Thus, how do you strike that balance between freedom and safety?

Well, there are lots of products out there, some more effective (and expensive) than others. I wouldn’t want to have to take out a payday loan or max my credit card for something that doesn’t work. That’s why Jay Dougherty’s review of KidZui is so valuable. He helps steer inquiring parents in the right direction, both with the product review and further suggestions of resources to safeguard a child’s Web experience.

It’s a free download

KidZui takes an innovative approach to the problem, in that the combination browser and learning environment was created by parents for children. Download the KidZui Firefox browser extension for Windows, Macintosh or Linux. After a brief sign-up process, your child can begin using KidZui from within Firefox.

The full-screen interface is a colorful portal complete with animated, sound effects-filled search routines. It is very user-friendly in that it arranges search results in an exciting, easy-to-understand way that draws kids in. Clickable information categories a child can explore include games, science, animals, sports, and “awesome stuff.”

One problem I have with KidZui that Dougherty trumpets as a strength is that the parent receives an E-mail after every session your child has within the KidZui realm. The report informs you of their activities, searches and sites viewed. Some parents might consider this a necessary security measure, but within an already safe environment with kid-appropriate filters, I don’t see the point. This stems from the invasion of privacy and trust issue… I can’t get around it.

Other kid-safe Web options

Dougherty points out that there are a number of kid versions of popular search engines like Ask (AskKids.com) and Yahoo! Kids (http://kids.yahoo.com). AskKids sports a friendly interface with special buttons for “school,” “movies,” “games,” and “video.” To enhance the quality of the learning experience, when a child searches for something – Dougherty gives the example of “hamster” – more than search results appear. AskKids also provides a dictionary definition of hamster and relevant search categories, like “hamster care.”

Yahoo! Kids is a bit more static (less updates), but is still bright and colourful in its approach to presenting links to games, music, movies, jokes, sports, etc.

How to use browser filter features

There are also ways you can shield your kids from age-inappropriate content, and they reside within browser settings. These filters are set to have a low threshold by default, but it pays to tailor settings to your own specifications. For example, in Internet Explorer, open the Tool menu and select Internet Options (this can also be accessed outside of a browser, through Control Panels if you’re using Windows). From Internet Options, select Content, then click the Enable button in the Content Advisor section.

Now you’ll be in the Content Advisor dialog box. There are a number of categories you can control, including “content that creates fear, intimidation, etc.,” “content that sets a bad example for young children,” and “depiction of drug use.” Restrictions can easily be set via slider controls. When you’re done, click OK. You’ll then have to create a password so that the settings can’t be easily changed without your knowledge.

Firefox has similar protection features, but you must download and enable Add-ons for this functionality.

Dedicated filtering software

Browser-based protection is effective, but the most secure method is generally achieved through separate dedicated software. Dougherty gives examples like Net Nanny (www.netnanny.com) and Safe Eyes (www.Internetsafety.com), which run on PC and Mac. One of the things that make these types of software most effective is that they work not only with general Web content, but with instant messaging and E-mail.

Safe Web habits

In my opinion, this is the most important step of all. KidZui is great (and free… no payday loans or credit cards required!), kid-safe search engines help and dedicated software can be valuable, but proper behavior is priceless. Teaching your child never to give out their E-mail or other personal information online to people they don’t know is vital. Not opening E-mails and attachments from unknown sources is also of the utmost importance when it comes to youth and computer safety. Finally, keep the lanes of communication open. If your child encounters something online that they don’t understand or makes them feel uncomfortable, encourage them to discuss it with you.

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