A new feature has been added to Google’s SafeSearch, it’s called “Lock SafeSearch.” This doesn’t make it impossible for children to bypass these settings, but it certainly makes it much harder for the child who is not highly motivated to seek out sites you’d rather them not be frequenting.
To change the settings, first go HERE. Once there, go to the upper right hand corner of the page where it says “Sign In” and sign into your Google account. Once you’ve signed in, it will take you back to the “Preferences” page where you can now set the filter to the appropriate setting. I have younger children so mine is set to “Use strict filtering.”
From here, clicking on “Lock SafeSearch” will take you to a page which (1)asks you to sign in with your password again. This page also gives you information about locking the SafeSearch and what it looks like when you do. You re-enter your password which then takes you to a (2)screen with a radio button, “Lock SafeSearch.” Clicking that speeds you on your way. When you go back to the Preferences page you’ll see that (3)the SafeSearch is now locked and only you can unlock it. In the end, you’ll always know if you’re children are SafeSearching by (4)seeing the large balls in the upper right hand corner of the screen. These steps are illustrated for you in the screen captures below.
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And there you have it! One caveat though, this is browser specific so if you only set this in Internet Explorer the child will be able to use Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera, etc. to go around your filtering. In addition, many browsers now come with a private browsing feature which will, in effect, defeat this feature as well. I’d say that this is more for parents of young children who are not technically savvy yet and you just want to keep them from stumbling upon the nastier bits the ‘net has to offer. It’s also a fair deterrent for children who may be looking for inappropriate content on a whim and aren’t necessarily that motivated to get to what they’re looking for.
That said, the best filter is always you, the parent. Good communication and active, involved parenting and supervision are the best tools in our arsenal. Take the time to educate your children in an age appropriate fashion so they grow with the necessary critical thinking skills to productively and properly navigate the Worldwide Web.
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