Technology is the new norm for kids. Whether it be smartphones, tablets or computers, children are surfing the web daily. But how do parents ensure that kids are safely searching the internet? Introducing Kiddle, the visual search engine for kids.

A search engine like Google, just for kids, sounds like a great idea! Finally a company has come up with the safest way for kids to do a web, image, news or video search! However, parents should proceed with caution when allowing children to use this new internet tool.  

While Kiddle is not actually affiliated with Google, it does use a Google Custom Search bar and Google Safe Search embedded within the website, which is designed to filter out adult material. 

On Kiddle's homepage, parents can find the information they are seeking for how this site really works. Click on the "kids safe search" link to find their statement on how web results are shown.

"Since Kiddle results are either handpicked and checked by our editors or filtered by Google safe search, you know you get kid-oriented results without any explicit content. In case some bad words are present in a search query, our guard robot will block the search."

This is not exactly fail proof though.

Kiddle states, each page of search will only display kid-friendly results, filtering out bad words. But not ALL bad words can be determined for your family and beliefs. Words like "boobs", "sex", and "curse" words are filtered, but what about celebrities, gossip or controversial news topics?

When we tested the site, we got various results for some words we thought would be blocked, such as "butt" and "fart". But the results were not as bad for what would come up in an unfiltered search without parental controls. The websites included results from Nickelodeon and opinion pieces on a cartoon about the words, but also included a biography of Major Archibald Butt, a historical military leader.

Photo source: kiddle.co

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