Yahoo Kids? What's that then?

Kiddy search engines..eh?

by Rupert Sharp
of http://www.oyster-web.co.uk

Last updated: 12 Sep 2007

Something that had not crossed my mind before was brought to my attention through a couple articles I read recently - children's search engines. I was surprised that I had not realised they existed until then, maybe it is because these sites are not properly advertised or maybe I've had my head in the sand concerning this issue, the basic idea I gather of these sites is that they are designed to help with homework and learning etc. whilst others point towards movie sites and games. Studies show however that children are more interested in using regular search engines such as Google or MSN to find what they are looking for, so is all the effort really needed?

The need to protect your children online is an obligation, but most major search engines and internet browsers for that matter provide certain filters to control what is displayed after the search is taken out and if children are going to use the normal SE's anyway there doesn't seem much point. There is nothing you can't find in an online encyclopedia like WikiPedia or a movie site such as Film.com. Does trying to wrap children in bubble wrap just waste resources when everything is already custom built already to suit the user searching or are the dangers of the internet becoming more inflamed than it was before?
Just a thought.