What’s important for parents to consider?

It’s likely that through a search engine, a child or young person may at some time stumble across content that is inappropriate or distressing – even if they weren’t specifically looking for it. 

Exploration is an important part of a child or young person’s development – and that goes hand-in-hand with ‘search’. Learning to explore independently – and manage negative situations with support from a parent – builds their confidence and resilience. 

A good starting point is to consider what boundaries you think are suitable. Be clear about them with your child, and have conversations about what is and isn’t appropriate. 

It won’t necessarily mean they won’t look up risky or adult words to test their boundaries. Consider how you might help them feel it’s OK to come to you if they encounter anything concerning or upsetting – even if they weren’t supposed to access it. 

Of course, for parents it can feel like the easiest solution to put search filters or other safety tools in place – and for certain ages this can be a useful option. 

But it is important throughout to think about how you might help foster your child’s digital resilience, so they can use search more positively and learn from their experiences. You can read more about that in this quick guide.

What else might matter?

Private search

Search engines offer private search modes – such as Google’s Incognito mode, where activity data is not saved to your device or to the Google Account you are signed into. However, it still tracks and shares data like your location and search history during that incognito session. 

Children cannot use Incognito mode when signed into a Google Account, but could still sign out and then access it. Also be aware that SafeSearch does not apply when using Incognito mode. 

Paid search

Some search results – usually those at the very top – are adverts. Companies pay to appear more prominently to promote their products or services. These can usually be identified by the words “Ad” or “Sponsored Results”, but otherwise look very similar to the rest of the results listed. 

It’s important to remember that these listings might rank highly – not because they are the most relevant, but because they’ve paid to be there. Being able to identify promoted content is an important online media literacy skill.

Pornography and adult content

Reports have found that children are stumbling across online porn from a young age – sometimes as young as 7 or 8. While for the majority of children this viewing is unintentional, searching for even the most basic adult terms can generate explicit and extreme images and video results.

Google will prompt you to turn SafeSearch on if it detects certain keywords, but these messages can easily be ignored. 

Talk to your child about adult and explicit content and let them know your expectations around what they search for online.

Safety tools and settings 

Depending on the age of your child, you may want to consider some of the settings and filters available. Be mindful that allowing them to explore both with clear boundaries and expectations, but also with freedom will ultimately help build their resilience. 

Content filters

Whatever search engine you use, there will be filters you can activate to block inappropriate content and websites. Take time to familiarise yourself with the settings available. 

When using Google, SafeSearch can be activated to prevent pornographic, violent or gory content appearing in search results, across website, image and video. 

To turn SafeSearch on, go to www.google.com and click Settings in the bottom right corner, then click Search Settings > Turn on SafeSearch. Remember to save these settings at the bottom of the page. Bear in mind that if you use more than one browser, you’ll need to activate SafeSearch in each one.

SafeSearch is turned on by default for Google accounts for users under the age of 13, and only a parent account can turn it off again. You can also apply SafeSearch across any devices linked to the account. You’ll first need to set up a child Google account, which you can then manage via the Google Family Link app (iOS, Android). 

Google SafeSearch will only filter Google search results. If your child navigates to a different search engine, the same content filtering will not apply.

Some blocks and filters can be installed at computer level, and so apply across any internet use on that device. However, remember that no filter is 100% effective. If inappropriate content does slip through, be sure your child knows how to report it.

Tracking your data

Google tracks users’ search history and activity across its services (such as GMail, Google Classroom or YouTube, which Google owns) in order to personalise adverts and search results. This includes children using its services – although the Children’s Code has tightened data privacy standards for internet users under 18.

You can turn Google tracking off at any time, or delete past activity, if you prefer. 

What other search engines are there?

Other search engine options are often characterised by their focus on data privacy. The best-known is DuckDuckGo, which pledges not to track its users or share data or search history with third parties. Its app has been downloaded more than 50 million times in the last year.

DuckDuckGo also offers content filters to remove adult content from search results. You can activate Safe Search by choosing your preferred level of filtering (Strict, Moderate or Off) in the drop down menu underneath the search box, or by navigating to safe.duckduckgo.com instead. All searches from safe.duckduckgo.com have Safe Search set to Strict.

Another “ethical search” option, Ecosia, uses revenue from advertising to plant trees.