KidzSearch Instant Answers is a new search feature specifically designed to help students find the information they need. It integrates many different sections of KidzSearch to help kids discover what they are searching for, including younger students who often have difficulties doing online searches to find relevant content.

Instant Answers

Instant Answers provides high quality reviewed information related to all searches next to the regular KidzSearch safe search results, such as the student encyclopedia with over 200,000 entries designed just for kids with simplified articles.

Another example of Instant Answers is for KidzTube, which contains over 50,000 handpicked high quality learning videos, as well as Wiki for Kids. Other items include educational games, related topics, AI tutoring, and more.

The information presented via KidzSearch Instant Answers is visual with large safe images and simplified summaries. It also has links to get more details. This can help students get a general feel about a topic.  While it might directly answer their question, it can also help a student do a more refined search, or to expand their search in areas they were not aware of before seeing the topic information.

AI Search Results

The search results use artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced algorithms to provide a virtual tutoring experience while they do their online research. The AI system might show them the answer to a math question and offer step-by-step tutoring on how it was solved or give a related student-focused article. It is like having a virtual tutor with them when they do their online research.

Performance is very important. With each search, multiple technologies go to work in the background to integrate content in fractions of a second. The entire system has taken years to develop and will keep improving as the company moves towards adding AI tutoring to the online student search experience in a seamless manner.

Try Instant Answers for Students

Students often have a lot of quality educational resources, but they may not know where to start. KidzSearch Instant Answers provides a solution to this problem by moving high quality reviewed resources to them. An API is also being developed that can allow companies to tap into these features to help power their educational applications.

Whether you are a student, or a parent committed to staying informed about internet safety technology, the safe search tools we provide in partnership with KidzSearch is our highest priority.  Safe research resources allow anyone of any age to seek out the information they need with a much lower risk of being exposed to harmful content.

A Brief History of Google SafeSearch

Google is over 20 years old.  On November 11, 2009, a few years after becoming the world’s most popular search engine, Google introduced the ability for users too lock safe search settings for the very basic level Google’s web and image searches.

On December 12, 2012, Google removed the option to turn off the filter entirely, requiring users to enter more specific search queries to access inappropriate content.  However, the safe search filtering was and remains to be a basic level of filtering.

Safe Search Kids was founded on July 16, 2009 to provide Google basic filtering from our website, but it was only in recent years that we partnered with KidzSearch to use their strict filtering API to block bad search terms and spelling variations that are likely to lead to bad websites.

In addition, 1000’s of website domains are blocked from appearing in the results that many other free parental control filters allow.  In addition, the whole search experience, with kid-focused meta-content/results and a more visual experience is improved with a search designed for them.

We encourage schools and parents at home to use us as a one stop gateway to safe search tools for the safe surfing the web, images, wiki for kids, and safe videos.

Regrettably, bullying is very common among children. However, that doesn’t make it normal, and parents shouldn’t rely on their children to “grow out of it” as they mature. Why? Because growing out of it is a quick fix, while fostering empathy in your child is a long-term solution.

Emotions, kindness, comforting words, hugs, and feeling others’ pain are all traits associated with empathy. When your child is empathetic, bullying is entirely out of the equation. But the question is how to foster empathy for bullying prevention. Below are a few ideas.

How to Instill Empathy in Children

When your child is authentically empathetic, they’re guided by their empathy in all their actions. They’re able to put themselves in others’ shoes, relate to their feelings, and help others feel better. Here are some ways to teach your little one to be empathetic.

Fulfill Their Needs

Even among grownups, we usually say that when someone bullies us, they feel bad about themselves or are jealous. By that very same token, if your child doesn’t receive the love they need from you, they won’t be able to treat others with love either.

Loving your children extends to include making them feel enough, and that’s the keyword. Avoid comparisons with classmates who receive better grades, sports mates who continuously win the gold medal, and similar situations. This very often triggers bullying behavior.

Encourage Your Child to Speak Up

Kids often have trouble conveying their feelings, especially when they don’t understand exactly how they feel. Always encourage your little one to share their feelings in the best way they can –– be it through art, speaking, a song, or other. Then, you can help them name their feelings.

When they’re connected with their emotions, they’re able to pick up on situations where others feel the same way they did, and they’ll understand how that felt like. If your child doesn’t let out their feelings, it may result in violence, bullying, and tantrums.

Lead by Example

Children are the best copycats. Showing them what empathy looks like is one of the best ways to instill empathy in their behavior. For example, visit your neighbor who lives alone and take them with you. Then, when you’re back, tell them that the neighbor had been feeling lonely and you wanted to give her some company and cook her a good meal.

When you take action and explain it, your child builds up a life guide of situations and behaviors that they use when they need to. You don’t even have to make huge actions; they can be as small as explaining why an actor was crying in a particular movie scene. Also, make sure to hear what your child thinks of the reactions they’re perceiving.

By doing so, not only does your child eliminate bullying from their dictionary, but they’re also better equipped to identify it and stand up to such behavior if it ever happens to them.

Explain to Children How Their Words and Behaviors Impact Others

Sometimes, children simply don’t understand the repercussions of their behaviors. They don’t mean any harm, but their mind doesn’t grasp the impact of their actions. Therefore, always make a habit of talking to your child about what happens to the other person due to their behavior.

Make sure to tackle issues such as spreading rumors, gossiping, being violent, calling others names, leaving some people out, and ridiculing them for their personal interests. That way, they’ll learn to think before taking action, and they’ll consider how the other person will feel.

It’s also best if your child’s school works on preventing bullying by using a program that promotes an overall positive school climate using age-appropriate lessons. Make sure to check the school’s efforts in that area.

Final Words

Being empathetic is a cornerstone of leading a healthy life. For the longest time, people thought that empathy is equivalent to being nice, but actually, empathy is the bigger umbrella encompassing high levels of emotional intelligence that children can employ to make compassionate decisions and relate to others.

We hope that you now have an idea of how to foster empathy for bullying prevention, and at the end of the day, we all share the same vision of putting a stop to bullying!

Are you a single parent?  Here’s what you can do if you have a child that is being bullied.

Got a kid that loves to game? Or maybe you are an avid gamer yourself. Have you thought much about gamer security? There has been plenty written about protecting your home computer with an anti-virus program, but what about increased performance while gaming?

Account hacking, phishing, malware, ransomware, and social engineering are all potential cybersecurity threats of online gaming.  We’ll explore what you can do to protect yourself while gaming, plus we’ll offer solutions to improve performance without compromising security.

Online Gaming Security

When a gamer signs up for a gaming platform, they are often asked to accept terms and conditions regarding privacy policies and data usage.  Game developers typically ask for a variety information, such as names, usernames, email addresses, countries, games played, dates of birth, and languages.  But some also gather more sensitive information, including addresses and credit card details.

While this data collection helps improve the gaming experience and monitors for cheating, it’s important to be aware of how developers manage your personal details.  The more of its user data a company holds, the greater a risk when there is a breach. This is where several cyber security threats that we’ve mentioned come into play.

Here are a few steps gamers can take to protect against the dangers while gaming.

Review Privacy Policies.

Understand how information is collected and how it is stored.  When kids are playing online, it is up to the parent to be aware of the policies on any gaming platform their children are using. If possible, gamers should opt out of any non-essential data collection.

Secure Accounts

Enable MFA when possible and use robust unique passwords for each account.  Consider using a password manager to create and store them.

Use Secure Wi-Fi

Use a secure network with a strong password and updated security settings when gaming. Avoid publish Wi-Fi and consider using a VPN for added protection.

Stay Up to Date

Install updates when promoted to protect against know vulnerabilities.  This applies to both the games and devices.

Protect Personal Information

Limit information share with other players. Unlink social media accounts and keep profile visibility private to reduce the risk of exposing personal information to cybercriminals.

Remember the SLAM Method

With any suspicious or unsolicited messages, closely examine the Sender, Links, Attachments, and Message content to avoid falling for scams.

Better Gaming Solutions

Now, let’s explore gaming performance issues that tempt users to compromise their safety.

Issues with Anti-Virus Software

There is a problem that arises when the anti-virus is turned off completely because it interferes with the online gaming experience.  McAfee Gamer Security solves the debate within families regarding how much security one can compromise in order to maintain computer performance while playing.  McAfee created Gamer Security as a complete gamer software solution.  Security + Performance.

This gamer security software was not designed to merely prevent a decrease in gaming performance while staying protected online, the software boasts a faster, more quiet, and safer gaming experience thanks to cutting edge performance enhancing technologies.

Game Boost Engine

Some anti-virus programs have long had a problem with bogging down computers while you are trying to other tasks.  Gaming is more than a task.  It’s be huge drain on an operating system and requires a fast internet connection.  It also craves every ounce of CPU and RAM it can squeeze out of your operating system.  The McAfee Gamer Security program works to get more performance out of your operating system and ensures your games stay prioritized over applications running in the background.

All of this increased speed happens without you having to turn off the anti-virus program that is part of the software.  Slowdowns are bound to happen so this gamer software promises to resolve those slowdowns quickly so your game is not held back from working properly.  This is especially important when playing online with a team.

App Manager

The app manager within McAfee Gamer Security gives you control to kill or de-prioritize resource heavy apps.  While maintaining operating system performance, the software automatically saves stats from your last 5 game sessions which you can look at later.  Settings are customizable, providing intuitive control over system optimization and pop-up suppression is readily available. You can also tweak the software’s multiple settings as desired.

McAfee Gamer Security helps you achieve a smoother overall experience on your PC, from everyday performance gains thanks to the low impact MicroAV engine to the FPS stability. This also results in smoother game play delivered by their Game Boost technology. 

Pricing

Some users may not like the annual price tag on this software.  Not that it’s unusually priced above other anti-virus type programs, but the annual subscription for Game Security is only for one computer.  This may not be a problem as there may only be one gamer in the household in need of online protection, while increasing speed and customizable performance.

Gamer Online Protection with Enhanced Performance

Not to be infused with parental control software that filters content, McAfee Gamer Security is a software download that allows gamers to enhance their computer performance while stay protected with anti-virus protection.  It’s a vital tool in to help players engage safety with fellow gamers.

Gamer Security System Requirements

To operate the Gamer Security software you must have Microsoft Windows 10 version 1809 (Oct 2018 update) or later.  If you already have Windows 10 and are unsure of what version is running simply update to the latest version.  It’s a good idea anyway to turn on automotive updates for Windows to ensure your systems is always secure.  The hardware needed on your computer is 2 GB RAM | 500 MB free drive space | 1 GHz Processor.  A high-speed internet connection is recommended.

How is it faster? When McAfee did tests of their gamer security software compared to both traditional and built-in AV they found:

• A faster boot.
• Faster shutdown.
• Faster standby suspend.
• Faster suspend to hibernate.

Related Resources:

Looking for online games you can play on your PC, Mac, or Tablet?  Check out our safe online game search tool.

There has been a major shift in the world towards distance learning. The discussion of how much time kids can safely spend looking at screens has only become more vital.  Whether it be on smartphone, tablet or laptop, parents have usually been concerned with the time kids spend playing games, interacting on social media, or watching TV shows and movies.

Even in a normal world you would also need to add the screen time spent on school computers used for a variety of purposes. These activities include searching Google and doing research. All of these online activities add up to a staggering number of hours per day looking at screens. And now we must also take into account the time spent doing online school.

85% of parents worry about the amount of time their kids are spending online these days.

Recommended Screen Times

The WHO & CDC both recommend no more than 2 hours of screen time for children under 18.  Finding further specifics, The American Academy for Pediatrics urges a 1-hour screen time maximum for children under 6 years old. 

Furthermore, it has been found that children under 2, who regularly watch at least 1 hour of television on a daily basis, may face an increased risk of cognitive, language, and motor delays.

Blue Light Affects

An interesting consideration about screens, in particular, is their emission of what’s referred to as “blue light”. Blue light is particularly influential because it blocks a hormone that your body makes called melatonin. When you are exposed to blue light waves, especially in the evening, melatonin is not produced, so your body isn’t getting that vital message about slowing down and getting ready for sleep. If your child continues surfing the ‘net on a tablet or smartphone after getting into bed, they could be telling their body to rise and shine, rather than slow down and rest.

Luckily, if you’re concerned about the impact additional screen time may be having on your child, there are steps in preparation for bedtime you can take to help limit your child’s blue light exposure.

Home Learning Challenges

With home learning comes more indoor time. However, this makes it especially easy to develop a screen addiction. Did you know excessive screen time can be toxic to our mental health? 56% of teens feel anxious or lonely without their phone.

Yet, distance learning sessions last more than our government recommends we spend on screens altogether – even with compelling data proving its potential to be mentally and physically dangerous.  The problem is only exasperated when you consider that students use screens to access other content as well, such as entertainment and social media.

Ask Yourself How Your Kids are Doing:

• How often are your kids exercising, whether indoors or out?
• How social have they been since distance learning began?

The value of education should never be downplayed, but please double check to ensure distance learning isn’t taking a toll on your little ones.

In the meantime, check out the infographic below. It may help you shape a better understanding of how much screen time is too much for your children. 

Screen Time Infographic

This infographic explores the good, the bad, and necessary use on screens due to online learning.  It explores the risk associated with screen time use in spite of the need for them for the distant learner.

It also offers tips on how to get the best out of the necessary hours needed to be in front of a screen so that the time online can be reduced.

Finally, the infographic shows ways to protect kids against harmful content while on the internet.

Tips for Managing Screen Time in a Balance Manner

Set clear boundaries: Establish designated screen-free times during the day to rest your eyes and mind.

Follow the 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes, look away from the screen at something 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds to reduce eye strain.

Break up study sessions: Divide study sessions into manageable chunks with breaks in between to prevent mental fatigue.

Utilize offline resources: Balance screen time by using physical books, printed materials, or offline activities for learning whenever possible.

Prioritize quality over quantity: Focus on productive screen time activities such as attending live classes, participating in discussions, and completing assignments rather than aimless browsing.

Engage in physical activities: Incorporate regular exercise or outdoor activities into your schedule to counterbalance sedentary screen time.

Monitor and adjust: Pay attention to how much time you spend on screens daily and make adjustments as needed to maintain a healthy balance between screen time and other activities.

Additional Reading:

• Read about the effects that media consumption and screen time have on children.
• Can excessive screen time fuel compulsive behaviors and addictive patterns?