The Risk of Image Search

Searching for images is a fun way to quickly find visual results for what you are looking for -- maps, equations, graphs, and more. However, image search carries risks that text-based search does not. Explicit material may appear buried within results or displayed immediately, creating unwanted and potentially harmful surprises for young users.

For parents and educators, ensuring that image search is safe for children requires choosing the right tools and configuring them properly.

For Young Children (Under 10-11): Kiddle

For younger children, Kiddle.co is a recommended option. Kiddle is a visual search engine designed specifically for kids. It blocks suspicious keywords, frightening images, and adult material. While its filtering is quite restrictive, this makes it well-suited for young children doing homework, playing games, or exploring topics with curiosity.

The restrictive nature of Kiddle is actually a feature for this age group -- younger children do not need the full breadth of internet search results, and a tightly controlled environment is appropriate.

For K-12 Students: Google SafeSearch

For older children and students, Google Search with SafeSearch enabled provides a good balance of comprehensive results and content filtering. Google's SafeSearch feature filters explicit content from search results, including images.

The challenge with SafeSearch is ensuring it stays enabled. Children can easily turn it off in their browser settings. This is where DNS filtering becomes valuable -- CleanBrowsing automatically enforces Google SafeSearch at the network level, meaning it cannot be disabled by the user regardless of their browser settings.

Enforcing Safe Search with DNS Filtering

CleanBrowsing's DNS filtering can be set up in about five minutes and ensures that SafeSearch is enforced across all devices on your network. This removes the burden of manually configuring each device and prevents children from simply toggling the setting off.

By combining age-appropriate search tools with network-level enforcement, parents and educators can create a browsing environment where image search is both useful and safe for children of all ages.