Helpful Resources

Unfortunately, some people use the Internet for the distribution of child pornography. If you come across any disturbing or obscene material on the Internet involving children, you can report it at www.cybertipline.com. In response to the growing crime of child pornography the U.S. department of justice has responded in several ways including funding the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s Cyber Tipline. This tipline acts as a clearing house for reports of Internet related child pornography and other Internet related sex crimes committed against children.

How to Report
If a child or teen is in immediate physical danger, call 911 or your local police. If a young person is in danger of being lured into a real-life meeting with a predator, fill out cybertip.ca's online reporting form at http://www.cybertip.ca or use their toll-free phone line: 1-866-658-9022 to report it as soon as possible. You should also contact your local police. If a child or teen is being stalked, harassed, or threatened online, contact your local police. You should also report any such incidents to your Internet Service Provider (ISP). If the incident involves a fellow student, contact the school’s principal as well.

Although pornography is not illegal, publishing obscene material - including that which contains undue exploitation of sex and crime, horror, cruelty or violence - is a crime. Report obscene online material to your local police, and contact the ISP responsible for hosting the content. Keep in mind, ISPs do not have the legal right to decide if material is illegal. Most ISPs are therefore reluctant to remove suspect content from their servers unless it violates their acceptable use policy or they receive official direction from a law enforcement agency.

If you have complaints about Internet content that is offensive, but not illegal - such as spam (junk e-mail), privacy invasions, adult pornography, some hateful content, etc. - report them either to your ISP, or to the ISP responsible for the content.

Netsmartz.org is a great site. The NetSmartz Workshop is an interactive, educational safety resource from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® (NCMEC) and Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) for children ages 5 to 17, parents, guardians, educators, and law enforcement that uses age-appropriate, 3-D activities to teach children how to stay safer on the Internet.

Safe Search Engines and Directories

A portal is often the first place people see when they go online. It is their main "point of entry" (hence "portal") to the Web. Typically, a portal site has a directory of Website sites, a search engine, or both. Many portals offer e-mail, chat rooms, customized news contact, and other services.

Yahooligans!
http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/
A kids version of Yahoo!, this commercial directory only links to safe and appropriate kids sites.

DibDabDoo
http://www.dibdabdoo.com
A non-commercial, fast search engine that only looks for adult-reviewed sites safe for children and teens. The site currently has about 1 million links in its database.

Ask Jeeves for Kids
http://www.ajkids.com/
A unique commercial search engine that allows kids to search by using questions as well as key words.

Awesome Library
http://www.awesomelibrary.org/
This non-commercial directory includes more than twenty thousand sites reviewed by educators. It has a translation service that lets visitors browse in several different languages.

Educational Software Directory
http://www.educational-software-directory.net/
In this directory, volunteers have reviewed and organized more than twenty-three thousand sites into fourteen categories.

Great Websites for Kids
http://www.ala.org/Content/NavigationMenu/ALSC/
Great_Web_Sites_for_Kids/Great_Web_Sites_for_Kids.htm
This American Library Association (ALA) directory includes links to online resources for fun and learning -- all reviewed and organized by children's librarians.

KidsClick!
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/KidsClick!/
This non-commercial directory lists more than five thousand Websites hand-picked by librarians.

Tips for using kid-friendly search engines and directories:

Kid-friendly search engines and directories are not foolproof and offer no guarantee that inappropriate or offensive content will not crop up during a search. They are also not responsible for where you may end up once you leave their site and start moving through other Web pages.

If you use a directory, find out whom it was created by -- is it an established authoritative organization? Check the directory's criteria for choosing the sites in its index. If it is a commercial site, keep in mind that some sites may be included for marketing reasons.

Test several tools to find out which one works best for your family. Search sites offer different features, and each search tool offers a limited number of sites in its results, so use more than one search engine or directory.

Parental Filtered Search Engines

Sympatico
http://www.sympatico.ca
Click on the Advanced Search link. Scroll down until you see the filtering option and click on enable.

Google
http://www.google.ca/
Click "Preferences" to the right of the search box, then scroll down and choose a level for "SafeSearch Filtering" - strict or moderate.

AltaVista
http://ca.altavista.com
Click on "Settings" and then look for the "Family Filter" link.

Alltheweb
http://www.alltheweb.com/
The Alltheweb filter is enabled automatically. To turn off the filtering, see "Customize Preferences."

WiseNut
http://www.wisenut.com/
Click "Set Preferences" under the search box. Turn on "WiseWatch" at the bottom of the page to enable filtering.

Lycos
http://www.lycos.ca/
Click on "Advanced Search" below the search box. Scroll down to "Adult Filter" to select your filtering level.

Tips for using search engines with parental filters:

Filtering options on search engines are not foolproof and often fail to block sites with objectionable content, while blocking good sites. Check the criteria the search engine uses to filter information and test the filtering options on several sites to decide which one is best for your family.

Portals

Kid’s portals provide children with a sfe and entertaining access point to the Net. Some of the features offered by these sites include games, filtered search engines, monitored chat rooms, safe e-mail, and the opportunity to create and display their Web projects and pages.

Examples of kid-friendly portals are:

Headbone Zone
http://www.headbone.com/

Zeeks
http://www.zeeks.com/

MSN Kidz
http://kids.msn.com/kidz/default.aspx

Lycos Zone
http://lycoszone.lycos.com

Tips for using kid-friendly portals:

Check the portal's criteria for filtering information and sites. Portals are usually commercial sites so see if the site has product placement or overt marketing. Make sure it has a clear privacy policy that protects children's personal information. If the site offers chat rooms or e-mail, check its safety features. You should also find out if the chat rooms are monitored by adult monitors and if e-mail is filtered for inappropriate content and spam.