Safe haven created for young Net surfers

Drawing inspiration from the youngsters at Sydney Children's Hospital, an Australian university student has created an Internet search engine specifically for children, which provides listings to over 25,000 sites designed for kids, whilst safeguarding against accessing unsuitable content.

The site builds on recent initiatives, such as the Australian Broadcasting Authority's (ABA) Net Detectives, which teaches schoolchildren how to chat safely on the Internet.

Nathan Rose, who created the search engine Kids.Net.Au in his spare time between studying management at the University of Western Sydney and volunteering at Sydney Children's Hospital, said that all the sites within the directory, which also includes an English dictionary and thesaurus, have been arranged into categories for easy navigation.

He added that when sites are added to the search engine, as well as paying due regard to safety, a key consideration is how appealing the sites are to children.

"The aim was to create an Internet site that would provide an environment for children that was not only safe from unsuitable content, but also contained websites designed specifically for kids (that) kids would actually like to visit."

Kids.Net.Au has already been well received by teachers, parents and children alike, both in Australia and further afield, and is averaging over 30,000 visits from children all around the world every day.

"We have been getting hits from Australia, the U.S, U.K., Canada, New Zealand, Holland, Germany, China, and even some from Iraq and Iran," said Rose. "The broad response is amazing."

The search engine can be found at http://www.kids.net.au

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