Rindee G.P. Ashcraft, Ph.D.
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Kid-Friendly Search Engines

10/12/2012

2 Comments

 
Through my research on keeping kids safe online, I have repeatedly read that kid-safe search engines are a great option for kids, far better than simply letting them use Google or Bing. I like the idea of having a safe place for kids to learn to search the internet without worrying that they will run into a website with content too mature for them. However, there are multiple sites out there that claim to be family friendly and appropriate (generally) for the 7-12 crowd.

In effort to understand these sites better, I went on a quest, looking up three different topics and comparing the results to figure out which site actually returned usable information for kids. I chose two topics likely to be needed for reports (Abe Lincoln and Tapirs) and one topic likely to be searched for fun (Katy Perry). I was looking for the sites to provide links to informative websites that would allow me to learn more, and provided what seems to be sufficient information to at least start learning about the topic. I noticed a couple of overall themes that are worthy of mentioning. First, nicknames like “Abe” instead of “Abraham” don’t bring up much for results, and don’t redirect you to the search more likely to provide you with results. Second, if you do not know how to spell something, you will not get help from these search engines. I found both of these quite frustrating. For example, there are many ways to spell Katy (Katie, Katey), and a misspelling does not give rise to hints at better search words. Given that youth using these search engines are generally learning how to search, and so don’t have the savy to do so well, this is a problem. It should be noted that while using an age appropriate search engine is helpful, it does not replace parents helping educate their kids on internet safety and internet searches. It also does not replace good monitoring.

My criteria for comparison was based on number and quality of results, not how easy they made the searches. In order to make my comparison, I checked out Yahoo Kids, Quintura.com, GoGooligans.com, RedZ.com, Famhoo.com, and askkids.com. My personal favorite was AskKids.com, because it provided good results for all search topics, and the results for less scholarly topics seemed more age appropriate than other sites. I found that while I expected to prefer sites that had prescreened where they referred kids, I instead preferred sites that increased their search safety.

Yahoo Kids. Of note, there are no spelling helpers, so if you have trouble with spelling, or are searching for an unusually spelled name (like Katie Perry), you may have trouble. I had to go to another website to find the correct spelling and go back to the kids search site.

Abe Lincoln: 169 sites, but top result no longer valid. The majority of the first three pages link to “Im a hero websites and pictures, as opposed to the summary of his life. It is not until about the third page that you get actual history. (of note, you get much better results when you type in Abraham Lincoln, with encyclopedia results, and good links to his writings early on).

Tapirs: 194 sites Encyclopedia entry, dictionary entry, and good entries with lots of tapir information early in the search

Katy Perry: 15 sites, none of which were related to the singer.

QUINTURA.COM-this looks like a fun site to lay around with, but seriously is short on information. ***This link has been removed as it the search engine is now used as a search engine for hotels, and so is not useful for youth. 

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Abe Lincoln: Nothing (Abraham Lincoln brought up three websites)

Tapir: 1 site comes up, and it is not about tapirs, but about an extinct relative of them.

Katy Perry: Nothing

GoGooligans.com This site uses Google search results, although it is not actually associated with Google. It actually did provide good search suggestions, and can provide results appropriate for teachers or students. It even provides a handy safety tip at the top of the site. Unlike other sites, however, each site is not vetted by the people running it. This does leave open the risk that something nefarious may slip through. Of note, I found that it was not possible to do a second search without returning to the homepage, rather than simply typing in a new topic in the search bar. I found that frustrating.

Abe Lincoln: 7 million results. The results were kid-oriented and provided great information. These results included Abraham Lincoln.

Tapirs: 365,000 results, with the first being a kid targeted article from National Geographic.

Katy Perry: 13 million results. Some of these sites I would be less excited to have kids look at. On the first page, there is a gossip website that includes pictures of women in very small bikinis. This is probably a topic I would prefer to have vetted before my children were to see it.

RedZ.com While this was listed with other child friendly search engines (possibly because there is a cute zebra on the homepage), my first search suggested that was not a great listing, and upon further exploration, I found they were not really targeted at kids. I included the one search I made but didn’t bother with the second two.

Abe Lincoln: RedZ provided me with a link to some good websites, although it also provided me with a link to Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter as the fourth hit. This makes me question how much the site is really targeted to kids.

Famhoo? (Not associated with yahoo). This search engine is a bit slow, and the results have advertisements before the actual results.

Abe Lincoln: 4 results, one of which wasn’t to an Abe Lincoln site, and the other three providing little information about our 16th president (except that he was our 16th president). Abraham Lincoln searches resulted in far better search results.

Tapir: Produced good results, good pages. The first again was a National Geographic website.

Katy Perry: This produced quite a few good results, but once again a gossip page talking about some recent indecent behavior she has engaged in was pretty high up in the listings. Maybe I am too conservative about this, but I would rather that not be the type of information the age group these search engines are targeted at gets exposed to.

AskKids.com (***This link has been removed as the search engine is no longer active). Much like GoGooligan, this is a website that filters rather than prescreens. It does start each page with sponsored results, but those results were at least linked to the searches I had made (e.g. when searching for Lincoln, they directed me to a Ford website). It did not list the number of results provided.

Abe Lincoln: Produced some good results, including links that would be helpful for report writing and for learning.

Tapir: Again, good results with top results including zoos and cute pictures (if you think Tapirs are cute, which I do).

Katy Perry: This produced a number of good results, including links to tween-targeted magazines like Bop. It did produce links to video games that have Katy-Perry type characters. Weird, but still more kid appropriate than most of the other search engines that purport themselves to be kid friendly.


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To Praise or Not to Praise...

11/23/2011

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__ One of the topics I often ponder is the power of praise. There seems to be such a broad range of parental praisers, ranging from those who never praise to those who tell their children they do a good job when they remember to blow their runny nose. So how does the thoughtful parent find balance? How do the parents who never praise introduce it to their parenting toolbox,and how do parents who overpraise back off a bit? And for the rest of us, how do parents who praise already hone their praise to become more effective?

First, let’s discuss reasons to avoid the extremes… Praise has benefits, so not praising means your children are losing out on a very effective positive and motivating tool. An article a couple years ago in New York Magazine described some of the benefits of praise, including its effectiveness at encouraging specific behaviors to happen more often. On the other hand, praising too much, especially for things that are not under your child’s control, is not good for your kids. It increases our children’s dependence on us. More importantly, and more detrimentally, it can actually discourage effort in your kids’ behavior. So how can you hone your praise so that it works for you?

1.      Don’t praise attributes like intelligence. Research by Mueller and Dweck (1999) has found that when you praising attributes may have more negative consequences on achievement than praising effort. Kids praised for intelligence enjoy what they are doing less, give up when things  are difficult, and don’t enjoy the tasks as much when they are able to complete them. Instead, praise the effort your child puts into the tasks. Praise hard work. When your child wants to give up because something is hard, encourage them to keep trying. This will actually teach your kids that hard work and challenge are goals worth achieving on their own, regardless of the consequences.

2.      Try to get the words “good work” or “nice job” out of your vocabulary. This praise is non-specific, so it doesn’t really have a lot of benefit in terms of teaching. However, it does raise the possibility of our kids becoming overly dependent on these nice words to value themselves. Some even say it makes our kids overly dependent on us as parents for their view of themselves. In an effort to raise well-adjusted, happy kids, we want them to see the value in what they do for themselves.

3.      Try to trade some of your ‘good work’ praises for descriptions of behaviors. Point out the happy expression on a friend’s face because your child invited them to play. Point out how clean the kitchen is because your child loaded the dishwasher, or how much faster chores go when everyone works together.

Changing how you praise can feel awkward at first. Don’t give up! Keep reminding yourself to make the changes, and set mini-goals for yourself. For example: Today, I am going to praise my daughter’s effort three times. I am going to stop myself from praising ability one time. The more you try, the more natural it feels. As time goes on, you will see the payoff.

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Learning to Wait

11/16/2011

2 Comments

 
Learning to Wait

In today’s world of multiple televisions, video games, on computers, I often talk with parents about how to deal with the consequences of overuse of technologies. One of the most common questions I am asked is “How do I deal with the problem of instant gratification, I want my kids to be more patient!” I respond to this question with the tongue in cheek response of “There is no quick fix; you have to be patient.” We often laugh about it as we discuss it, but it is a very true statement.

Delaying gratification, and the patience required to do so, is a skill that requires effort to attain, and once it has been developed, it must be maintained in order to stay effective. The specific actions you can take to build this skill are simple; however they require effort and continual practice in order to keep them up. Here are some basic steps you can take:

1.       Role model delaying gratification. Demonstrate to your kids both that you value delaying gratification, and that you practice it yourself.
a.      When you notice you want a second piece of desert, say out loud that you want it and then don’t take it.
b.      Take your kids grocery shopping, with a list that you stick to.
c.      Focus on enjoying time when you are trapped in a line, like when you are stuck in traffic or in line at the grocery store. Find ways to make it fun for you and your family, play car games, enjoy taking time, talk to each other.

2.      Read chapter books together and read ONLY one chapter at a time, no matter how exciting the beginning of the next chapter will be.

3.      Garden. Plan vegetables and fruits that you and your children enjoy and will like even better fresh. Watch them grow, and watch them go from unripe to ripe. Enjoy how fabulous the fruits and veggies are straight from the plant. Throughout this process, discuss the patience required to get good food.

4.      Praise waiting. Note when your children do it and note when tell them you like it.

5.      Encourage hobbies that require frequent practice for improvement, such as musical instruments or athletics. Discuss the need to practice before you get good, and don’t let them quit just because it gets hard.

One other useful last tip is that makes it easier to practice patience is to limit screen time. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than 2 hours of screens for kids per day. This includes televisions, computers, video games, and yes, even some phones.

Learning to delay gratification can be a lot of fun if you let it. Good luck, and enjoy the process!

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    Rindee G.P. Ashcraft, Ph.D.

    I am a psychologist with specialties in child, adolescence, trauma, and obsessive compulsive disorder. I blog about these topics, parenting, and the psychologically healthy workplace.

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