Saving the Internet, One Kid at a Time

By David Heath
Wednesday, 19 March 2008 09:05

Home IT

Having been in development and beta for two years before officially launching this very moment, KidZui is a new restricted browser offering a sanitised view of the Internet for children aged 3 to 12.

April, the parent of beta-testing kids says “I love the fact that I do not have to sit right beside my kids while they are online to make sure they aren’t being exposed to garbage. The ease of use is great, the list of approved sites is awesome, and the fact that it incorporates learning sites into it is fantastic.”

Website statistics are amazing things.  My wife runs a small children’s product website and noticed hits coming from www.kidzui.com.  Being curious, she connected to the site and found herself quickly in the middle of their beta program having registered and downloaded the customised browser.

Our five-year-old thinks it’s fabulous.  As far as he is concerned, it’s a huge list of favourites; all of which he loves.  Lisa Rebena, a parent whose child tested KidZui, adds, “My four-year-old logs into KidZui and navigates all by herself, generally doing what she pleases.  I am grateful for KidZui, and I’m much more relaxed now when my daughter is on the computer.”

The idea for KidZui came from co-founder Vidar Vignisson when he found himself struggling to manage the internet activities of his young children, after all how many websites can one parent discover and bookmark?

KidZui employs a team of over 200 teachers and parents to explore the web for suitable content which is categorised into (for example) Space, Science, Games, Amazing Animals, TV and Movies etc.  I assume that if I had a daughter, I’d see a rather different selection!  So far they have incorporated over half a million sites, pictures and videos and the list is growing rapidly.