If you are a new parent to Union Grove Middle School or this is your first time reading this blog, Safe Online for Parents, is part of the UGM Library Media Center mission to provide and promote reliable informational resources. I am the UGMS librarian media specialist and webmaster, Alice Murphy.

While everyone associates libraries with books or reading, the core purpose of libraries is information, books are just one of the ways information is stored and communicated.  21st century communication goes beyond print so the UGMS library media center is available 24/7 online, with links to audio recordings and videos, as well as eBooks, articles in magazines, encyclopedias, newspapers and transcripts of educational TV programs.

Check out the links on the For UGM Parents website.

During the school year our students are directed to use GALILEO and other safe databases on our Library Media website, before resorting to Google. I explain to our students if they start with safe and reliable sources they can then compare that information to what pops up on a  Google search.  

Now Google is stepping up to the plate with Safe Search for Kids, internet searches that are filtered for kid safe websites. In the upper right corner are links for kids to search Websites, Images, Wikis and Videos. Directions are included for parents to turn on Safe Search and lock it so kids can't wander onto unfiltered Google.

Safe Search for Kids also provides guidance for parents with articles like "How Your Child's Data is More Important Than You Think" and on how safe popular social media like Snapchat and Tik Tok are for children. 

It is Google, and there's no "free lunch" so there are ads. Some ads can be closed by clicking the X in the upper right corner, but none overpower the information . It is definitely worth checking out Safe Search for Kids, then picking and choosing what your can use.