There’s so much to be grateful for about the internet – immediate access to the world’s information at your fingertips, discovering inspiring content like DIY videos, and staying connected with family and friends through social media (I love a good cat meme 😊). But with all the greatness the web has to offer, there is also a lot of online content that I wouldn’t want my kids to see and websites that aren’t age appropriate.
With many of our kids spending so much more time online, and many parents and families sharing devices, we’ve been working on a solution and are excited to announce the general availability of Microsoft Edge Kids Mode! Kids Mode gives parents peace of mind by providing a protected online environment as their kids browse the web on a shared device.
A new browser experience for kids that parents choose, and kids will love
As a parent, my No. 1 job is doing all I can to help keep my kids safe – physically, mentally and emotionally. While I can protect them physically by knowing who they spend time with in the real world, when they are online, I worry about which websites they visit and the content they have access to. This is especially true over the last year when we’re all spending more time than ever online. I also know that not all parents have the luxury of giving each of their children their own device. Many families are sharing a primary PC or even just handing off their phone to their kids when out and about.
Our research tells us that about 50% of U.S. parents are impacted by what we call the “hand-off scenario.” This is that all too familiar situation of letting your child access the web from a shared device when you’re working, making dinner, picking up scattered toys, or doing any of the million things parents do daily. For U.S. parents with children aged 12 and younger, 58% are concerned with the issues their children face when using digital products and services, and while the majority are aware of parental control solutions, only about half are actually using one today. We started digging into this and found that while there are a lot of great solutions in the market today, they often entail a laborious set-up, can require a subscription, and generally don’t offer anything for the other users of their service: kids.
Ultimately, this is what inspired us to roll up our sleeves and create a new mode built natively into Microsoft Edge. Kids Mode was created not only to give parents peace of mind instantly and easily, but also to create a world that is very much designed for kids – more on that below.
How to launch Kids Mode in Microsoft Edge
As far as getting into Kids Mode, it really can’t get any easier. Simply click on your account profile in the upper right corner of Edge and select “Browse in Kids Mode.” From here, you’ll be asked to choose the appropriate age range for your child, either 5-8 or 9-12. And that’s it! Just like that, you’ll quickly “leave” Microsoft Edge and enter the beautiful world of Kids Mode.
