Safe For Kids rating description

Safe For Kids is just about the simplest possible rating system. Web sites are self-rated by the author of the pages. To use Safe For Kids you need to download the weburbia.rat file and install it on your system. (In case your browser can't download the file at that link there is also a text version here use the Save As File option on your browser to save it from there.) If you are using a PC with Windows it must be placed in the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM folder and must be activated using View -> Options -> Security -> Settings -> Advanced -> Rating Systems -> Add on the web browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0). If you are a web page author and you wish to label your site, or you are a software developer wishing to use the Safe For Kids scheme, then consult the classification page for instructions.

If you are concerned about censorship issues please read our response to "Is this censorship?"

There are just three possible ratings:

Rating

0. Safe For Kids: Pages which are rated by their author as Safe For Kids even when unsupervised.

1. Parental Guidance: Pages which are suitable for older kids when their parents or teachers are with them to supervise and offer guidance. These sites may have content which not all parents consider suitable for children.

Examples of content which may be included under this rating are,

• limited nudity in an artistic or naturist context,
• drugs avoidance education,
• sex education for teenagers,
• games which simulate gambling,
• games which may be adictive,
• pen-pal contacts,
• stories unsuitable for younger children because of some bad language or adult themes,
• shocking subject such as cruelty to animals,
• uncontrolled areas such as discussion forums.

2. Adults Only: Pages which are not suitable for kids.

Since many adult sites do not use the rating systems we advise parents to disallow access to unlabeled sites when children are unsupervised on the internet. Your web browser should have options to restrict access in this way.

Safe For Kids is a self-rating scheme which means that web page authors take the responsibility for the correctness of the rating. Unlike some other labelling systems no organisation is involved to certify the sites. The Safe For Kids labels and logos are not certfication marks. Web sites are not like cinema films or games software which is fixed after a certification has been given. Web sites are dynamic, so no outside organisation can ensure the correctness of a rating for any length of time. Weburbia feel that making the authors look after their own ratings is the only practical way to do it.

Page created 21 December 1996, Last updated 16 October 2007