Safe Search Kids - Education, Parenting, Internet Safety for All

Somewhere on this planet, there’s a stone city sitting high up in the misty Peruvian Andes. Machu Picchu, apart from being a beautiful ruin, is a silent witness to the genius of the Inca Empire. Many consider it as the ultimate 3D puzzle; even after centuries of earthquakes and tropical downpours, the city still stands strong.

There are many interesting things one has to know about this architectural and engineering wonder. Here are the most important Machu Picchu facts any student needs to know:

Where Exactly Is It?

You can find this ancient Inca citadel high up the Andes Mountains, nearly 8,000 feet above sea level. It sits beautifully between the Old Mountain (Machu Picchu) and Young Mountain (Huayna Picchu).

The location is, by no means, an accident. The Incas considered the land as sacred, with the Urubamba River snaking through the valley way down below. Even now, getting there feels like a trek. You can go the traditional route and spend a few days hiking the famous Inca Trail. Another option is to go on a tour to Machu Picchu by train if you want to experience that scenic rail journey and arrive refreshed and ready to explore the ruins.

Also, Machu Picchu is tucked into a “cloud forest.” The ruins are wrapped in this thick fog, which makes it feel like a secret spiritual escape that’s naturally protected from the rest of the world.

How It Came to Be

One of the most iconic landmarks in all of South America, Machu Picchu is a product of the Inca Empire’s prime, built back in the mid-1400s. The mastermind behind it is believed to be Emperor Pachacuti, who envisioned it as a quiet royal getaway where the nobility could escape the hustle and bustle of Cusco.

The site was unfortunately abandoned right after the empire collapsed. Good thing the Spanish conquistadors completely missed it, that’s why Machu Picchu has stayed perfectly preserved. Thanks to that, the ruins now offer an unfiltered look at Inca culture that never felt the touch of European influence.

A True Engineering Marvel

Did you know that the Incas built all of Machu Picchu without wheels, iron tools, or even heavy pack animals? They merely relied on a technique called ashlar masonry. Stones were carved too precisely that they locked together perfectly without a single drop of mortar. We’re talking about gaps so tight you couldn’t even slip a credit card or a knife blade between them.

The technique was actually a genius survival hack. Peru is a major earthquake zone, so these mortar-free walls were designed to shift during a tremor and settle right back into place once the shaking stopped. It’s the reason these ancient structures are still standing strong.

It Was Rediscovered in 1911

Local families always knew the ruins were there, and that went on for generations while the rest of the world was in the dark for centuries. That all shifted in 1911 when American historian Hiram Bingham III stumbled upon the site. He was convinced he’d found Vilcabamba, the fabled “Lost City of the Incas.” It turned out he was technically wrong about his theory, but the fact remains that he sparked a global fascination that never really faded.

Fast forward to now, and it’s now a UNESCO World Heritage site and has officially been crowned one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, making it the ultimate destination for educational travel.

Around 200 Surviving Structures

Machu Picchu, which spans about five square miles, is home to roughly 200 different structures. The site is split into two halves: the agricultural side where you can find the iconic steep farming terraces and the urban center where the heart of the city was located. Here, you’ll see sacred temples, including the infamous Temple of the Sun and the Room of the Three Windows, grand estates built for the elite, and massive grain storehouses.

Another impressive fact about Machu Picchu is that many of the windows and doors are perfectly aligned with the sun during the summer and winter solstices. This reflects the Inca’s mastery of astronomy.

The 16 Fountains

Hidden in the stone is a system of 16 fountains powered by a natural spring nearly half a mile away, and the math behind it couldn’t get any more astonishing. The Incas calculated the slopes with such precision that the water flows constantly without ever wearing down the stone. True enough, even after centuries, some of these channels are still running today. This is an incredible testament to a civilization that mastered water management long before the rest of the world caught up.

Most of It Is Still Underground

What you see is really just the tip of the iceberg. Archaeologists believe about 60% of Machu Picchu is tucked away underground. To make a city stick to such a steep, rainy ridge, the Inca had to engineer massive foundations and drainage systems. It’s the layers buried beneath the terraces that have kept the city from sliding off the mountain for the last five centuries.

Conclusion

The Inca designed Machu Picchu to sway with earthquakes and other natural disasters. It’s safe to say that they achieved their goal as after nearly 600 years, it still stands high and proud. These Machu Picchu facts also show that when we work with, and not against, nature, the greatest feats can happen.

If you love sports and storytelling, sports journalism can be an exciting and rewarding career. Sports journalists don’t just report scores, they explain why games matter, tell athlete stories, and capture the emotion behind competition.

This guide is written especially for young students who are curious about how to turn their passion for sports into a profession.

What Does a Sports Journalist Do?

A sports journalist covers games, athletes, teams, and sports culture across platforms such as websites, newspapers, TV, podcasts, and social media. You might:

• Write match reports and features
• Interview athletes and coaches
• Analyze tactics and performances
• Create videos, podcasts, or social posts
• Work behind the scenes as a researcher or editor

Some journalists work for big outlets like ESPN, while others build independent blogs, YouTube channels, or TikTok accounts.

Step 1: Start Early (You Don’t Have to Wait)

You don’t need a degree to start, you just need curiosity and consistency.

What you can do now:

• Write game recaps for your school teams
• Start a simple sports blog or Substack
• Post short analysis videos on Instagram or TikTok
• Volunteer to help with your school newspaper or media club

Covering local or school sports is one of the best ways to learn. It teaches you deadlines, accuracy, and how to tell a story people care about.

Step 2: Build Strong Writing & Communication Skills

Sports journalists must explain fast-moving action clearly and confidently.

Focus on:

• Clear, simple writing
• Strong headlines and openings
• Asking good interview questions
• Learning basic grammar and editing

Reading quality sports journalism, from long-form profiles to quick game recaps, will sharpen your style. Pay attention to how writers describe moments and build tension.

Step 3: Learn the Sports (Really Well)

Knowing the rules is just the start. Great sports journalists understand:

• Strategy and tactics
• Player roles and statistics
• History and rivalries
• The business and culture of sports

Whether you love soccer, basketball, hockey, or esports, go deep. Watch games critically and ask why things happened, not just what happened.

Step 4: Photography & Video Matter More Than Ever

Modern sports journalism is highly visual. Even writers are often expected to understand photography and video.

Sports Photography Basics

Photos help tell the story of a game instantly.

• Action shots (goals, tackles, celebrations)
• Emotion (victory, defeat, focus, frustration)
• Context (crowds, stadiums, atmosphere)

Learning how to frame action, use fast shutter speeds, and respect editorial image rules is crucial, especially when covering real events.

Sourcing Editorial Photos

Not every sports journalist is on the sidelines with a camera, and that’s okay. Knowing how to legally and ethically source sports photos is an essential skill, especially for students starting out. You will need to familiarize yourself with platforms that offer editorial sports photos and learn about licensing.

When sourcing sports imagery, focus on photos that capture the same storytelling elements as on-field photography:

• Action – goals, tackles, sprints, saves, celebrations
• Emotion – joy, frustration, intensity, heartbreak
• Context – crowds, stadiums, team benches, game atmosphere

For real games and athletes, it’s critical to use editorial-licensed images, not commercial stock. Editorial photos are meant for news, commentary, and educational use and cannot be altered or used for advertising.

Video & Short-Form Content

Video skills are a huge advantage:

• Post-game interviews
• Highlight clips
• Analysis breakdowns
• Social-first vertical video

Many young journalists grow their audience through video before landing writing opportunities. Platforms that focus on real sports moments (not staged content) are especially useful when learning editorial standards.

Step 5: Study Journalism or Media (Optional but Helpful)

Many sports journalists study:

• Journalism
• Communications
• Media studies
• Sports management

College programs also provide access to student media, internships, and press opportunities, especially when covering college leagues like the NCAA.

That said, a strong portfolio can sometimes matter more than your degree.

Step 6: Create a Portfolio (Your Most Important Asset)

Your portfolio shows what you can actually do.

Include:

• Game recaps
• Feature stories
• Interviews
• Photos or videos you’ve captured
• Links to blogs or social accounts

Even unpaid or school-level work counts, editors want proof of consistency and passion.

Step 7: Get Experience & Network

Sports journalism is competitive, but relationships matter. Before you rake in the big salary you will need experience and know the right people.

Ways to get experience:

• Intern with local media outlets
• Contribute to sports blogs
• Cover amateur or youth leagues
• Attend press events (when allowed)

Follow journalists you admire, engage professionally online, and don’t be afraid to pitch story ideas.

The Reality (and the Opportunity)

Sports journalism can involve long hours, tight deadlines, and lots of competition. But it also offers:

• A career built around what you love
• Access to incredible events
• The chance to tell meaningful stories

With today’s tools, students can build an audience before getting hired. Writing, photography, and video together give you a major edge.

Final Advice for Students

• Start now, not “someday”
• Be curious, not just a fan
• Learn visuals, not just words
• Be consistent, even when no one is watching

If you love sports and storytelling, sports journalism isn’t just a dream, it’s a skill set you can start building today.

Online safety for kids is a big point of concern for modern parents. Creating a balance between digital use and safety is tricky but can be achieved with some practical measures. The use of devices like phones, tablets and laptops is common among kids.

It could be related to online academic research or watching movies or playing games. The use could be for anything, but the concern remains the same throughout.

How to ensure that they are watching safe content, dealing with legit people and using the right tools to work on are some of the areas that parents need to monitor constantly. Let’s explore a checklist that you as parents can use as a guiding resource to ensure the online safety of your kids.

Configure Parental Controls

Setting permissions is important to provide kids the safety that they need when online. With parental controls, you can set the time limit for online use and what they access. This guided space on their devices serves as a fortification that scammers cannot easily breach. A well-thought-out parental control setup should be done across every device and what they do on it on various apps and websites.

Set control limits on what they can download and what they can spend online. While setting controls, if you see anything suspicious on their phones, take immediate action. There are symptoms you shouldn’t ignore because their iPhone or Mac might have been hacked. Check for preventive steps to be taken in case of any hacking. Moonlock blog is a helpful blog that you and your kids can bookmark to use for information on controlling devices in the best way. There are comprehensive blogs on signs of hacking on various devices, including Macs, iPhones and iPads, that you will find highly useful.

Adjust Device Security Settings

Most devices, especially from Apple, provide strong built-in system settings. If used properly, these provide the first layer of defense that a device needs. From protecting data to preventing unauthorized access, device security settings for children play an important role. The settings you should review include:

• Lock devices with PINs or biometrics
• Disable unverified app installations
• Turn off unnecessary location sharing
• Disable unnecessary permissions for apps
• Match settings with kids’ age and usage purpose

Image credit: Freepik

Use Content Filtering Tools

Content filters are a must-have for kids. Filtering content as per their age groups and blocking what is not appropriate is important.

Make sure no adult/18+, gambling or violent content is allowed. To block this content, use filters across web browsers and apps. Content filtering tools will give you peace of mind, as they provide a safe browsing and viewing environment for your kids.

Install Anti-Malware Protection

Children might know the basics of cybersecurity but being aware and actually following it in real life are two different things, especially when it’s kids. They may click unfamiliar links or download content files or free apps without knowing the security risks. This is why anti-malware protection should be used, as it identifies and either blocks or removes malicious links and download attempts.

Here’s how malware protection works:

• Scans downloads in real time
• Sends alerts for suspicious activities
• Automatically updates against new threats
• Protects across apps and browsers
• Reduces risk of identity, data and account theft

Manage Social Media Privacy

Privacy settings on various apps, especially social media like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, etc., can be used to control what personal information is visible online.

It’s basic nature for kids to be overexcited and share more than what is required. They don’t realize the long-term impact or current risks of oversharing photos, videos or personal details online. A child device security checklist should include information on how to set up and control online accounts. This is what you should do:

• Use child-specific accounts – not adult profiles
• Limit profile visibility on social media (if possible, make it private)
• Turn off automatic photo and location sharing
• Limit who can send friend requests
• Don’t make phone number and email public

Plan A Safe Browsing Routine

Digital boundaries are important when kids browse the internet. You cannot control what kids browse all the time so make security a behavioral aspect for browsing. Let kids know what effective and independent internet use means.

If they question your decisions, be open to answering things like why some content has been restricted by you. To make your efforts succeed, build trust and communicate freely with them.

Conclusion

Online safety for kids should be an ongoing effort, not a one-time setup. Reviewing browsing history, providing updated information on cybersecurity and setting up devices for malware tools, etc., are part of a plan that you need to provide a safe digital environment to the kids. As mentioned above, don’t enforce rules without making them aware through seamless communication. Win their trust and include them in the knowledge process so they can be your partners in the process.

Traveling with your children can seem like something of a hassle. Instead of relaxing and getting to enjoy the free time, you have to make sure that they’re entertained, that they don’t injure themselves, don’t wander off, and don’t eat something that could give them an allergic reaction.

However, family trips can be a wonderful opportunity to bond, as well as serve as an interactive educational experience that children of all ages will definitely be interested in. If you’re thinking about having a trip like that the next time you go on vacation, here are some of the locations that you need to add to your bucket list.

Vietnam

Vietnam is an incredibly diverse and culturally rich country full of ancient history and unique traditions. The thing that makes it incredible is its ability to blend culture with adventure. The sights here are unlike anything else in the world, so you’ll definitely want to get a Holafly eSIM for Vietnam before you leave. Having a seamless internet connection anywhere you are, and the ability to share pictures you see with everyone back home instantaneously, is a great advantage that allows you to keep up and feel more connected even when you’re far away from home. On top of that, you get the convenience of keeping your own phone number, and there’s no plastic waste to worry about.

Visiting the Mekong Delta will provide you with a glimpse into the country’s rural life, being one of Vietnam’s most important fishing regions, and having almost 3 million hectares used exclusively for agriculture. If you’ve never visited a floating market before, you can do so here. The Mekong Delta is also very important for sustainability and biodiversity. The Laotian rock rat, a member of a family believed to have been extinct for around 11 million years, was recently rediscovered in an unexplored area in the region. The coastal geography makes the delta vulnerable to climate change and rising sea levels, as well as saltwater intrusion and coastal erosion.

You can also try trekking through Sa Pa, go on bike rides through Hội An and Ninh Bình, and cruise along Halong Bay for three days, with an itinerary that includes cave visits, kayaking, and stopping in several fishing villages.

Iceland

If you want to visit a place that combines education with visits in nature, there’s no better place for it than Iceland. The Perlan natural history museum in Reykjavík is the kind of place that any child will love to visit. Since it is located at the top of a hill, it provides an incredible panoramic view over the capital city and its surrounding areas, including the mountains and the Atlantic. The museum’s planetarium includes exhibitions about the Northern Lights, taking you on a journey across the solar system alongside stunning Icelandic landscapes.

Wonders of Iceland includes interactive geysers, glaciers, animals, birds, volcanoes, and a replica of the Látrabjarg cliff. The LAVA Centre in Hvolsvöllur explains the intricacies and inner workings of earthquakes and volcanoes. Then there’s the Sage Museum for those who love literature, a place that recreates key moments from Icelandic and Viking legends and ancient history.

Most Old Norse sagas were written and preserved in Iceland, and although some of the stories come from Scandinavia, it was the prolific Icelandic scholars, writers, and poets who began writing them down. Whales of Iceland, which opened in 2015, educates visitors about the cetaceans that have been sighted in the country’s waters throughout its history and includes several life-sized models.

FlyOver Iceland will take you on a simulated flight over Iceland’s most dramatic landscapes, while the Katla UNESCO Global Geopark offers geology lessons alongside glacier views and black sand beaches.

Italy

Italy is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, and it’s not difficult to see why. Home to numerous World Heritage Sites, an incredible cuisine that is pretty much universally loved, diverse landscapes, and a lot of history, Italy truly is one of a kind. The dolce vita lifestyle, which focuses on the beauty of being alive, enjoying the present, your connection to other people, and simple things such as good food and the chance to see an incredible landscape, is a good philosophy to share with your children as it is linked to increased wellness, lower stress levels, and overall improved emotional well-being.

Visiting the ruins of Pompeii close to the Vesuvius is one of the most obvious things to do when in Italy. But while the location is popular, rest assured that it is not at all overhyped. It truly is an amazing place to visit, which offers a very complex and layered view of the lives ancient people used to live. Ancient urban planning is plain to see, from the areas dedicated to sanitation to the ones for commerce, and the streets paved with basalt and white stones so that moonlight and torchlight were reflected for better visibility at nighttime.

The homes include large villas known as domus, where the city’s wealthy residents lived, as well as insulae, the apartment buildings used by common people. For a more interactive experience, you and your kids can join a mosaic-making or cooking class. Learning how to cut and glaze enamel tiles, mix colors, and mount a composition can take more than two months, but if you don’t have that much time, you can join an intensive course that lasts only five days.

The Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci includes a materials section that discusses modern products across all stages from raw materials to recycling. There’s a transport section too, covering aircraft like Farman 1909, and a rail section situated in a pavilion from the 1906 Expo, areas dedicated to astronomy, telecommunications, and sound, where you can see refracting telescopes, a Foucault pendulum, telegraphs, and sound-reproducing tech from the 19th century. Musical instruments that are around 300 years old, a large collection of watches, as well as reproductions of Leonardo’s machines, can be found in the museum, too.

Conclusion

If you want to foster your children’s curiosity and get them to enjoy learning, you need to make things interesting for them. Being in a different place and having the opportunity to interact with so many different things is a unique opportunity that will undoubtedly develop their critical thinking and desire to know more.