Pornography! It’s harming our kids… We can prevent it | Practical Tips

Many of us present the following reasons (amongst many) for not been able to watch over our children 24/7…

• We have to put food on the table, put a roof over our heads…

• And some even say we have our own lives to lead.

• The kids do not listen to me anymore.

• I don’t understand how to do technology etc.

Parenting Facts

• Our children did not have a say when we discussed bringing them (By God’s help of course) into the world…

• Parenting is a privilege and carries a huge responsibility and no one promised it would be easy…

• Children are certainly not for Christmas… They are for life…

• We cannot outsource parenting to schools, the government or the Internet for that matter… which is something most parents in 2019 have been doing unknowingly.

It’s our God given duty and privilege to lead our children through life…

We certainly shouldn’t give up on them because we do not understand Technology (especially the internet)… We should constantly seek knowledge so that we can be thoroughly equipped to assist them on their life journey.

This is why the topic we are sharing on the channel this week is so important…

We are losing our children to an evil that’s is especially rife on the internet in 2019 - Pornography… but we can do a lot to prevent it.

Let me set the scene…

I saw a clip of a baby sitter who was watching over 2 underage twins and she briefly left the house (to go outdoors) to chat with a friend who had popped around to say Hi… 30 mins to an hour after, the baby sitter decided to go back in to see how the kids were getting on… On arriving in the living room, she said Hi but the twins were glued intently on their phone screens… checking closer the baby sitter found they were watching Pornography… when she asked them in shock… they calmly replied… Aunty! What is the big deal!… its just 2 people making out… it’s all over the internet and our friends send us these links all the time… Truly shocking… But it’s the reality.

I am going to share several tips on what we as parents and guardians can do to prevent our children from being exposed to this evil in the first place.

Those who want advise for their young ones who have already being exposed… please feel free to email the Clinic in confidence using the email address in the description. And the Clinic will endeavour to assist.

At all costs, we must address it in a healthy way that does not promote shame. Finding a way to meet them where they are at, without forcing them into isolation due to shame is hugely important.

Tips – The list is not exhaustive but should give us all a healthy head start.

1. Training our children about the dangers of Pornography. Having intentional discussions about sex. This has traditionally been a Taboo subject and it still is for many but it needn’t be. Let’s discuss this at home before discussions are mandated in schools… This would help maintain the right balance.

2. Transparency… Encourage transparency very early on… Encourage the young ones that nothing is off-limits for discussion… It breeds an open door policy. It should be done when they are quite young as they have not polluted their minds.

3. You can block a lot of this content from showing up on the internet by using applications like Qustodio and kidsloks… These are parental control applications you can get by using the link below…

4. Broadband Router Controls/Firewalls… Most broadband routers allow you - the parent to set up filters that prevent illicit content from being seen by our young ones when they are Internet browsing unsupervised.

5. Other non technical things to consider - Sleep Overs… You should do your research before you allow your children visit friends… Some kids would often want to visit friends where restrictions to the internet are relaxed… it could well be an outlet to engage in these things away from your home. Approach the discussions around this firmly but delicately.

6. Befriend your son or daughter on their social media platforms if they have access. This allows for accountability… This is not to spy on them… just to help them along.

7. Unofficial streaming sites - Sites which show exclusive films, Box Sets and Live Premiership and LA Liga football games are often littered with links to pornography sites (often with illicit sexual thumbnails that act as bait) The people running these pornography sites often sponsor the streaming sites as they know many people will visit… It means visitors get to see inappropriate content before they get to see the content they were after in the first place… our children are exposed to this enticing and inappropriate content and sooner or later they become hooked…

Note that I am not suggesting that Adults are not exposed to Pornography… The focus is on how we can prevent our children from being exposed to any type of sexually explicit content.

To be clear…

Pornography is exposure to sexually explicit content on the internet and other offline media and it includes actual, graphic or simulated sexual intercourse. Additionally, it involves lewd exhibition of genitals. Finally, any content involving masturbation, sadistic or masochistic abuse or any other form of lewd behavior whether actual or simulated, can fall into the category of sexually explicit content.

Put bluntly, Pornography harms our children. It skews their world view, increases high-risk behaviours, and alters their capacity for successful and sustained human relationships. It also shapes Negative Attitudes and Behaviours towards Women.

More than anything, the pornographic worldview creates a culture of recreational sex. It destroys the basis for intimacy and marriage and promotes infidelity for both sexes.

Let’s do our utmost to prevent this… now you know what to do.