Safeguarding Your Kids Against Porn

According to the Kaiser Foundation, a 2010 study showed that 69% of 11-14 year olds and 31% of 8-10 year olds had their own cell phones, while a study by Common Sense Media determined that 52% of all children under 8 had access at home to smartphones, iPods, iPads, or other internet ready devices.

It is no wonder that studies show that the average age for children to begin looking at internet pornography is between 7 and 12.

In Proverbs, Solomon warned his child about walking down the path to the adulterer’s home. The cost of giving in to the allurement of sexual temptation was something he wished to spare his son from, knowing that the fallout from sexual compromise brought dire consequences. He warned:

“At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent.” (Proverbs 5:11)

Oh for the days when avoiding destructive sexual temptation was simply a matter of avoiding certain parts of town. In our tech saturated culture, the “ensnaring adulterer” that Solomon warned about is literally waiting on every internet ready device in your own home, and the personal cost to our kids today is no less severe.

More and more research is bringing to light the destructive effects of pornography, not only in the degrading objectification of (primarily) girls and women, but in the damaging physical effect it has of actually altering the brain, which explains so much of its addictive power (to learn more visit www.fightthenewdrug.org). Unfortunately, your children don’t need to go looking for it. Pornographers use every programming tactic available to bring pornography to your kids, and even if you make good use of safeguards like internet filters and parental monitoring, exposure to porn with friends, or even at school, is always a risk.

With the stakes so high, parents need to take up the fight for their kids. Shielding them completely is impossible, but training them to guard themselves is an even more effective strategy, and one that God expects of us. I recently purchased and read Good Pictures, Bad Pictures. It is a book created to read with your children, teaching them about the dangers of pornography and giving them a real strategy on how to protect themselves. I would absolutely recommend this book as necessary reading for every parent and child. God has given parents the high calling of training up their children’s minds. In our over-sexualized culture, this training must necessarily involve teaching our children to protect their own minds. Good Pictures, Bad Pictures is an excellent tool for doing so. Below is an attached video giving a general overview of Good Pictures, Bad Pictures. Also worthwhile is visiting the author’s blog.