Web Catch of the Week: Protecting Your Kids Online From Explicit Material

Let’s just call this post uncomfortable from the beginning, shall we?

     Living when and where we do, the reality is that our kids have easy access to pornography. As parents, it feels as if we have little chance to protect our kids from pornography because our society continues to trend towards more lewdness and sensuality. Mainstream media and advertising seem to become more sensualized every day. The ability to access questionable and inappropriate material is literally everywhere. In short, we’re up against a lot.

How can we protect our kids from sexually explicit material?

     While I don’t claim to have the ultimate answer, I recently read the book Good Pictures Bad Pictures with my eight and nine year old sons. The authors, Kristen Jenson and Gail Poyner, provided a kid-friendly explanation of the dangers of pornography, and kept it from being explicit or sensualizing. I really appreciated the explanation of addictions and how porn triggers brains (and especially younger brains) in a dangerous way. Even more helpful is their practical “CAN DO” plan for kids to follow when they come across pornography.

     In addition to the book, the authors have a website called PornProofKids.com - Tips and Tools to Protect Young Minds. They regularly update their blog to keep this important issue on the forefront. While their blogs are not written from a specifically Christian perspective, I appreciate their focus on pornography as a major societal issue that needs to be tackled by everyone.  In “Who’s Fighting the New Public Health Crisis,” they highlight several others groups fighting back against porn.

     Part of defeating pornography is making sure we are comfortable discussing it with each other and with our kids. If we can't talk about it, our kids won't be able to talk about it either. Start the conversation with your kids today!