Oh my goodness. Today I read this. Again, oh my word! (If you don't want to go to the link and read it, let me sum it up for you. Kids are seeing porn. All kinds of it. A lot. At young ages, think PRE-teen. And it's messing them up. A lot.)
This is craziness. This is evil. This is something to rage against. Children have no business knowing these things. Adults don't need to know half of it.
I do not want my children exposed to pornography of any kind. As their mother, I promise that I will do my best to prevent this from happening. I promise that I will:
1. Not allow my children unlimited and unsupervised access to the internet. They don't need it. Yep, this means they only get to see youtube when I'm there. They only get to use the computer when I'm home. No, they don't get the password to turn it on. And yes, it's a password they can't crack.
2. Not give my child a smartphone just because everyone else has one. Apps like Instagram, SnapChat and even Facebook are great tools but can be used for evil as well as good. Sexting need not be an option. If my child must have a phone (which I honestly don't see happening anytime soon) there is no need for internet access or picture messaging. Why give them these tools when they are not old enough to use them properly?
3. Use good internet filters that will help me keep the filth off our devices and out of my kids' brains. Seriously, I don't need to see it either, and neither does my husband. There are lots of good ones out there, some are even free. K9, NetNanny and bsafeonline are a few. I personally have liked bsafeonline best. It's about $50 a year. The other two mentioned here are free. There are plenty of others. Ask around. See what your friends are using. Put one on your computer, your smartphone and your tablet.
4. Talk to my kids, in age appropriate ways, about how to stay safe online. Today, this meant telling my 10 year old that if he ever clicks on something and something inappropriate comes up that he is to walk out of the room and come get me. This gets him out of the situation and lets me see what he has been exposed to. It also means making sure they don't give out personal info online and keeping them on safe websites. We have a file on my desktop and my phone labeled "Kid Stuff." They know that they can go to any of the sites listed there without asking. Anything new must be Mom or Dad approved.
5. Cover my webcam when we're not using it. Did you know that people can remotely hack into your computer and take secret pictures of you using your webcam? I just recently read about this. The chances of this happening to me are slim, but putting a sticker or a piece of tape over the camera when we're not using it is way less annoying than trying to take down unwanted pictures from the internet. The last thing I would want is my child's picture being used as online porn.
6. Be certain that my kids are following our rules even at other places. I will talk to my kids about how to handle this at a friend's house and I will talk to other adults I leave my kids with. Anyone who doesn't agree to abide by our rules won't be left in charge of my kids. (I have not been as good about talking to other parents in the past, but I plan to be more vigilant from this point forward.)
Say it with me now. "I am the parent. I make the rules. My child does not need to have all this crap he thinks he does. I am the parent. I can and will say no to technology that may prove to be dangerous or even fatal to my child. I am the parent."
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Who's with me on this? What other things are you doing to keep pornography out of your children's hands?
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