Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. (2 Timothy 2:22)

Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. (1 Corinthians 6:18)

Pornography is just a click away for Internet-savvy teens and ‘tweens. Read on for how you can help protect your child from pornography’s lure.

According to the website XXXChurch, the average age of first exposure to pornography is eleven years old. This statistic crosses all socio-economic and religious boundaries. One online site stated that there are "more outlets for hard-core pornography in the United States, than there are McDonald’s restaurants". With that in mind, if you think your family is immune, you are woefully unprepared to confront it, should your child be one of the statistics.

What can you do?

Don’t be in denial: Saying, "not my son" or "it can’t happen to us" is ostrich-ism. We hate to think about our children being kidnapped or the victims of child-predators, however we know it happens. Often, this is because we have failed to prepare our children because we are afraid of discussing the topic (because they are innocent, and we don’t want to corrupt them; because it may frighten them; because it frightens us; because we don’t want to make them think about it if they weren’t thinking about it and now we’ve "planted the seed").

Be Proactive: Discuss the topic. Have Internet Rules that all of your children must obey. Some have issues with the installation of Internet Filters and Chat Monitoring Software. We have burglar alarms to protect our homes, and this is no different. Children do not have the right to vote, drink or gamble until an age wherein they possess the maturity to make informed decisions about such. Until that time, they are entrusted to your care, supervision and rules to help them navigate such decisions. This is one of those issues. Keep your computer(s) in open family areas. Walk by. Know what is going on. Yes, children may resent it. They often resent many things parents do to keep them safe…but they also often appreciate it later and thank you!

Keep An Open Dialog: Be someone your children can talk to! Pornography, in particular, is a "secret sin", something that those who have admitted to addictions with will tell you they work hard at keeping underground. Talk about difficult subjects. Check in with kids frequently to see what is going on in their lives (sports, friends, school, life "stuff" in general!). Know their friends.

Examine Yourself: Many parents think that if you allow kids to experiment in your home, it helps kids with their "curiosity" and they will "get it out of their systems"? This applies to drinking, smoking (both legal and illegal substances) and even sex.

Examine Your Environment: Are there Victoria Secret catalogs strewn around the house? What do you watch on TV? What kinds of movies do you watch? Ratings are funny things these days, and you can find many movies with ratings indicating acceptability for teen viewing with scenes that really are not appropriate. This includes video games.

Continue the Discussion: If your child is viewing pornography, talk about it. Talk about your values and why this doesn’t work for you. Forgive, but don’t turn a blind eye. Help your child to keep his resolve to stay away from pornography.

The problem is that most adult men who admit to an addiction with pornography said that the addiction began in their teens with "harmless" magazines. This also caused issues later in life, even after marriage provided a sexual outlet, because of unhealthy attitudes about women, sex and self-concept.

Pornography and masturbation are self-gratifying activities. They are selfish and do not teach boys to think of the needs of others and delay gratification.

Some may think this "hardline" approach is over-reacting and a bit extreme. I liken it to those commercials for TheTVBoss.org where the parents tell visitors in the living room how they are barred from the house because they are harming the family. You then find out these are characters from a parent’s favorite TV show. If a predator showed up at your door, would you let him in? With the advent of a 24-hour super-highway, there are some predators that don’t have to arrive in a "plain brown wrapper". You are the parent…it starts with you!


Statistics:
Beating the Bunny
Family.org - Social Issues
My Kids' Browser
Teen Stats
Internet Porn Stats

Online Articles and Resource:
The Secret Life of Boys
How Pornography Harms Children

Online Safety Agreements & Resources for Creating Them:
Be Safe Online
Safe Kids
Online Safety
Web Rules
Safe Teens
Online Safety (2)
FBI

Parent Resources:
Safe Kids - Child Safety
The Porn Talk

Free Internet Software:
K-9 Filter
Chat Checker

Addiction & Recovery:
Safe Families - Beginning Recovery
No Porn
Protect Kids - Resources
SA