About
Why I Started This Website
I started this site to respond to the alarming threat that Internet pornography poses to all of our children. I first became acquainted with the seriousness of this danger when I was approached by a child psychologist, who was concerned about the rising number of her young patients who were addicted to Internet pornography. I was a member of the Louisiana legislature and she asked if I could do something. Her research was frightening:
- 80% of all children are exposed to Internet pornography. The average age of exposure is 11.
- Internet pornography addiction can develop more easily than a drug or alcohol addiction because it engages the most sensitive sense we have, our eyes, and it’s readily available in unlimited quantities. It's even more addictive than drug addictions because the images are directly stored in the memory and imagination which remain long after viewing Internet pornography, altering the structure and function of the brain.
- Since adolescent brains are not fully developed, they are much more at risk for addiction. Pornography can deform the pleasure centers of a child's brain.
As the father of a young son, I was concerned about protecting my son and everyone’s children from exposure to internet pornography.
Parents Need to Protect Their Children
It’s up to parents to protect your children from pornographic content on the Internet; the digital child predator. The good news is that safeguards are available, but effort and attention on your part are required. The protection process can be broken up into the following three-steps:
- Communicate with Your Children: Discuss the dangers and undesirability of adult content with your children and closely monitor their online activity. Parents also need to be comfortable that there is good supervision at the houses of their childrens’ friends.
- Parental Control Software: But talking to your children is not enough. Children, particularly adolescents, are naturally curious and could accidentally access adult content, through a pop-up ad or a misdirected search. It is essential, for their protection, to set up parental control software (content blockers) on all the devices accessible by your children. Both Windows/Android and Apple devices will be discussed.
- Reinforce the Parental Control Software: All of the content blockers that I have worked with have large gaps in them and need to be reinforced or bootstrapped.