Parents Need to Protect Their Children

It’s up to parents to protect their 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.

Parental Control:  Windows/Android Devices 

A recent article in PC Magazine listed the best parental control software for 2018. (8) The article  included the software listed below.  Most have a one time charge which is listed, with the exception Covenant Eyes, which has a monthly fee.

1 Qustodio (www.qustodio.com):  $49.95

2) Net Nanny (www.netnanny.com):  $39.99

3)  Kaspersky Safe  Kids Review (www.kapersky.com): $14.99

4) Symantec Norton Family Premier Review (www.symantec.com) : $49.99.

5) Covenant Eyes (www.covenanteyes.com) : $15.99 per month

Unfortunately, content filters do have their limitations. While the software will block  the pornographic websites themselves or urls (the address on the world wide web) , it may not  block images and/or videos accessed from those sites.  Most search engines contain the following options:

• All :  which accesses the website itself (url), and includes the images, videos, news.  This search would generally be blocked by a content filter.
• Videos : this search is restricted to video content and may not be blocked by a content filter.  The videos can be accessed directly by the search engine, without going through the blocked url.  So even though the adult website itself may be blocked by the content filter, pornographic videos may still be accessed by the search engine. Sometimes the videos themselves may be obscured by a safe search feature. But just one quick click on a popup button will disable the safe search feature and allow direct access to the videos, even with a content blocker installed.
• Images :  same as videos above. 

            That is why it is important to bootstrap or reinforce the content filter by also restricting access by certain search engines on your devices.   

Parental Control Software – Apple Devices

The Apple devices are actually equipped with their own parental control features and pornographic content is easier to block than the windows devices.  The Apple devices include Macs, iPads and IPhones.

For a more detailed and comprenensive discussion of content blocking, see button below to access your free publication below:  

      Pornography use among children, those under the age of 18, is currently skyrocketing. Consider the following:

• 93% of boys and 62% of girls are exposed to Internet pornography before the age of 18.
• 70% of boys have spent at least 30 consecutive minutes looking at on – line pornography on at least one occasion.
• 35% of boys have done this on at least 10 occasions.

• 83% of boys have seen group sex on the Internet.
• 67% of children admit to clearing their Internet history to hide online activity.
• 79% of accidental exposures to internet pornography among kids take place in the home.
• 56% of divorce cases involve one party having an obsessive interest in online pornography.
• 12% of websites on the Internet are pornographic – approximately 25 million websites.

• 2 of the top 100 websites are pornographic.
• 40 million Americans regularly visit pornographic websites.
• 2.5 billion emails per day are pornographic.
• 25% of search engine request each day are pornography related – approximately 70 million per day..

• Only 3% of pornographic websites require age verification.
• The most popular day of the week for viewing pornography is Sunday.
• 10% of pornography users report being addicted.
• The average age of child first sees Internet pornography is 11.
• 70% of young men ages 18 to 24 visit pornographic websites on at least a monthly basis.

      If anyone is not frightened by these statistics, they should be. Neurological research has found that pornography is particularly addictive because of the neurochemical release that occurs in the brain while viewing pornography. Some specialists even consider online pornographymore addictive than certain drugs. For many young people, this euphoric "high" develops into a coping style for escaping emotional distress. 

       While the abusive pornography might not kill someone, it can just ruin their life.

      To obtain a free copy of a guide to protect your children from Internet pornography, please click on the button below:

         Child predators are every parent's worst nightmare. Parents watch their children closely and admonish them to never talk to strangers. But hiding in many households, right under parents’ noses, may be a digital child predator capable of abusing your child.

       The digital child predator hides in every digital device, laptop and desktop computers, smart phones, tablets, even watches. 

     This predator is Internet pornography.  It dominates our online world.  

• Internet pornography is a $13 billion dollar per annum industry with revenues larger than some of the top technology companies,
• Over 40% of all internet users view pornography,
• There are 68 million daily pornographic search engine requests, which is 25% of all search requests and 35% of all internet downloads,
• It would take over 50 years to view all of the free pornographic content on the Internet.  Thousands of pages are being added daily,
• 20% of men and women report struggling with pornography addiction,
• 34% of Internet users report unwanted exposure to pornography either through popup ads, misdirected links or emails. 
• MOST DISTURBINGLY
• 80% of all children are exposed to internet pornography.  The average age of exposure is 11, with most exposure taking place in the home. (1)

      According to Marysia Weber, in osteopathic family physician certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, “Internet pornography addiction can develop even 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. “  Since their brains are not fully formed, young children are particularly vulnerable to internet pornography and such exposure can be very harmful. (2)

       Children can be scarred psychologically and even develop a sexual addiction, which includes promiscuity and/or pornography addiction.  Pornography addiction is rising at an alarming rate among young people and many attribute their addiction to early exposure to pornography.  Neurological research has found that pornography is particularly addictive because of the neuro-chemical release of dopamine in the brain that occurs while viewing pornography.  For many youths, the euphoric “high” that occurs in this process quickly develops into a coping style for escaping emotional distress. (3)

Footnotes

1. www.techaddiction.ca
2. American Osteopathic Association, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-newsreleases//top-five-warning-signs-of-internet-pornography-addiction-280653.822.html
3.  “Navigating Pornography Addiction : A Guide for Parents,” www.therapyassociates.net

      For a detailed guide to protecct your children from internet pornography, please see the button below: