How to Protect your Kids from Porn
The only people arguing that porn is empowering are those without kids or teenagers.
For the rest of us, we want to protect our children from porn’s harmful messages of exploitation, objectification & violence. Here’s some quick tips on how you can!
First, Remember that Protection and Resistance to Porn for us is Twofold:
1. Accessibility
2. Heart Condition (our desire to use porn or not)
First, accessibility. We want to limit the exposure our kids have to porn. If there’s a drug that’s addictive (porn for sure), we don’t want that drug sitting around on the kitchen table. We want that drug as far away from us as possible. A great way to do that is to lock down our kids’ phones and tablets- primarily with Screentime for Apple. For those of you with kids on Andriod/Windows platforms, I’m guessing there’s an option comparable to Screentime. Find that and use it religiously. Screen time is one of the more difficult systems to get around. First, check “Limit adult websites”. Don’t forget to disable the change time/date option, as kids can get around Screentime by changing these. Then, it’s time to add to the blocked website list. I personally first add major porn sites such as these:
pornhub.com
spankbang.com
xvideos.com
xhamster.com
redtube.com
xnxx.com
youporn.com
spankwire.com
chaturbate.com
Then I add browsers such as:
chrome.com
mozilla. org (firefox)
brave.com
vivaldi.com
opera.com
duckduckgo.com
Finally, major proxy servers need to be blocked as these provide a VPN that can also navigate past Screentime controls.
4everyproxy.com
freeproxy.com
proxify.com
hidemyass.com
youproxy.com
hide.me.
proxysite.com
Blocking websites and proxies isn’t perfect, but it will certainly slow down and limit the ability of your children to access hardcore porn. This is common sense for any parent. Now for the heart aspect:
This is the major key to avoiding porn. The “want to” factor. If you aren’t religious, you can make a moral case for this easily as it’s hard not to see the exploitation, violence and objectification that is porn. Many moral people do not want to support this. As we teach our kids to respect themselves and others, we find that using each other is not compatible with this message. Most people who are searching for real love don’t feel great about having one-night stands. But they do it to temporarily fill their emotional need by a physical one. It’s a free country. That’s their right. But not every action is a healthy one.
Respecting ourselves is important. Porn can be called “empowering” today, almost always in the context of women doing porn. Yes, we can make decisions about how we want to use our bodies to make money. Anyone can create an Onlyfans website. It’s a free country. That’s their right.
Our society agrees that sex must be consensual- in other words, it’s a big deal. If it’s a big deal, maybe it’s not mentally and emotionally healthy for us to watch other people having sex (and almost never authentic, loving sex ). Additionally, it’s impossible to know if the performers have consented to the sex acts, or if they are minors, or trafficked (quite likely with international films) or if they were compensated fairly. The industry is now trying to create the “verified performer” status, but it’s completely self-regulated. In other words, it’s a total joke.
Many moral people do not want to be complicit in this process.
If you’re a Christian, there’s an even stronger case to avoid porn. Each person is made in the image of God. Each person is inherently and immeasurably valuable and loved by God. And sex is special. It’s more than a handshake. Sure, our Western culture has denigrated the meaning, BUT, we know deep inside it’s extremely meaningful. In the quiet of our hearts and rooms, we know sex is meant to bond souls together. If we throw around sex, that says something about the condition of our hearts, souls or emotional well-being.
More to come!!
