Now is the time to start talking to your child about pornography. My colleague received a notification that her child attempted to visit a website, and it was flagged as inappropriate. When she checked the details of the website, lo and behold, it was a pornographic content website. After investigation, she realised that her child had given his device to his friend at school who attempted to log in to the site. 

If this has never crossed your mind just because you think it is not possible that your child knows anything about such a topic, then you might be in for some shocker. The internet makes pornography readily available to anyone at any age in any location.  

Research has also shown that almost half of children ranging between 9 years and 16 years old experience regular exposure to sexual images on their device. If you have experienced how unwanted contents pop up on the phone while browsing then you would understand this even better. 

As parents, it’s important to have an open and honest discussion about pornography to shape our children’s worldview about sexual intimacy. Pornography can lead kids to adopt illicit sexual practices; which are oftentimes related to unsafe sexual practices and so, there is no better time to start the discussion than now. 

These are a few tips to get started with the discussion. 

Tip 1: Make Room For Kids To Be Free And Ask Questions

Building a solid relationship with your kids is crucial. When you create an atmosphere that allows your kids to be free enough to share their experience with you without holding back details, it becomes a lot easier for them to ask for details of what they see online or on the TV. This way, you get clues on what they are being exposed to, how to address it and subsequently take action. 

Tip 2: Engage Your Kids In Early Conversation About Pornography

As earlier stated, there’s no better time to start the conversation and discussion about pornography than now. Kids today are spending more unsupervised time online carrying out several searches. Most times, adverts pop up and are clicked unintentionally, which sometimes leads to inappropriate content for kids. Starting the discussion early enough better informs them what to do should they find themselves in such a situation. 

Tip 3: Lead By Example

The movies we watch and how we respond to actions with risque scenes speak volumes especially with kids watching alongside. The saying of doing what I say not what I do may not really work with kids because they pick clues from our everyday life. If we regularly stream or watch programs that contain things that we would tell our kids are inappropriate, then we might as well be complicating the issue.

So if you don’t want your kids to watch certain movies, you also need to ensure you aren’t watching it too (at least not in their presence). 

Tip 4: Monitor Your Kids Activities Online

Pay keen attention to your child’s online activities. Check out web history on your child’s device and sometimes find out what the contents are about. If you suspect your child is sleeping late and spending more time online at night, don’t negotiate to carry out the necessary investigation and quiz them when necessary. It is also advisable to activate a safe search on your child device to prevent access to adult content sites.

As long as our kids have access to the internet, we must educate them about online safety, and what to do at any given time. Prior knowledge will help them develop a healthy orientation and make informed decisions.

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