Mothers. Fathers. We ARE at War!!!

NOVEMBER 2013 NOTES

"No one is safe from the damaging effects of pornography. If we are not actively protecting ourselves and loved ones from these toxic messages, we risk leaving ourselves vulnerable to attack." - Jill C. Manning, a licensed marriage and family therapist.

Geoff Steurer ( licensed marriage and family therapist) says, " The days of simply putting the computer in an open area of the house are long gone."  We are so past that simplified form of prevention....we have to be more active than we've ever been before. Because if we don't, we're going to lose this battle."

We are the gatekeepers of our homes and we should be aware of what enters our homes. We need to observe our family's habits to identify the potential for porn exposure or how it can enter our home. It is reported that 79% of young people's unwanted exposure to pornography occurs in the home. Many of us are just guarding that "front door" and we are forgetting about the back and side doors, windows, etc.. Unfortunately we have to prepare our kids and ourselves because it is not a matter of IF they will be exposed, it is a matter of WHEN!

1.Look at your media access points in you home- Internet, mobile devices, television, magazines, newspaper ads, catalogs, art books, books, etc.. 
 
2. Look at your spiritual/emotional access.
"Having internal filters is far more effective than running any sort of program on your computer."Be honest with what makes your family vulnerable and what temptations you struggle with- and cater your family media guidelines to those vulnerabilities." Jill C. Manning

3. Establish a formal media pledge. 
"It's important to not just think about guidelines for your family- write them down, print it out and have each member of your family sign it. " Jill C. Manning

4. Practice what you pledge.
"Example is one of the most powerful tools we have for our kids." Jill C. Manning

5. Have open and honest discussions with your kids about sexual matters.
We need to teach our kids about healthy sexuality, and it starts when they are young. If they don't hear it from us, they're going to hear it skewed and distorted from somewhere else.

A Parent's Guide is an excellent resource to help begin a conversation with your child or children of all ages

6. Teach your teens about serious penalties of engaging in pornography.
If they get involved in the popular activity of sexting, they are opening themselves up to potential issues with the law.
*We have listed several tried and tested filters that we (& others) like to the right of this post

7. Have a plan. Discuss a game plan with your children of what to do if they come across pornographic material. Ideally they would turn it off, come to you and discuss what they saw and how they felt. Pornography is fueled by secrecy.

Most of the information on this post came from Fighting the Battle Against Pornography