A love-hate relationship with the internet

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In the past month, I came across 2 stories about children, porn and the internet that have made me wish that we could go back to the time when the internet wasn’t so easily available.

Story #1 : an article circulating on Facebook about a 13 year old boy who has been listed on a Sex Offender’s List because he was regularly accessing porn from his home computer in his room and his parents had no idea.

Story #2 : a 13 year old girl who texted/emailed compromising photos of herself to older men she had chatted with in a games chatroom. She had also received similar photos from these men! She had also told them where she lived despite being told never to do that. All the usual parental controls were in place and her mother was very careful to check her emails regularly. Mom had missed all that because the girl had dutifully deleted all evidence as instructed by the older men.

We could read these stories and think – it will never happen to us or our children because we have done x, y and z. That’s what the mom in Story #2 thought. And still it happened. In fact upon hearing this story, a mom shared that despite her tech savvy husband doing all the above and more, their children had managed to set up separate email accounts behind their backs. Their children were even more tech savvy 🙁

What’s my point?

The internet, accessed either via the computer or smart phone, can be used for good or for evil. As a homeschooling mother, the internet is definitely a great help whenever I am stumped for answers. Google becomes my best friend then. For example, I wanted to show the children a photo of the Great Wall of China during one teaching session. Immediately I could call up various images of the icon. I could then move on with the lesson.

But by the same token smut could enter our homes just as easily. Because we can google for anything and everything. Yes, including images that our children really do not need to see. And at that point Google, becomes public enemy #1.

To wish the internet away is naïve. But to allow free access to it is reckless. We have come to the conclusion very early on that we cannot be monitoring our children 24/7. Even if we had only 1 child. We cannot anticipate everything may they choose to do or see. After all, if they have purposed in their heart to seek these images out, they will do it, somehow. It is like the government trying to block out certain websites. Those who wish to seek it, will find it. They know how to go around it. If they can’t they will find another source for their perversion.

So what are we going to do? First of all, we trust that God is in control, no matter what happens. Then remember that the Greatest weapon in Christian parenting is prayer! So we need to keep praying and covering our children, that they be protected from the wiles of the devil. We need to keep praying that they will heed the small, quiet voice of the Holy Spirit and then choose to do the right thing.

Then, we need to do what we can do, what is within our power to do – for example, keep on sharing with them about the lure and evil of porn, the dangers of entering chatrooms, set up internet filters, put the computers/laptops in common areas rather than in a room, refrain from giving them smart phones too early (our mistake), and so on.

But let us not let fear paralyse us and defeat us. It does seem overwhelming at times. And it seems easier to just ban the internet and the smart phones. For some families, that may indeed be the way to go. But each family has to decide on its own what its strategy is.

Stand firm that we all have victory in Christ Jesus. And we must not give up interceding for our children even when it seems futile. Yes, they choose what they choose but we must not stop praying for them.

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