The New York Times published an excellent article about talking to your kids about online pornography. These were our favorite parts of the piece.
All experts agree it’s important to have an ongoing conversation with kids about online porn and sexuality. But how do you start that conversation? On opening the dialogue about pornography with kids:
“How can we help equip our children to handle what they come across online and remind them that they can come to us if they’re troubled by what they see?
‘Tone matters,’ said James P. Steyer, founder and chief executive of Common Sense Media. ‘I would say, hey, whether you’ve experienced it or not, whether you’ve seen this or not, it’s out there and I know it might be uncomfortable, but I want to talk to you about the images.'”
How can parents counsel their kids to avoid pornography without shaming their natural curiosity?
“When adolescents do go looking for sexually explicit material, part of their motivation may be curiosity about how sex happens and what it looks like.
‘I would tell parents to frame it as, ‘I would prefer it if you would explore your sexuality in other ways,’’ said Mona Malacane, an assistant instructor at the media school of Indiana University.”
How can parents help their kids understand the toxic and unrealistic aspects of sexual content in media?
“It can help to build conversations about pornography on earlier discussions with children about what they see on their screens. ‘If you have a foundation of media literacy, what you see in advertisements isn’t real, people who get hurt in movies or TV aren’t really hurt or killed, then when sexual content starts to come up, it’s so much easier,’ Dr. Paul said. You can say to your children, ‘they’re acting, they make it look like these things are pleasurable, but they may not be pleasurable.'”
While Clean Router does not endorse all views expressed in this article, titled “The Other Talk Parents Avoid: Pornography,” we commend The New York Times for encouraging parents to educate their kids about online pornography! You can read the article by clicking here.
Block all online pornography from your home!
