Pornography Harms Children – How to Keep Your Children Safe

Children are being exposed to more pornography online than ever before. A recent study found that 42% of all American children aged 10-17 had been exposed to content of pornographic nature. 70% of those kids stated they were not looking for pornographic content.

While there are many harmful side effects of children viewing pornography, it has to be said that not every child who views adult content will be negatively affected and traumatized. The harmful effects of pornography are more cumulative in essence, like the effect of an addict whose increasing craving for his drug leaves him more and more depraved until he is no longer able to recognize reality from fantasy. This is what parents should be most worried about. Children exposed to pornography over a longer period can develop a very unhealthy view on sexuality and may act out in ways that make them susceptible to predators.

Studies have shown that children who experience early exposure to pornography (at age < 14), have a much greater propensity to be involved in deviant sexual practice, particularly involving rape or sex with older partners.

One of the grim consequences of the raising adult like sexual activity among kids is the increase of sexually transmitted diseases in youth. In the US, one in four sexually active teenagers get an STD every year. Infectious syphilis, which may leave the infected person sterile, has more than doubled in reported cases since the late 1980′s. More children contract STD’s every year than ever before. It’s an epidemic threatening all teenagers.

Another unwanted consequence is teenage pregnancy. A study found that young males who frequently watched pornography were much more likely to engage in unprotected sex leading to pregnancies and venereal disease. Of 993 interviewed sex addicts, 90% had been watching pornography since youth.

The major problem with most internet filters today is that they put the burden on the parent. You have to manually block and password protect sites that you don’t want your children to see. You have to spend hours seeking out porn sites to block them. I don’t know about you, but that isn’t something I would enjoy. The problem is also that this kind of service only blocks the websites you choose. That doesn’t stop older kids or other people from emailing or using messaging programs to send porn. In fact, user shared content is the reason the internet is so popular and there will always be a new website to replace the old.

If this prospect does not sound good to you, then you are better of going with a managed internet filtering service. This type of service will do all the work for you by using both technology and human eyes to compose a massive database of website, keywords and even filenames that are blocked. This means that even files or images sent by email or messaging is blocked before your child can open it. These services are by far the best choice.


How To Block Porn Sites And Keep Your Children Safe

There are so many reasons you may need to block porn sites. The most obvious is you have children that use the Internet and do not want them subject to that type of material. To block porn sites you want to use some kind of parental control software.

No matter what type of parental control software you choose to block porn sites, it should have website monitoring to keep track of what your child is viewing online and also a blocking program to stop them from getting to sites you do not want them visiting.

The better programs have a database of Internet sites to avoid or to block and sites that are considered safe. It makes it a much easier time for parents to block porn sites by having access to a program that furnishes this good site or bad site list.

If you have a older aged child you need to block porn sites. The program should offer some kind of cloaking ability. That means the ability to run unseen on the computer and unable to be disabled by a computer savvy child. This is also called stealth monitoring. The reason for this is no parental control software can block porn sites if the child has disabled it.

Does your child visit MySpace, Facebook, or any other site for social networking? Do they use email, webmail, chat rooms or Instant Messaging? If they do you may look to see if pro-active content filtering to control the use of these applications. This is due to porn images may be sent over these sites.

So in conclusion, here are the must have things parental controls need to block porn sites from your computer.

1. URL/website blacklisting
Allows everything except for the sites/categories you purposefully block

2. URL/website whitelisting
Blocks everything except for the sites/categories you have specifically allowed access to.
[Note: This is the most aggressive blocking available.]

3. Content filtering
Scans web pages in real-time, but will block all pages before they’re displayed if they contain words you’ve banned.


Protect Your Children From Internet Porn and Violence

This is a touchy and delicate issue for many people for a variety of obvious reason.  However, delicate or not it is certainly a subject that is in need of immmense attention if you are a parent that has children.  It is also of tremendous importance for some house holds as the danger lies not only for the parent regarding the children but also because the porn is causing major havoc and detruction to countless relationships and breaking good marriages.

I have laughed and almost cried at times when I here some of the so called professionals in sex therapy and psycho babble purport that using pornographical material is or can be stimulating and help to save a marriage.  I don’t see how a husband and  wife watching porn together somehow creates a sexual relationship.  What is really happening is that one or the other of the two  are arroused by it and then when it comes time for intimacy one, the other, or both fantasize about what they viewed in the film and pretend that their partner is the person in the film.  Now people can be in denial about this but it is the cold hard truth.

                                                       Frightening Facts

But lets take a look at an even more alarming set of facts regarding our children and pornography. 

Fact 1. one in five children or teenagers between the ages of 10 to 17 have received some type of sexual solicitation over the internet. 

Fact 2. one in four children are exposed to unwanted sexual
advances over the inernet. 

Fact 3. two and a half (2.5) billion emails are sent out daily that are related to porn.  The is enough email to send porn type invitations or materials to 41.7% of Earth’s entire population.  That’s nearing a level of possible exposure to almost 1 out
of every 2 people on the planet.  That figure is staggering and only goes to show the seriousness of the situation.

Fact 4. 75% of all sexual advances to minors under the age of 18 were made to them while they were on their own computer. Fact 5. Spouces that
have a significant other that is known to view pornographic material said they feel insecure, unwanted, and very emotionally burdened by the viewing of pornographic material by their significant other.

Fact 5. The number of Christians that view pornography is almost the same at the secular
world.

Maybe the porn problem hasn’t reached your home yet.  Or maybe it has an you just aren’t aware of it yet.  But God forbid that pornography makes its way into the eyes of one or more of children.  But even more alarming and more troubling would be if one of these
pedophiles or online sexual predator’s that deliberately and maliciously seek out children and teenage boys and girls somehow manages to make their way onto your childs computer and has the opportunity to begin weaving their webs of destruction toward your child.

The truth is that you would never forgive yourself for not taking the time to prevent it.  The problem all over the world with people today is that they are reactive and proactive.  We get flu vaccinations to prevent ourselves from getting the flu.  We install fire detectors to alarm us of smoke (which is usually a sign of a fire).  We get alarm systems for our homes for home protection against fires, sudden urgent medical problems that require emergency medical attention, and to prevent or deter a break in.  We get elaborate car alarms, and all kinds of different things available to us in order to deter or prevent something
harmful or life threatening from happening to us.

I guess you could view this as a little fire prevention because that is exactly what it is in no uncertain terms.  This software was two years in the making becuase the designer, even after having porn filters in place, still found his teenage son watching internet porn.
At that time he became, as I am sure any parent would, deeply committed to creating and designing a full proof softare system that would absolutely prevent any type of pornographic (ANYTHING) from making its way onto any computer in the home.  And it also has features that prevent other types of negative influences to reach the eyes and ears of your Child and/or Children.

Here is your chance to prevent what I call the 3 P’s from making their way into your home.  The 3 P’s are pornographic material, pedophiles, and predator’s.  Here are two phrases that should also come to mind.  “When the cat’s away the mice will play,” and “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”  This is one potential disaster that can be completely eliminated for a few bucks and a few minutes of your
time.

 

More Porn Articles


Bridge The Gap In America’s Strict Anti-Child Pornography Laws & Children

Preventing Kids From Slipping In between The Cracks

Now every parent would agree that child pornography is bad, but not everyone might realize how easy it is for children, especially teenagers to get tried on accounts for child pornography because of exchanging sexually explicit pictures via the mobile phone or internet. While we don’t want to reduce the penalties for distributing or possessing child pornography, something needs to be said about the growing number of boys and girls who get involved in something they think is harmless, which snowball into felony charges, and even being listed publically as a sex offender for decades. Kids deserve a chance, and labeling someone as a sex offender at age 17, 18, or even 20 typically isn’t a reasonable penalty of the true action and intentions behind them. One of the only ways to secure your home computers (in order to make sure they don’t host child pornography) is to use computer monitoring software, or in other words, an undetectable keylogger.
Here’s a list of some of the steps legislation has tried to take in order to reduce the harshness of punishment for children who get caught in the cross-fire of what they thought was harmless fun and games:

In 2009 Rep. Rosa Rebimbas (Connecticut) introduced a bill that would reduce the penalty for “sexting” between two consenting minors. Currently, it is a felony for children to send such messages and violators often end up in the state’s sex offender registry. With this new law, it would reduce the penalty of sending text messages with nude or sexual images for children under 18 to a Class A Misdemeanor.
In April 2009 Vermont introduced a bill to legalize the consensual exchange of graphic images between two people 13 to 18 years old.
In Ohio 3 lawmakers proposed a bill that would reduce sexting from a felony to a first degree misdemeanor and eliminate the possibility of a teenage offender being labeled a sex offender for years.
Utah followed a similar path and reduced the penalty for sexting from a felony to a misdemeanor.

Make sure your kids are protected at your home computer(s) so that you can sleep easier. Start using computer monitoring software or an undetectable keylogger today and make sure you stay on top of what your kids are doing on the net.


Dr Cranium explains pornography


How Does a Web Filter Protect Children from Pornography?

Children are seeing pornography on the Internet and it is putting them at risk for developing highly unhealthy sexual attitudes and feelings.

Consider how the availability of sexual content and porn has changed over time:

1. Pornography was once not available to minors – there was just no way to get it or see it.

2. Pornography was once limited to a small group of magazines, professionally produced and distributed films and a few shops in distinct areas of a city.

3. Today the average child has seen pornographic images and/or videos by age 11 on the internet.

4. The porn industry was once regulated by the government, like any publicly available content. Via the Internet, content from any country is accessible and anyone can make their porn content available to the public making control impossible.

5. The Internet has provided the porn industry the tools to expose the masses to its product, knowing the more people are exposed, the more people will become regular consumers. It is commonly understood today that exposure to pornography, especially at a young age, can lead to addiction.

6. Even if a child is responsible, and parents make an earnest effort to educate their children about the dangers of pornography, he is still likely to be exposed. It has become impossible to avoid even when you want to.

Unfortunately, you can absolutely not assume your child has not been or will not be exposed to pornography if he or she has internet access – at home, school or at friends’ homes. It is only a click away, whether they are actively searching for it or not.

Consider the young teen that is curious about sex and making a sincere effort to learn something about sex education. He will run into pornographic content in his search and he is unlikely capable of knowing what he should and should not view. Consider the 10 year old girl visiting her friend and an older brother thinking it will be funny to show them a pornographic clip. Consider the very young child searching for images of a pussy cat. Consider the 12 year old boy who is alone every afternoon after school and discovers 
that he can see ANYTHING he wants to on the web -so it must be ok.

The point is, as a responsible and caring parent, you must accept that pornography is out there and will enter your home and your child’s life if you are not proactively doing something to stop it. The most direct and effective way to block pornography is with a web filter. Installed on every computer in your home, you can manage to control most of the content that your family is exposed to online.

Most parents acknowledge that we need to be careful about what our kids can see on the Internet. Still, most parents have not taken the necessary steps to ensure their children will not view pornography online. So how can a web filter help?

1. Web filters are readily available to download online and usually come with a free trial.

2. A good web filter will be easy to install and use so that not much computer knowhow is needed.

3. The web filter will usually offer you to block content by catgory, with content such as porn, voiplence, drugs, religion, shopping, etc. being options for 
blocking.

4. Some web filters offer options where you can define specific sites to allow and block the remainder of the Internet thus ensuring absolute control of what 
a child can view online.

5. The best web filters offer additional features such the ability to schedule Internet use. Older children can be prevented from surfing late at night, for 
example and the amount of time spent online can be limted to healthy levels.

To stop pornography from reaching your children, install a reliable web filter. A web filter allows you to manage your Internet and create a positive online environment.


Innocent Justice ? Rescues sexually abused Children

The Innocent Justice Foundation leverages high technology solutions that can help rescue millions of sexually abused American children and prevent future abuse. We take requests from law enforcement agencies nationwide battling on the front lines to protect innocents, give justice to abused children, take predators off the streets, and make our neighborhoods safe again. It  is critical the public understand the role they can play in supporting law enforcement and in protecting American children from predators.

New technology solutions in the hands of law enforcement offer hope: the hope that we can decimate child sexual abuse in America in our lifetime.

Thousands of children are being used in child pornography rings world wide. Child pornography is hard to listen to and hard to acknowledge, with the help of the Innocent Justice Organization, law enforcement receive the help they need to catch these offenders and rescue thousands of children. They need your help.

Child Pornography Facts:

A study funded by Congress shows 99% of child pornography collections have images showing the sexual abuse of very young children. Less than 1% of child pornography collections limit themselves to nude or semi-nude photos, according to the study conducted in 2001:

83% contain images of children 6-12 years old, 39% had images of children 3-5 years old, 19% had images of children younger than 3.

The vast majority of child pornography collections show children being brutally sexually assaulted:

80% of collections seized had photos showing sexual penetration, and 20% of collections showed images of physical assault and torture.

“We regularly seize hundreds of thousands of images involving children as young as babies in diapers…being brutally tortured, raped, sodomized and bleeding. This is the norm. There are now 3 and 4 year olds in 20 minute movies, screaming for daddy to stop.”

Detective, Sergeant Paul Gillespie, former head of the Toronto Child Abuse and Exploitation Unit.

The Innocent Justice Organization needs your help. Law Enforcement needs your help, they need phones and other equipment to combat these offenders and rescue children of sexual abuse.

http://innocentjustice.org/


Three Steps To Protect Your Children From Their Porn Addicted Parent

If you share custody of your children with a porn addict, you probably feel worried and scared for your children. You might become especially panicked if your children are the age and gender preferred by the porn addict.


Our clients in child custody litigation come to us feeling frustrated with family court.

Fortunately, through their work with us they found that prompt action can help children avoid the harmful effects of pornography.


You should start by educating yourself about the addiction. Like drugs and alcohol, pornography delivers a consistent, effortless path to pleasure. These pleasurable sensations are immediate, but also illusory. They quickly prove to be temporary and harmful. They leave the abuser diminished in his capacity to love anyone, even himself and his children.


As with all addictions, pornography leads to a vicious cycle. The pleasure lasts only a few minutes. The user then finds his disease leaves him even worse than before. The same triggers that led to his first use still compel him, yet even stronger. He therefore requires repeated use. He discovers that he needs even greater stimulation to reach the same climax.


Each successive use perpetuates his dependency, until the disease overwhelms his humanity. Nearly all addicts pervert their priorities. They make bad choices regarding their values, which manifest in the improper use of their time and money. They become poor parents. Some even look for opportunities to carry out their fantasies in real life on real people.


If you find yourself in child custody litigation with a porn addict, your strategy should take three steps. First, you prove that your co-parent is addicted. Second, you convince the court to care about his dependency. Third, you propose specific action for the court to protect your children.


The first step requires you to prove that the addiction exists. Unlike drugs or alcohol, no chemical test can prove when someone uses pornography. However, you might be able to find evidence in credit card statements, computer records, and phone bills. When examining a computer, check not only the contents of the hard drive but also the internet browser history.


You may also ask the court to require him to submit to a psychological evaluation. A psychological evaluation relies almost entirely on self disclosure. He might be able to hide his compulsion from the evaluator. Hopefully, though, he will use the evaluation as an opportunity to seek help.


Once you prove that he is addicted, you proceed to the second step of convincing the court to care. Many families and their attorneys skip this critical step. However, you can’t assume that your judge agrees with you that he is harmful your children.


Different states take different tacks on considering the moral fitness of parents in custody litigation. For example, Louisiana contains an explicit statute to require consideration of “the moral fitness of each party, insofar as it affects the welfare of the child.” The Missouri Court of Appeals held that the father’s viewing of pornography should be considered in deciding child custody, but that this factor alone is not determinative. A Florida court ruled that a home based pornography business operated by the mother’s boyfriend had to affect her fitness to parent, even if the children themselves never saw his products.


Once you prove the addiction and convince the court to care, you begin step three: You tell the court specifically how to protect your children. If your children live primarily with the addicted parent, you could ask the court to transfer custody and residency to you. You might ask the court to require the other parent not to display inappropriate materials in the home when your children visit. You could even move the court to order that his parenting time be contingent on treatment. He could find a support group for sex addicts, modeled on Alcoholics Anonymous.


As with most issues involving child custody, you may best protect your children outside of court. Ideally, your attorney can use the court process to convince the other parent to seek help for his disease. If he loves your children as he claims, he should want to be the best parent possible for them.


Addiction to pornography grows worse with time. Act now before your children suffer irreparable harm. If you share custody with a porn addict, promptly contact a family law attorney with experience in these matters.


Copyright 2007 Scott Wasserman


Sexting – Keeping Children Safe

Section III

(xii) Sexting

“Sexting”, the term that refers to preteens and teens sharing nude photos of themselves via cell phones, emails or on the Web, is illegal and could land the perpetrator in serious trouble with the law. This could include jail time and could carry the stigma of being a child molester well into adulthood. The practice can also have serious mental effects on young people so preteens, teens and adults must think seriously and consider the possible consequences before they push the send button on whatever device they are using. Taking, sending and receiving nude and/or semi nude pictures of a child is against the law. Whether the intension is innocent or not and even if the perpetrator is a minor the law is not grey; it is black. and white so far as current statutes are concerned. Sexting is considered to be child pornography and is one of the most dangerous communication medium on the web today. The admonition to preteens and teens seem to be going on deaf ears, perhaps because of peer pressure or the need to be popular. Parents are particularly challenged in this specific arena since one misstep on the part of their precious child could put him/her in jail with the added stigma of being branded a child molester even though the perpetrator may be a child. Certain terms such as doing jail time and child molester may seem repetitious. This is intentional and is meant to impress on the reader the seriousness of actions pertaining to Sexting.

Look at the following cases and consider if you would like to be caught up in this dilemma:

Three teenage girls in a town in Pennsylvania who sent nude photos of themselves via cell phones to three male classmates have all been charged with participating in child pornography. The girls were charged with manufacturing and disseminating child pornography and the boys were charged with possessing it. In Wisconsin, a 17 year old boy was charged with child pornography after posting nude pictures of his 16 year old girlfriend on the internet.

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy recently published a study suggesting one in five teens had sent or posted images of themselves in various stages of undress. Another disturbing factor is that 15% of those involved in Sexting have sent nude photos of themselves to people they only met on the Internet. The craze is not relegated to the United States alone. According to Reuters in London, “A growing number of British teenagers are swapping sexually explicit images of themselves on mobile phones leaving them open to bullying and victimization by their peers…”

This phenomenon is so wide spread that teens may be caught up in its web unintentionally. The long range effects on perpetrators and victims, beside the current laws and possible consequences are far reaching and cannot possible be analyzed and evaluated by the immature minds of our preteens and teens. I recently warned my grandson that he must separate himself immediately from anyone involved in Sexting no matter how enticing looking at pictures of a naked girl or boy may be.

Consider the following case and think critically before you push the send button on whatever devise you are using.

A teen age girl sent nude pictures of herself to her boyfriend with whom she was very much “in love”. A few months later they broke up. The boyfriend was angry over the break up and to get back at his former girlfriend, sent the nude pictures all over the Internet. He is currently facing a considerable time in prison for distributing child pornography in addition to being branded a child molester until age 43. We can only imagine the embarrassment and long term effects this will have on the hapless teenage girl whose nude pictures can be archived and disseminated “ad infinitum” (indefinitely).

Sexting is always a bad idea and must be discarded as soon as it comes to mind or as soon as someone makes the suggestion.

This article is not intended as a source of legal advice but only as suggestions, tips and ideas on keeping our children safe in this world in which we live:

Sexting is Illegal: Do not take or send nude or sexually suggestive photos of yourself or anyone else. If you do, you could be charged with producing or distributing child pornography. If you keep them on your phone or computer you could be charged with possession. If they go to someone in another state, it’s a federal felony.

Non-legal consequences: Consider the emotional damage that can come from having intimate photos of yourself go to a friend who can become an ex-friend and send it to everyone you know.

Any Medium: Sexting can be done on any media-sharing device or technology – including email and the Web. Teens have been convicted for child porn distribution for emailing sexually explicit photos to each other.

Reasons for Sexting: In some cases, children are responding to pressure in a form of cyber bullying or pressure from a boyfriend or girlfriend (they break up, and sometimes those photos get sent around out of revenge). Sometimes it’s impulsive behavior, flirting, or even blackmail. It’s always a bad idea.

Parents: Talk with your children about Sexting in a relaxed setting. Ask them what they know about it. Express how you feel in a conversational, non-confrontational way. A two-way dialog can go a long way toward helping your children understand how to minimize legal, social and reputation risks.

Tips for Parents:

If your children have sent any nude pictures of themselves, make sure they stop immediately. Explain that they’re at risk of being charged with producing and distributing child pornography. If they have received nude photos, ask if they have sent them to anyone else Try to contain the damage and tell them to delete the images from their phones and/or computers. Also tell them to transmit the message to the friends to whom they have sent the images. Continue to engage them in conversation. Stay calm and be supportive. Learn as much as you can and try to determine the origins of the behavior such as if it were impulsive behavior, teen flirting or some form of harassment. Consider talking with other teens and parents involved, based on what you’ve learned. Some experts advise that you report the photo to your local police, but consider that, while intending to protect your child, you could incriminate another – and possibly your own child. It is usually good to talk to children and their parents first. If malice or criminal intent is involved, you may want to consult a lawyer, the police, or other experts on the law in your jurisdiction, but be aware of the possibility that child-pornography charges could be filed against anyone involved.

Teens:

If a Sexting photo arrives on your phone, first, do not send it to anyone else (that could be considered distribution of child pornography). Second: Talk to a parent or trusted adult. Tell them the full story so they know how to support you. And do not become alarmed if that adult decides to talk with the parents of others involved – that could be the best way to keep all of you from getting into serious trouble. If the picture is from a friend or someone you know, then someone needs to talk to that friend so he or she knows Sexting is against the law. You’re actually doing the friend a big favor because of the serious trouble that can happen if the police get involved. If the photos keep coming, you and a parent might have to speak with your friend’s parents, school authorities or the police.

These tips and suggestions are not exhaustive and parents should use common sense in dealing with these issues. Seek legal advice if you think your child is culpable and could be charged with being involved in child pornography.


Pornography Needs to be Blocked Online to Protect Children

Taking your child aside and explaining that an early exposure to pornography is harmful and a bad influence is a start in the right direction. However, it is not enough just to set out the rules to your child and expect your instructions to be obeyed. A sad indictment on our society is that most children have already been exposed to unsuitable images and content online by the time they are nine years old!

The internet is an effective and valuable educational and recreational research tool for children but it is also intensely persuasive, seductive and addictive. Children may be permanently affected by what they hear, see and read online on websites, chat and forums. Blocking software is the only guaranteed way to protect your child from harmful web content. To block pornography on your computers is to effectively remove it from reach of children. Blocking software is an integral part of a web filtering package that might feature a porn filter or porn blocker to completely disable access to inappropriate web pages.

Children who are allowed to browse online unsupervised are victims of neglect by their parents in the worst possible sense. Leaving your child at the mercy of the ruthless porn traffickers who target children’s vulnerability on the web is almost like leaving their bedroom door open for any pervert to enter. Children, as a rule, are both shocked and excited when exposed to pornographic content but the majority of children will continue to look at it and absorb the images, usually in secret and increasing in frequency. Eventually, porn addiction sets in and the child will seek new avenues of access to pornography to feed that addiction.

To block pornography or pornographic images it is necessary to implement effective blocking software. Images that are of a quationable nature are filtered out and the child is denied access to all websites with images that are unsuitable. The program usually is password protected. Others might be allowed unlimited web exposure and for an unlimited length of time, again through passwords. The use of effective blocking software does not compromise the speed or performance of your computer does not prevent effective internet browsing for any member of the family other than those younger members who are subject to pornography blocking, porn filters and porn blockers. To ensure your child is protected against corruption, it is imperative to install a secure and effective safety fence around their internet experiences. The most effective and reliable way to do that is through blocking software designed to slam the door tight shut against unscrupulous internet influences.