PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN

As this country continues to struggle with the latest school shooting, the natural focus is on how to keep our children safe. Unfortunately, there is no way to guarantee that some deranged person will not kill or maim an innocent victim whether it is with a gun, bomb or driving into a crowd. While the debate rages on about gun control (with nothing accomplished) greater threats to our children’s well being just continue to grow. These threats reside in our homes, too often at the very center of our daily lives. We embrace the threat, pass it on to our children, and are oblivious to it’s danger. It is the smart-phone, that little innocent looking device that gives our children unrestricted access to danger.

I get tired of people telling me that I am overreacting. The simple fact is that violence, anxiety, depression, promiscuity and suicide are all on the rise in our children, and I am convinced they are directly attributable to them having unmonitored access to the internet. There are websites that instruct children how to engage in the choking game, how to self injure, and how to build weapons. Websites offer the most violent video games imaginable. A parent would never knowingly invite a child to meet a sexual predator but that happens all too frequently when you allow that child to surf the internet.

Do you really want children and teens having access to that type of information? If you are worried about their physical safety, get them a cell phone with prepaid minutes and no access to the Internet. I really don’t care what they want, it is what they need that matters. They do not need to post to Facebook, tweet, or upload pictures to Instagram (that will forever exist online) from a handheld device. Their mouths were created for communicating, not their thumbs!

I am not naïve, I realize that technology is here to stay. When I was a teen, it was hard to hide stuff from my parents. A place to hide a Playboy magazine from your parents (or brother) was a challenge to find. We couldn’t hide who are friends were. We tried to play a game of spin the bottle; sexting was not yet invented. Parenting was easier. Creating a safe environment for our children was making sure that they were home before dark and checking in with their teachers. There was a shared phone that was tied to a wall and the favorite video game was tricking your sibling into walking across the room to change a channel on the TV.

There is only one place that parents can make safe for children and that is your home environment. It is not in the government’s interest to help! They will never pass legislation which would challenge the content of the internet in order protect our kids. After all, it is a free country and contributions to their reelection campaigns by the lobbyists must not be stopped. I find it disgusting that they refuse to debate things such as gun control but when one puppy dies on an airplane, protective legislation hits the Senate floor within a day or two. I am a dog lover, but I have a problem with their priorities. So, it is up to you to protect your children, not the government.

It is tough. Even as adults, we also get seduced by the dark side of the Web. Lets be honest, we need to lead by example and put our phones in the proper place, AWAY! We need to have rules in the home that apply to everyone. How about a block of time (dinner) when everyone puts their phone away and actually talks with each other. No texting or social media allowed. You will discover that real human contact can actually be rewarding. Your children will feel more valued when you are looking at their face rather than an IPhone screen!

Next radical idea, how about NO internet service on your child’s phone? Don’t fall victim to the age old, “all my friends have it”. Better to listen to the whining than to come home and find your child a victim of the internet. I know that they need the internet for school but that can be easily accomplished by a computer in your home’s public space. They do not need it in their pocket (or purse).

Parents, when you decide that they are mature enough to have access to the internet, it is your DUTY to be nosy! Forget privacy concerns, you must be a techno cop! They should not be allowed any internet activity that you cannot check up on.

The only place that you can make safe for your children is within the home and family. It is far more difficult than a few decades ago but the dangers are more numerous and intense than they have ever been. You are the positive influence that can protect them from the negative influence of the web. The stakes are high and parenting techniques must change to meet the evolving technology if our children are to be safe. I pray for your success, the welfare of our children (and society) depends on you.   May God bless your efforts!