How To Protect Kids From Internet Porn

Watching porn? At 11 years old?!!

These were my thoughts while listening to singer Billie Eilish talk about her porn addiction years back. In her interview at the Howard Stern Show, she said she started watching porn at 11 years old and it messed up how she viewed dating and sex in her teen years to the point that she didn’t say no to things that were not good.

It was because I thought that’s what I was supposed to be attracted to,” she said.

As a random person on the internet, I was shocked. But as a mother, I feel terrified for my children. I grew up in an age where sexual content was hard to reach – from a magazine or from the adult section of the video store, but now it’s so easy to access, just a few clicks away.

Studies have shown that porn largely influences one’s perceptions regarding sex, health, gender and relationships. This is true for adults. But children aren’t mentally and emotionally prepared for this.

In 2016, the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) delved into the issue of what messages pornography generates and its effects on children and young people.

Research results show that nearly half of children between the ages of 9-16 experience regular exposure to sexual images. In addition, pornography will most likely shape sexual practices that promote sexual violence and violence against women.

We are now in the digital age. We see 5-year-olds or even younger kids use the internet for entertainment. How soon until they come across something that isn’t fit for their age? The thought that our kids might come across pornography by accident and without us knowing is quite scary.

With Billie Eilish, she was only 11 years old when she began watching it but some as young as 8 years old have admitted to watching porn or accidentally watched it without knowing or understanding what it was.

Clea Sherman, a mum of two from Sydney shared her experience. Her son just started year 3 when he came home from school having heard some very graphic details about sex.

“He was only eight years old. I definitely didn’t think we’d be having more advanced conversations so soon but his questions prompted me to do some research”, Sherman said.

What Parents Can Do

There are several preventive measures you can take to protect your child from internet porn and many other harmful things on the internet.

In the study by AIFS, parents and guardians are encouraged to be informed and actively guide their children’s digital lives.

Parents and caregivers are encouraged to educate themselves about the internet and social media, in order to be aware of the current online dangers and opportunities facing their children. Parents and caregivers are less likely to be intimidated by online risks if they are informed and take an active role in their children’s digital lives.

When the time comes that your kids encounter or start to hear about sex, no matter what age they are in, it’s important to discuss it and see where your child’s thoughts are about the situation. It’s also important to talk about it often and not in an interrogative nature but as if they are talking with a friend. Ask questions curiously, not forcefully.

Asking them too many questions regarding their internet usage may create a gap between you and your child which we want to avoid.

Immersing yourself in the world of social media and getting constantly updated is a great start. It can also be a frequent conversation topic with your child.

Canopy Parental Control App

Researching and investing in parent control tools is also important. There are so many tools that can help you manage your child’s internet use, Canopy is one that we highly recommend.

It comes with a Patented Artificial Intelligence technology that filters out pornographic images and videos on websites that seem safe in real-time and blocks them. It also prevents sexting by identifying naked or partially naked photos as they are taken.

“We recently spent a week in isolation with a lot of screen time. Knowing my son’s device was protected by Canopy gave me so much peace of mind,” says Clea.

Canopy’s Key Features:

• BLOCK PORN ACROSS THE ENTIRE WEB: Canopy automatically scans every website your child visits and instantly blocks any that contain explicit images or videos. No exceptions.
• DON’T BLOCK SAFE CONTENT: If a website contains a mixture of appropriate and inappropriate content, Canopy automatically detects and blocks the bad stuff without blocking the good – even within a single webpage!
• PREVENT SEXTING: Canopy detects sexting and alerts parents when necessary, so they can help their kids make smart choices about the pictures they take and share.
• EASY SETUP: Canopy is easy to use and doesn’t require additional hardware or a special browser. Simply download Canopy Kids to your child’s device and manage it from the Parent Dashboard.

To find out more about Canopy or start your Free Trial visit mycanopyapp.com/sahm/ and get 10% off if you use our discount code. Just enter SAHM upon payment!

The app comes with other handful of features such as remote device management, child communication alerts for parents, app blocking and location tracking, among others.

Finally, what makes it our top choice from all the other apps is that Canopy is the only digital parenting app that detects and blocks pornography before it reaches your child’s screen.