Does my child have a problem with porn?

Know the Warning Signs of a Child at Risk
taken from http://www.theporntalk.com

As parents, we are responsible for our kids. We have to feed them, make sure they get to school on time, and keep them from getting into things that kids shouldn’t be getting into. Now you may be like most parents that think the best of their kids. And that’s fantastic. Around here we love our kids too. But too often fishy or inappropriate behavior is dismissed as kids just being kids. And most of the time it is just kids being kids. But we also can’t be naive to the possible warning signs that our children are heading down the wrong track. It’s important that we identify certain behaviors or characteristics that our kids are expressing and deal with it head on.

And listen don’t freak out if you recognize several of these signs in your kids. Let this be a motivating factor to have the porn talk.

A Few Warning Signs and Indicators:

Your child is spending large amounts of time online, especially at night. This is kind of a basic one but it is a clear warning sign. If they are spending a ton of time in chat rooms or instant messaging or surfing the web, this may not be a good thing.

Your child turns the computer monitor off or quickly changes the screen on the monitor when you come into the room. If they try to hide what is on the screen then surely it is something that they don’t want you to see. Hmmm. Could it be porn? Good chance it might be.

Your teen locks the door when working on the computer. Okay, let’s consider why the door might be locked. It’s probably not so you won’t catch them diligently studying for the Algebra quiz.

You catch your child lying about computer use. Honest dialogue happens when there is nothing to hide. Lies are told to you when your child feels like you may not approve of their actions. If your child is being dishonest about computer use you need to address this.

If your child becomes isolated or depressed and withdraws from normal family functions. If a child abandons typical things that would bring them joy and withdraws into the cyber world, this must be addressed.

You find pornography on your child’s computer. This is sort of a no-brainer but many parents will try and dismiss this. If you find pornography or inappropriate material on the computer it’s time to talk.

When you check sites your child has visited, they are all erased. Covering your tracks is a clear indicator that the actions online were not appropriate. The erasing of history is a serious indicator. Make sure that history is checked often and that there are no weird patterns.

Listen to how your child or teen talks about members of the opposite sex. Do they have a healthy point of view? Are they expressing respectful comments or do they talk about guys or girls in a purely physical and sexual way. Porn removes respect and distorts a healthy perspective on relationships.