For Parents

You can lay the foundation in the family for self-control, proper regard for sexuality, and for healthy emotional development by providing a secure environment in which healthy attitudes will grow. Love, kindness, good communication, and appropriate expressions of affection are vital. Each of your children needs the security that comes from spending individual quality time with you as well as with their friends and appropriate role models. Within the context of a warm and loving relationship, you will have your greatest influence as you teach your children to have a proper attitude about sexuality, warn them against unhealthy and immoral practices, and instill in them the desire to remain chaste and virtuous.

As our children grow, they need information taught by parents more directly and plainly about what is and is not appropriate. Parents need to teach children to avoid any pornographic images or stories. Children and youth need to know from parents that pornography of any kind is a tool of the devil; and if anyone flirts with it, it has the power to addict, dull, and even destroy the human spirit. They need to be taught not to use vulgar language. Crude jokes overheard should never be repeated. Teach family members not to listen to music that celebrates the sensual. Talk to them plainly about sex and the benefits of chastity. Let this information come from parents in the home in an appropriate way.

Responsible societies minimize negative influences that impinge upon young children. Unfortunately, social and moral constraints are diminishing, and children are exposed to images and entertainments that were once socially unacceptable. Television cartoons include characters designed to stimulate sexual interest and storylines that involve adult themes. Animated video games show scantily clad women and men who engage in violent and sometimes sexual acts. Pornographers target computer game sites, sending sexually explicit images to children when they accidentally misspell search terms.

If you are a parent, eliminate any conditions in the home that would encourage the use of pornography. Below are seven things that every parent can do to minimize the negative effects media can have on our families:

  1. We can hold family meetings and decide what our media standards are going to be.
  2. We can spend enough quality time with our children that we, not the media or any peer group, are consistently the main influence in their lives.
  3. We can make good media choices ourselves and set good examples for our children.
  4. We can limit the amount of time our children watch TV or play video games or use the Internet each day. Virtual reality must not become their reality.
  5. We can use Internet filters and TV programming locks to prevent our children from "chancing upon" things they should not see.
  6. We can locate TVs and computers in a much-used common room in the home, not in a bedroom or a private place.
  7. We can take time to watch appropriate media with our children and discuss with them how to make choices that will uplift and build rather than degrade and destroy.

Monitor what your children are watching and doing, but perhaps even more importantly, strive to keep the lines of communication open so that your children will talk to you when they are exposed to inappropriate material. This sometimes requires a delicate balance between giving your children enough information to be aware of potential problems and not giving them so much information that they are curious, unduly alarmed, or frightened.