A 13-year-old boy is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to raping a four-year-old boy in his foster home. As reported, the teen told police after his arrest that the idea for the assaults, which occurred over the course of a year, came from watching “gay porn” on his foster parents’ home computer. A neighbor reported the assaults to the police when he looked out of his office and could see the assaults ongoing in the window across from him. The neighbor called 911, and when the police arrived fifteen minutes later, he pointed to the window where the assault was still in progress. The foster parents were also caring for a six-year-old and a two-year-old.
What a horrible discovery. Unfortunately, this sad story is all-too-common, as porn has been linked to an increase in child-on-child sex abuse. Can we blame our children? Children are influenced by what they see. In one of my other projects, Internet Safety 101, Donna Rice Hughes, Executive Producer and host of the Internet Safety 101 Program recounted how a five-year-old asked his mother if he could insert a bath toy into his little sister. When the mom asked him where on earth he had come up with that idea, the little boy shared that he had seen it online.
I hope that you’re getting the picture that it’s never too early to start using a filter on the computer. The 13-year-old boy had been living with his foster parents for ten years—that’s ten years of apparently unfettered, easy access to hardcore pornography with all of its misguided information about sex. Parents rarely understand that any child can intentionally or accidentally come across incredibly graphic, violent and hardcore content online. Porn sites prey on our misspelled words, they use benign sounding websites and entice viewers through free videos and images (check out our latest Pete the Porno Puppet Commercial to see what I mean). Young users that are curious about sex are bound to get an eyeful if they look online for answers about their bodies and where they came from. Our kids want and need to know about sex, and chances are, if you aren’t having regular conversations with your kids and if you aren’t taking the necessary steps needed to protect them online, then their primary sex educator is going to be pornography. If you aren’t using filters on all Internet-enabled accounts, it’s not a question of “if” your child will come across pornography, but “when”.
I’ve talked with so many tweens and teenagers who have been influenced by the pornography that they’ve seen. They feel pressured to look and act like the porn stars they have seen online. They feel confused and they aren’t getting answers and guidance from you, the parents. Sadly, as this story highlights, it’s not just a matter of the harm that could be done to your child, but also the harm that your child could do unto others, fueled in part by a steady diet of Internet pornography.
If you haven’t installed filters on your home computer, don’t wait another moment!! We partner with Safe Eyes to offer a comprehensive parental control suite (get it here) that should be installed on all Internet-enabled devices. We also offer a strong filter + accountability software through our X3watchPRO. These small investments can have a HUGE payout in protecting your kids from the content your kids should never, ever see. We also have a simple guide to talking with your kids about sex, which I would also encourage you to go through with your spouse and use with your kids this week. Take a step today to protect your sons and daughters from the harmful impact of Internet pornography.