There was a lot of talk in the media a few weeks back about how if you put lipstick on a pig it’s still a pig. On the Internet there are a lot of pigs with lipstick. Many websites like to try to disguise themselves in the hopes of tricking our kids into going to places that may seem innocent on the outside (the lipstick part) but are rotten on the inside (the pig part). Porn sites are famous for this. They have used innocent sounding websites names to trick kids into visiting them. Some past examples of this have been websites like KidsLearn2Read.com, CivilWarBattles.com and even Hanukkah.com. Fortunately these 3 website no longer contain porn. Another “Lip Stick on a Pig” trick that porn sites have used is to have websites names that are misspelled versions of popular websites. So your kid is doing some research for school and mistypes a letter in the website they’re trying to go to and they get a porn site instead. There are many other “Lipstick on a Pig” tricks that porn sites use but you get the idea.

Why do the porn sites play this “Lipstick on a Pig” game? Because they know that there is a good chance they can hook people on porn if they can get them to see it. It’s sort of like the drug dealer who gives out some free samples because once you’re hooked then it’s time to pay. And the younger they hook them the better – it could be a life long customer they’ve just landed.

Parents be careful about this “Lipstick on a Pig” trap. It’s all over the Internet. Keep a close eye on your child’s surfing and encourage open dialog. Ask your children if they’ve ever run into a “Lipstick on a Pig” trap. Let them know it’s ok to tell you about it. Some children are scared to tell their parents that they’ve accidentally come across porn on the Internet. Let them know that they won’t get in trouble for telling you when this happens. Because if they don’t feel they can talk to you about it they just might end up liking the pig.

If you have a “Lipstick on a Pig” story please post a comment about it. It may help others avoid the trap.