This may sound like historical real estate available for sale but this up-for-sale website attracts more than two million visitors a month and generates more than US$1.29 million a year. “Whitehouse” is one of the many websites that take advantage of common sounding names to tickle the interest of those seeking online pornographic material. Other porn site names with links like Disney, Nintendo, Barbie are more disturbing. It is believed that 30% of all unsolicited mails are from pornographers; that are one if four youths have had unwanted exposure to online pornographic images; and that eight new child porn sites are created daily.* All your child needs to do is misspell one of his favourite kiddie characters and instead of a purple dinosaur, he or she may get a bit too much information as to how babies are created.

Are porn sites targeting children and youth? I doubt that there is much of a debate here.

During his last days before his execution, serial killer Ted Bundy, when interviewed, claimed that what triggered his reign of rape and murder was his early exposure to pornography. Online porn is a US$1.5 billion dollar industry; and due to its graphic nature, it is obviously dangerous. Though most of these commercial sites require access to a credit card facility before entering the website, unfortunately, the free tours alone to view the site can destroy an innocent mind.

If your child was to be a little more curious, he or she may then begin to type words like bomb, nazi, mutilation and so on and begin to find that there are many websites out there that advocate and teach philosophies that only the twisted mind can think of. There are websites that teach stuff ranging from “why it is good not to be friend someone from a different race”; to “the different methods on how to slice your tongue in half”; to “the best way to create a home-made bomb”.

What do we do then? The Internet is like a double edged sword. We are stuck because we know that as much as the Internet brings so much filth and garbage, we also know that this same tool brings a wealth of useful information and knowledge. Every time I want to purchase anything, I find myself surfing review sites like ‘Epinions’, ‘Imaging Resource’, ‘Tech TV’, ‘Consumer Guide’ or several more sites to obtain useful advice about my intended purchases. There are even sites like ‘Consumer Search’ that review reviewers so that we can get the best site with the best advice. Most educational magazines and television programmes have an online version. Getting the latest information from the Internet, chat groups, instant messaging, emails, sharing files, downloading and online games have become part and parcel of our lives.

I suppose this only means that we need to start getting involved with our children’s lives. We should be teachers in our own homes. While they are still young, we should be guiding them and showing them the principles with which they can learn to evaluate, assess and decide on the influences that cross their paths. The principles we teach a child in the area of morals and ethics for their personal development as they explore life, are the same principles a child needs to apply their online explorations.

For example, when we teach a child that the exploitation of gender and sex is not an acceptable act, we should translate and apply that to the virtual exploitation of gender and sex as well.

And, when we teach a child that we need to respect and love those who are different from us, if the lessons taught are internalized, it would go against the child’s system to willfully accept online ideas from virtual ‘preachers’ which are racial in nature. In teaching children that people are expected to respect their bodies and minds, maybe our children will be strong enough to resist the lures of online predators who disguise themselves to deceive children.

It used to be that to shelter our children from the dangers of the world; all we have to do is hide them from those who prey on innocent minds. These days, advanced communication tools have given what is ‘out there’ direct access into our homes. One way to protect the children is to erect barriers that censor all negative influences. We can install nanny cams, check the temporary Internet folder for porn related cookies, check the history folder for recently visited sites, place the computer in the living room or even sit next to your child as they surf. These are acceptable preventive starting-blocks to ‘cure’ the negative impact of the Internet, especially when children have not yet reached the level of being able to rationalize, assess and evaluate in a mature manner.

However, after a certain point in their lives, our children will have learned how to disable the nanny cam, cover their Internet trail, toggle between websites, visit cyber cafes and so on. At this point, further censorship merely creates more curiosity and interest.

Then, the question to ask ourselves is, have we taught our children adequately enough to be able to enforce their own censorship?

*www.protectkids.com/donnaricehughes/powerpoints/WhiteHouseBriefing.ppt