How Does a Web Filter Protect Children From Pornography?

Exposure to pornography on the Internet is a growing problem for children that is putting them at risk for developing highly unhealthy sexual attitudes and feelings.

Consider how access to porn has been changed by the Internet:

1. Pornography was once not readily available.

2. Pornography was once limited to a small group of magazines, professionally produced and distributed films and a few shops in distinct areas of a city.

3. Before the Internet, most children were not ever exposed to pornography – today the average child has been exposed by age 11.

4. The porn industry was once regulated by the government, like any publicly available content. Via the Internet, content from any country is accessible and anyone can make their porn content available to the public making any kind of control impossible.

5. The Internet has provided the porn industry the tools to expose the masses to its product, knowing the more people are exposed, the more people will make it a regular part of their lives. It is commonly understood today that exposure to pornography, especially at a young age, can lead to addiction.

6. Even if a child is responsible, and parents make an earnest effort to educate their children about the dangers of pornography, he is still likely to be exposed to porn by age 11. It has become impossible to avoid even when you want to.

Unfortunately, you can not assume your child has not been or will not be exposed to pornography if he or she has internet access – at home, school or at friends. It is always only a click away, whether they are actively searching for it or not.

Consider the young teen that is curious about sex and making a sincere effort to learn something about sex education. He will run into pornographic content in his search and he is unlikely capable of knowing what he should and should not view. Consider the 10 year old girl visiting her friend and an older brother thinking it will be funny to show them a pornographic clip. Consider the very young child searching for images of a pussy cat. Consider the 12 year old boy who is alone every afternoon after school and discovers that he can see ANYTHING he wants to on the web -so it must be ok.

The point is, as a responsible and caring parent, you must accept that pornography is out there and will enter your home and your child’s life if you are not proactively doing something to stop it. The most direct and effective way to block pornography is with a web filter. Installed on every computer in your home, you can manage to control most of the content that your family is exposed to online.

Most parents acknowledge that we need to be careful about what our kids can see on the Internet. Still, most parents have not taken the necessary steps to ensure their children will not view pornography online. So how can a web filter help?

1. Web filters are readily available to download online and usually come with a free trial.

2. A good web filter will be easy to install and use so that not much computer knowhow is needed.

3. The web filter will usually offer you to block content by category, with content such as porn, violence, drugs, religion, shopping, etc. being options for blocking.

4. Some web filters offer options where you can define specific sites to allow and block the remainder of the Internet thus ensuring absolute control of what a child can view online.

5. The best web filters offer additional features such the ability to schedule Internet use. Older children can be prevented from surfing late at night, for example and the amount of time spent online can be limited to healthy levels.

To stop pornography from reaching your children, install a reliable web filter. A web filter allows you to manage your Internet and create a positive online environment.